A long-standing Adams family tradition was continued the last weekend in October at the mountaintop home of Dolores (Adams) Diehl of Decker Hollow Road in Tyrone. Dolores, along with her sister, Florence (Adams) DeArment of Suffolk, Va.; brother and sister-in-law Glenn and JoAnne Adams of Athens, Alabama; sister-in-law Millie (Decker) Adams of Merritt Island, Fl.; their families and many extended family members and friends gathered Friday night to begin the two-day process of making apple butter.
Amid much talking and laughter the night began out in the garage with the peeling, coring and cutting of the apples, a process known as “snitting”. Eight bushels, and an hour and a half later, the apples sat ready for the kettle. Many hands had made this job fly by, and the family is happy to report no fingers were lost. While some were working, others were in the house talking and eating, catching up with each other.
Earlier in the day, the 35-gallon copper kettle had been set up in the back yard. With rain called for, the men had constructed a large tarp covering to protect the apple butter from the elements. While the apples were being cut, a fire was started and the cider put on. The apple butter recipe has been passed down in this family from generation to generation, but it’s safe to say it includes cider, several varieties of apples, butter, sugar, spices and 12 pennies. Yes, 12 pennies. They go into the kettle “grungy” and come out like brand new. Their purpose is to keep the apple butter from sticking to the bottom of the kettle. The cider was put on first and cooked down over several hours. Next came the apples, these were added slowly, butter was added to keep it from boiling over. This mixture cooked all night long and had to be stirred continuously. Everyone took a turn stirring, or at least everyone who could stay awake.
Saturday morning brought everyone back together wearing matching sweatshirts made in honor of this occasion, proudly proclaiming “Apple Butter October 27, 2006” and showing a beautiful basket of red apples. Breakfast was served, including eggs, toast, pancakes and even pie. The apple butter was stirred through the morning and then it was time to add the sugar. Around noon it was given the “spoon test” for doneness. A little more cooking time was needed and finally, around 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon, the apple butter was declared done. The copper kettle was lifted off the fire, spices were added and the ladling process began. The gallon and quart-size jars had to be warmed first over the fire, then filled, wiped clean and set in boxes in a wagon to be towed into the garage for cooling and safekeeping. There were 24 1/2 gallons in all. Homemade bread was brought out and each person was given a piece to dip into the kettle and help clean it out.
Remember those 12 pennies? Only six were recovered, all shiny and looking brand new. What happened to the other six? Well, somebody is going to be in for a surprise some morning when they sit down to eat their apple butter bread or toast and look down and find a shiny penny staring back up at them.
Four generations of family members were present including Dolores Diehl and her seven children, their spouses and children: Joe (Susan) Diehl of Pottstown, son Jason (Renee) and their 14-month-old son David and son Steven (Noelle) and their five-year old son Jeremiah; Eileen (Michael) Cole of Miami, Fl. and their daughters Karin (along with fiance Jerry Barco) and Sarah; Patti (Craig) Marshall of Warriors Mark and their sons Andrew (with friend Amy Rothrauff), Caleb and Eli; Bill (Jan) Diehl of Tipton and their son Jeremy (with fiance Jackie Robuck); Sam Diehl of Warriors Mark (with friend Amy Patton), son Corey (with friend Ashley Ripka) and Corey’s mom, Wendy Reitz of Tyrone; Tom (Chris) Diehl of Bellwood and daughters Becky and Mindy and Gail (Jim) Burket of Tyrone with Daughter Nichole (with friend Pat Burns) and sons Justin (with friend Mara Poorman) and Drew.
Also present were Florence DeArment of Suffolk, Va. and her son Fred (Sandra) DeArment of New Bern, NC and their sons Shawn and Steve; Glenn (JoAnne) Adams of Athens, Alabama and their daughter Melissa Wilson of Madison, Alabama and her two and a half-year-old daughter Anneliese; Millie Adams of Merritt Island, Fl. and her son Bobby (Cathy) Adams of Merritt Island, Fl.; cousin Eloise (Ken) Roles of Ohio and their daughters Vickie Gallaher and Cheryl Weaver and son Pete (Sandi) Roles; nephew Terry Miller and brother-in-law Charlie Diehl.
Others included John Gurekovich, Jimmy Gehret, Brian Suping, Cindy Ott, Sean Wright, Courtney Weyer, Christine Pfahler, Jack Smerekar, Charles and Mollie Fleck and Ammon and Beverly DeArment.
