Hello, Before school got out during the month of June-July, our dad always made a trip to Oak Glen in So Cal . It was a planned yearly trip to the Oak Glen for cherry picking season. It usually lasts until school starts in the fall, but during the summer, it was a standard thing for our family to make two trips. One was specifically for cherries. Our dad loved cherries and he wanted to take the whole family to pick our own cherries. So, almost a 90 mile one way drive was standard. On the way, my brother and I were anxious. On the way home, very little talk, as were still eating cherries and some cherry pie left overs for the long drive home to Long Beach. It was always a very satisfying road trip for two growing boys... Since our dad loved cherry pies, we made all sorts of baked goods. Our mom made the pie crust and my job was to put in the dents in the outer layer edge crust. Then as the first of many pies were being baked, we made cherry turnovers, especially for us and the portability of little turnovers vs. the cut cherry pie pieces on the plates. Plus, it was something I could actually make from the rolled dough to the finished product. Yes! It was also, the gooey filling that made the whole thing worth while to spend time in that small kitchen. How small was the kitchen? In these modern day kitchens, the triangle is the main emphasis in creating a nice accessible open kitchen set up. The triangle is the stove, stove top, vs sink vs refrigerator. A step or two either way makes the points of the triangle efficient. Since the house was built in the 40s, standing at the sink was the triangle. Just turn around and the stove was right there. a half step to the left, the small refrigerator door was there. So, Wilt Chamberlain could have washed the dishes, cooked and gotten a cold drink, without leaving the sink. The small red dinette set was next to the stove, so one could get something right from the stove and serve it right at the table. Jnaki The other trip to almost the same area was to pick apples. We ate apples daily. They were staples in our school lunches. But, the best ones were the apples we picked off of the grove of trees in these specific ranches and orchards in the same area as the earlier cherry picking farms or groves. The apple season is about the same time and it is more crowded than the cherry picking season for us. Again, the fresh apples in bags and boxes added to the daily intake of apples, picked by two little hands high up in a tree. Note: We always thought it was fun to hand pick apples. So, when our son was a toddler and a few years later, we drove south to Julian, California. That is now the apple orchard area of the popular past time of all things, apple. Pick your own apples, lots of bottles juices brands from the different farms/ranches and in town, tons of great restaurants offering delicious apple pies and other apple products. My wife and I did the trips as a couple early on, and when we thought our son was ready, we took him a couple of times for an all day event. We always came home with several crates of freshly picked apples and confectionaries. But, also bottle of fresh squeezed apple juices without any additives. There is nothing better than… “an apple a day to keep on living a little longer…” or so that old saying gets tossed around these days… Our favorite, local natural products store was actually called “An Apple a Day.” Pre Trader Joes and other natural foods stores so popular these days. YRMV
The Jalopy Journal
