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.