Baseball Widow

Angels in the Outfield & Homemade Applesauce in the Sports Widow's Kitchen

August 26, 2008 10:25 PM | 0 Comments

It was a mercifully quiet, low-impact sports night for me. It's been raining steadily here in Seattle, and there is a chill in the air that reminds me Fall is right around the corner. We have an espellier in our front yard and it's producing three varieties of apples, two of which are ready for harvesting.

So I alternated between watching the movie Angels in the Outfield with the kids (it was on TV) and making homemade applesauce. After flipping burgers on the grill and a hotdog for our the non-burger lover (14-year-old Kit), our sports fan Bryan descended to the basement family room to watch sports on TV: "I'll take baseball for $500, please."

The first time I saw Angels in the Outfield, my son Austin was in the hospital fighting a bizarre infection in his left leg. It was a nightmare for my husband Bryan and I. It happened nearly five years ago on the anniversary of 911. Austin, who was in kindergarten, complained about having pain in his ankle. The school nurse called me, and I took him home. We propped up his leg and iced it, but by 9pm, Austin was hysterical from the pain and his temperature was 103 degrees. What was puzzling was that there was no external evidence of a problem on the leg; no swelling, no bruising. We raced Austin to Seattle Children's Hospital, and they discovered that he was fighting a massive infection.

When Austin went into surgery the next day, we were prepared for the worst. The infection had colonized between the muscle and bone of his calf and there was a fear that it may be necrotizing or flesh-eating. Prior to the surgery they had no idea what condition his leg would be in or if they could halt the agressive infection. It was my darkest moment as a parent.In the end, strep was identified as the culprit, but the doctors never could determine how it happened. The theory was that the strep entered an old cut or a spider bite and then colonized the leg when Austin hit it on playground equipment.But the rest is history. Like the movie Angels in the Outfield, Austin must have had angels watching over him.

After two weeks in the hospital and subsequent weeks of physical therapy, Austin completely recovered. As an active boy involved in baseball, basketball, tennis and shortly soccer, you'd never know he had to face this challenge, but it has given him a maturity that others his age don't have.

On a totally different subject, my applesauce is outstanding, if I do say so myselt. I combined some Joy of Cooking recipes and, voila, it's a masterpiece.
Apple (Pie) Sauce
1) Peel, core and cut apples to approximately 1/2-inch thickness
2) Place apples in a skillet with butter and lemon juice
3) Saute with lid on, over low heat for 15-20 minutes, until apples are stewed and soft
4) Mash with a potato masher or use a food processor for a finer consistency
5) Add brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla to taste

It's like eating apple pie, and the kids are very enthusiastic about it.The Sports Widow(aka Nan Hall)