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Good afternoon All, I finally got online...these really cool chilly nights here, have been forcing me to remain under my nice warm quilts, and reluctantly snooze(yea, right)....it just feels so good to snooze and snuggle in a warm bed, when the air in the house is so chilly...

Grans posting of apples, shows us all that fall is indeed here, and time for feasting on the bounties of the garden in the fall...

Apples good for eating plain, but delicious in apple pie, apple fritters, homemade applesauce, apple pan dowdy, baked apples, taffy apples, apple cake, apple bread, apple cider, apple juice, apple jack, and on and on and on...The wonderful apple, lets all enjoy it in its many forms...

The last house Bigdom and I lived in with the boys, before we all left Chicago, was his grandmothers house....She had broken her hip, recovered, but could no longer really take care of herself...so she went to live with her daughter and son in law...but she just could not part with her house, and so she wanted us to move in and take care of her home, which we did....it was an old house, with a lovely large yard for the kids, so it was just an ideal place for us to move into, being a grand improvement over our 3rd floor apts. at few blocks away....

Now his grandmothers house was just around the corner from the famous Taffy Apple Factory(it least it was famous in the neighborhood, and to all those who went there).....thy had just the best Taffy Apples ever....

They operated year round of course, but come fall time, they were going full tilt....everyone wanted Taffy Apples...you could buy them just one at a time, but more often people would be going in there and buying them by the 24 in a box size...they were cheap, they were freshly made that day, and they were just wonderful....People I worked with, would ask me to get them boxes of those things, when they find out I lived just around the corner from that factory...Halloween parties, or just wanting a large supply on hand, made me be the constant deliverer of boxes and boxes of Taffy Apples...

While the factory was going full strength in the fall, the constant smell of Taffy cooking, wafted through the air, all day, and nearly all night...one was instantly drawn to the factory, tempted by the grand smells coming out of it...

There was even a bargain tray on the counter....the 'broken stick' Taffy Apples, were neatly arranged in boxes, and cost just 10cents....these were Taffy Apples where either the sticks had broken, or the Taffy was not on properly, or the taffy apples was not perfect in some way....but for 10cents who cared...Often when I took the boys for walks(Andy in the stroller, Mike on his trusty beloved BigWheel), we always stopped in, and got a 10cent broken stick taffy apple...of course, I often would buy one of the big boxes for use at home, but somehow the kids always loved to stop in and get one of that days freshly made broken stick taffy apples....in addition to taffy apples, they also carried frozen bananas...

Does anyone remember Frozen Bananas, they were so yummy...a big old banana on a stick, covered with chocolate, and frozen solid....they were also just 10cents...

As a side story about the Taffy Apple Factory, my mom told this story....one year, some friends of their allowed their daughter to visit California, once my parents had moved out there...this young gal teen was from the suburbs of Chicago....she was going to spent a few weeks with my parents in Northern California, and my parents wanted to make her trip out there memorable....she wanted to visit San Francisco...it was just a few hours south of where my parents lived, so down they went, leaving home early in the morning....

Now Dad, did not know the layout of San Francisco too well, so they just parked the car in a public parking lot, and took a cab, whenever they needed to....

Well, they caught this one cab, and as is often the fact, the cab driver asked them all where they were from ...the gal of course mentionned the Chicago suburb she was from , and mom and dad told him where in California, they were living, but mentioned that they were originally from Chicago...well, the cab driver said, he was also from Chicago...so my mom wanted to know what area...he told her 'Roger Park'...well, my mom said, "Ah, my daughter and son in law and their boys lived in Rogers Park...so mom wondered exactly in Rogers Park this guy lived..

He gave her the street names, and then said, he lived about a block north of the Taffy Apple Factory....my mom was just shocked, as she told the cab driver, that me and BiGDom lived one block south of the Taffy Apple Factory...this cab driver and BigDom and I lived in Rogers Park, just separated by two blocks intersected by the Taffy Apple Factory...

I am sure we never knew each other, but it just goes to show, that its really a small world after all...