Apple Magic

• What: Half eaten apples
• When: Kids eat only parts
• Why: Salvage the edible parts
• Where: Your home

What do you do with leftover apples? You know the ones, where your kid took three bites, or made a ring all the way around without finishing the fruit.

My kids love to eat all the way around the apple then quit.

Does your kid insist on having an entire apple to themselves, then only remove a row of bites all the way around? How about the kid who refuses to eat an apple with any brown parts? If you use this clever slicing trick before they start eating, it works out fine and dandy. But what happens after the apple loses its appeal with only a few bites missing?

I make four cuts to remove the sides from the core, which ends up square.

Of course you can always eat it yourself, no harm in that. Or you can try sticking it in the fridge, or painting it with lemon juice in an effort to prevent it from turning brown. I’ve tried all these things, but repurposing it works best so my kids can’t tell it has been partially eaten.

Then I make another cut to remove the eaten edge.

I slice the apple off the core a quarter at a time. Then I remove the bite marks that have turned brown by slicing parallel to the cut from the core. By cutting the remaining rectangular part into long sticks and calling them apple fries, I can almost always sell the apple to all three of my kids, none of whom would dream of touching any piece with brown on it.

Then I slice the remaining chunk into rectangular strips.

When that fails, I save the half eaten apples in the fridge until I have several. I then toss all of them except the cores into a pot over low heat. One run of the immersion blender after 15 or 20 minutes, and voila! Applesauce. If my kids don’t like that, I hand them a container of cinnamon to let them flavor their own and that usually does the trick.

Now altogether I’ve got a pile of apple fries my kids will gobble up instead of a half eaten apple they refuse to touch.