Autumn and apples call for warm, homemade desserts

Since the days of the Dutch settlers, the Hudson River Valley below Albany has been known for its apple orchards. Each autumn, in 17th-century towns with Dutch names, row upon row of apple trees is heavy with fruit.

In late autumn, with the harvest in, handson Valley orchard owners but the fruit to good use in pies, sauces, salads, puddings, and kuchens, often with an eye to entertianing. Many of the valley fruit farmers have been on their land for generations. One such is the Robert Goold family, whose 150 acres lie near Castleton on Hudson. Bob Goold, a descendant of an Albany family famed for making fine carriages in the 1870s, was born on the farm and has lived there for 64 years, 39 of them with his wife, Marcia.

The Goolds grow Cortlands, Delicious, Spies, and the apple of all eyes in the Northeast, the crunchy, juicy McIntosh with its pure white "meat." They also grow the "new breeds" such as Empires (named for new York State), Paula Reds, Jersey Macs, Jonamacs, and Macouns. Several of these, as the names indicate, are crosses of McIntosh apples with other varieties.

"Everyone should try the new apples, which are excellent," Marcia Goold advised. "People ask me if we get tired of eating apples after all these years. The answer is 'no.' We have big bowls of apples in the house, waiting for guests , and we eat apple dishes several times a week." Apple Orange Nut Bread 4 cups sifted flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 2/3 cup shortening 2 cups sugar 3 eggs 1 teaspoon shredded orange peel 2/3 cup orange juice 2 1/2 cups ground apples 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Sift first 4 ingredients together. Cream shortening and sugar together. Add eggs and beat until night and fluffy. Mix in dry ingredients, adding alternately with orange juice. Add raisins, nuts, and apples. Bake in greased loaf tins at 350 degrees F. oven for 40 to 50 minutes.

Apple crisp is a favorite with Sue Goold Miller and her family. Sue uses Cortland apples, cloves, and cinnamon, and serves it ice cream. Apple Crisp 6 good-size apples 6 tablespoons butter 3/4 cup sifted flour 1 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 cup chopped nutmeats

Butter a baking dish, preferably glass. Peel and core apples and slice into dish. Mix 1/2 cup sugar, spices, and chopped nutmeats and sprinkel over apples. Mix remaining sugar with flour and cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Arrange on top of apples. Bake in a 350-degree F. oven fro 30 minutes. Serves 4.

Old recipe books in the Hudson Valley give directions for Farm House Apples, baked apples served wtih a sauce. The following recipe is adapted to modern cooking methods. Originally the apples would have been baked in a "Dutch oven" beside the kitchen fireplace. Farm House Apples

Peel and core tart apples. Fill the space from which the core is taken with seeded raisins, sugar, and litle shreds of citron and lemon peel. Stand apples in a baking dish, pour 1/2 cup water over them, and dust with sugar. Bake in slow oven until tender and then sprinkle with bread crumbs. Dust again with sugar and bake 10 minutes more.

While apples are baking, mix 1 tablespoon flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1/2 pint of boiling water. Boil 1 minute. Remove from stove and pour slowly over beaten egg. Add a piece of lemon, then pour over apples and serve warm.