Cooking apples have a stronger and sharper flavour, and don't turn to mush like eating apples do, which is why they're much better for cooking. If you don't want them, tell your neighbour to send them to me, lol!

You couldn't possibly used all those apples, Rosie, please let me have a share!:)
I don't add sugar to my apple filling anyway but just sprinkle it over the top of the pie to give a slightly crisp finish.

If the cooking apples concerned are Bramleys, there's not a healthier apple on the market - they have a much higher level of antioxidants than other apples, with the highest concentration in the skin. Bramleys are also best for baked apple recipes, and apple sauce - 5 minutes simmer and they've turned to a lovely puree all on their own. I love their tartness, and I never, ever add sugar to them, in fact, I add a little lemon juice. I like my apple sauce tart, not sickly sweet, to offset the fat in the pork, and the only sugary stuff I add to them as a baked apple is a bit of honey and some sultanas. If its a crumble, there's plenty of sugar in the crumble topping anyway. But, if you prefer a sweet apple sauce and you like extra sugary desserts, then its not worth your taking them. But I'd give my eye teeth for 'em... I went to a friend's house recently and she'd cooked roast pork with loads of vegetables, absolutely delicious, all of it, except, oh dear, except she'd used apple sauce from a jar and it was sickly sweet and revolting...

Looks like three of us want them then, Bamboo. Let's hope there are enough to go round!

If I lived close to Hank, I'd be round there in a flash collecting 'em!

Me too!

Does anyone live near Stockport ? If so you're welcome, but I've only about 20 now, A friend took quite a lot.
But now I know a bit more about them I may pass your comments onto my chef ( Son ) - I'm sure he'll be interested. Come to think of it I haven't had apple sauce for nearly 10 years.
Many thanks for your comments.

Do you ever "bake" them in the microwave Hank? Very quick and easy. Run a knife round so the skin slits neatly during cooking, core with a potato peeler and stuff the hole with sultanas, dates, mincemeat or whatever. Add a little water to the dish, and whatever you want to sweeten it. (we use concentrated apple juice from the health food shop) A medium apple takes about 4 mins on full power.

Sounds good S, years ago we used to have that quite often - I may put it to the "chef" - extend his repertoire.

Well if anyone is near to us in N.W.Shropshire they can have as many Bramley or Catshead apples as they can fit in their car. I have picked 200 kilos of them and the tree is still full!

Sadly I'm nowhere near Shropshire - it'd be the bramleys I'd want...

Stera, on the subject of baked apples, that's how I do mine in the ordinary oven, but in theory, sultanas are really sweet and full of sugars, so for anyone trying to reduce their sugar intake, don't add sugar or honey as well... the sultanas are high sugar on their own. I left 'em too long last time and ended up with pureed apple plastered all round the edge of the baking dish, with the skins sitting in the middle.I still ate it anyway, but it wasn't as pleasurable;-))

I laughed at your comment,Bamboo, because I've done the same thing so many times that I now bake apples in the oven. Even then sometimes............

Been there done that Bamboo, lol. I only add a little conc. apple juice to sweeten the juice as I add a little water to the dish before microwaving. Nice to have some juice to pour over them. We never use refined sugar except in builders tea...

Yea, well, sugar's sugar as far as the body's concerned, and as I discovered a few years back, fatty liver is associated with a high intake of fructose, present in fruits, and very high in sultanas, grapes and the like. I've not eaten a grape since... and I do have Billingtons refined sugar in the house, half a teaspoon over my rolled oats every day (instead of fruit sugar, which I used to use thinking it was healthier). You can't win really...

I don't put any sugar on rolled oats, just a few chopped nuts and blueberries usually. We use unrefined sugars because OH has a problem with digesting refined sugar too quickly and suffered badly from hypoglycaemia until we found out what the trouble was. The downside is all those tempting cakes in tea shops etc and the lovely recipes we see on here occasionally are so sweet now we can't enjoy them at all. Have you tried Xylitol, which is made from birch sap_ You need a lot less for the same amount of sweetness.

Oh i know that one, don't know if its hypoglycaemia or not, I call it sugar shock - I can't eat sugary foods on an empty stomach, not without feeling faint and very tired within 20 minutes, so I couldn't eat a piece of cake or some biscuits if I'd not eaten for 4 hours or so - but half a teaspoon of sugar on my porridge oats is fine, not a problem. I remember a friend of mine eating a Mars bar when we were at the eye hospital when she'd not eaten anything else all morning,nothing at all - 20 minutes later, she was shaky, white as a sheet and said she felt really ill. I told her not to do it... don't think she;'s done it since!