All content copyright Katrina Hall 2008 through 2025

Sunday, September 29, 2013

first baby food: apple snow







As I watch my almost 6 month old grandson whip through several ounces of milk, I'm thinking it won't be long before he's ready to eat.  As in solids.  I remember the anxiety I felt when I knew #1 child was ready, but the world of food out there was full of pitfalls and worry.  Like most new mothers, I started with packaged rice cereal, mixed with breast milk.  Then it was on to mashed bananas ( nowadays, avocado is also suggested) and rice cereal, and then, a tentative step to freshly picked apples, simmered til soft, and mixed into the rice cereal or yogurt.  We dubbed this Apple Snow, and it was an instant hit. Here it is 35 years later , and I'm relieved to find this is acceptable as one of the first foods to introduce to babies.  And my firstborn daughter still loves to munch on freshly orchard- picked apples, crunching through the juiciness right down to the core.

To make:

1 cup sliced, peeled fresh organic apple
3 tablespoons water
 pinch of cinnamon

Place apple, water, and cinnamon ( not necessary, but I thought it was an introduction to spices) in a small saucepan.  Bring to a simmer, simmer 5 minutes, stirring several times to make sure the applesauce doesn't scorch.  Take off heat and stir until the apples turn into applesauce.  Cool, and feed as is, or mix with a few tablespoons or so of vanilla yogurt, or stir into baby rice cereal.   Voila!  Apple Snow.  

PS:  Once your child is a year old, you can add honey to the apple snow, but not before.  Why?  Read here.

Still very thin color here, but this area has very few sugar maples, which are the truly colorful trees.  On my walk this morning I noticed the old antique apple tree finally has a few small apples, which the deer will eat once they fall to the ground.  Beautiful light these days, and no need for a jacket - yet.





6 comments:

La Table De Nana said...

Noah is 6 months already?

Wow..they flew by..

What a great nana:)
I remember all the blender food..they ate it..:)

This has been a lovely fall so far has it not?

Spectac.

katrina said...

Noah will be 6 months on the 13th October - and he's an armful! I had a little baby food mill with mine - which I mostly used with #1. #2 made up his own mind about when to eat! First thing he grabbed was a chunk of watermelon - he stuffed it into his mouth before I could stop him. Hungry!

Today is just beautiful - sunny and clear....

diary of a tomato said...

September has been wondrously long, a treat for us New Englanders, and Apple Snow is so evocative of the change in season to come!

katrina said...

Dear Diary - it has been blissful and gentle, these last few weeks, I agree. In spite of some chilly nights, the few green tomatoes are still holding on , but the wee squash of unknown heritage has stopped growing - the light is changing. Cherishing the moment!

Barb said...

Just a big 'thank you' once again for sharing your lovely, photos - I especially loved that last picture - so beautiful!

katrina said...

Thanks, Barb! I hope you had as beautiful a day as we had here today - simply beautiful! Warm and soft, sunny and gorgeous. Blessed.