When I was a child, every year my parents would hand long, red, home-made Christmas stockings from the mantle over the fireplace to be filled by Santa. In those days of scarce supply, fresh fruit was a real treat. The war effort made availability and delivery to grocery stores a rare event.

Our “stockings hung by the chimney with care.” They were always filled with English walnuts, oranges, apples, pencil boxes, balls and jacks and other popular trinkets of that time. Another item we children could always count on was a several month supply of socks, often used to cushion and separate the fruit in the bulging “Santa Sack”.

My favorite stocking stuffer was the oranges; because we could peel and eat them right in the living room, in front of the roaring fire, throwing the peels into the fire to create a citrus aroma which, with the large pine Yule long, permeated the entire house.

In those days, we had our own large orchard. It consisted of several hundred apple trees of distinct varieties including Jonathan, yellow delicious, red delicious, stayman and the best apple ever grown -- winesap. The winesap is a hard, treat, juicy apple that is excellent — not only for eating fresh, but also for cooking and for its long term storage and “keeping” ability. This is the apple that was always in our Christmas stockings.

After the stockings had been completely ransacked, the apples were returned to the kitchen where my mother would convert time to baked apples several days after Christmas. They were to be served with the inevitable turkey a’ la king.

Also on Christmas morning, it was a tradition for us to mull some of our home-made cider. This would begin with the rinsing off of our fireplace poker, and laying it on one of the irons to get red hot. Several quarts of cider were placed in a metal pitcher, which was in turn left on the fire place hearth to warm. When the poker was red hot, it was inserted into the pitcher causing the cider to bubble and steam. A sprinkle of cinnamon was added for aroma and taste.

For those wishing to enjoy baked apples as a dessert or a side dish, use only apples that are firm and tart such as Granny Smith, Jona Gold, McIntosh or winesap. Avoid soft, mealy apples that will collapse during baking. I would also suggest using small to medium sized apples that tend to bake more evenly.

Baked Apples

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Core the apple from the top, leaving 1/2 inch from the bottom. Place the apples in a shallow baking dish that is large enough that the apples mix in a bowl:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 chopped black walnuts

1/4 currants

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg.

Spoon the mixture into the cored apples and then place 1/2 teaspoon oleo or butter on top. To the baking dish add about 3/4 cup cider or water. Cover the dish tightly with a lid or with aluminum foil. Bake for about 30 minutes, depending on variety and size of apple.