The Apple Connection: Apple Cookery with Flavor, Fact and Folklore....

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

This is the fifth and, we’re told, the final “Connection” cookbook from the same East Coast author.

The subject, of course, is apples—apples in soups, in cakes, puddings and pies, apples in main dishes, salads, jams and jellies, relishes, dumplings. Apples baked with everything from cabbage to rose petals. The author states that the book does not attempt to be comprehensive. Undoubtedly there are apple recipes that have been left out, but, considering the quantity and quality of the offering, it’s not likely they’ll be missed. What is included ranges from the traditional and comfortable to the rare, unusual, and offbeat.

The arrangement of the book is irregular and confusing. Apparently putting all desserts together, all beverages in one section, etc., was too dull an approach for the author. Instead, she used an intuitive order, “a sort of outpouring,” with a detailed table of contents to help organize the flood.

Equally irritating is that sometimes the author violates the tradition of listing ingredients before launching into the “how to” or method of the recipe. Imperial measures only are given, with the occasional anachronism such as ounces instead of cups for dry ingredients.

The book is not typeset but hand lettered, and sometimes the printing gets a bit sloppy and hard to read. It does, however, give the book an attractive, approachable appearance, as if the author were jotting down favorite recipes for a friend. Scattered here and there are bits and snippets of apple facts, which look suspiciously as if they’ve been clipped from other books or magazines.

Line drawings and a sprinkling of quotes (“apple pie without cheese is like a hug without a squeeze”) round out a very unconventional book. It will have strong appeal to cookbook addicts/collectors and to those who enjoy reading about cooking as much as they enjoy cooking.