Fruit of the week blog.

go here: http://www.theperfectworld.us/thread.php?id=2066

A pleasant discourse among friends about their other friend, the apple.


Lila Jones -- Monday, September 26, 2005 -- 09:52:29 AM -- 23 of 93
Now with feathers.
I vote fruit of the week should be apples. Let the great varietal debate begin!

Sabine -- Monday, September 26, 2005 -- 10:00:26 AM -- 24 of 93
Nutrax for Nerves
I just smashed a few apples with the lawn mower. They were boskoops.


Lila Jones -- Monday, September 26, 2005 -- 10:12:14 AM -- 25 of 93
Now with feathers.
Whahhh? I've never heard of that kind.
Does that mean you have your own apple tree, or were they neighboring apples?
There is an apple tree on my route to the subway, and it is getting very tempting to sneak in to the garden and grab some. /Eve

Sabine -- Monday, September 26, 2005 -- 10:22:35 AM -- 26 of 93
Nutrax for Nerves
Lila, I have this suspicion that apple varieties have very different names in different countries. If they happen to be the same varieties, that is. Who wants to eat the globalized varieties, anyway? Boskoop is the prime cooking apple here - very tart, very firm and crisp. I will really need to post a recipe for apple strudel now.
My favourite widely available apple has in recent years been Topaz. My greengrocer says it's an old variety that has come into its own in organic orchards, as it's very resistant to most fungi. Here's a picture:
I eat about 2 pounds of those a week. They are truly excellent apples. However, I still pine for the Kaiser Wilhelm apples my grandparents used to have. The trees don't lend themselves to modern fruit harvesting, as they are invariably very large, so we don't get to buy them here except on farmers' markets, but oh! the delicious tartness!
edit: Lila, those were apples from the neighbour's vast tree.

Lila Jones -- Monday, September 26, 2005 -- 11:23:45 AM -- 27 of 93
Now with feathers.
I like the highlight. I actually do eat an apple a day, and sometimes have to restrain myself from eating two. The Topaz look nice, and sort of similar to Jonathans.
Braeburns are my standby eating apple, but the Galas have been good lately, and Granny Smiths are a nice fallback since they're reliably crisp. We're going to be driving through Vermont this fall, and I really want to stop at an orchard to pick up some fresh apples and cider.

dissonance -- Monday, September 26, 2005 -- 11:29:14 AM -- 28 of 93
"Dave, haven't you ever heard the expression when life gives you lemons, make lemonade, and then throw it in the face of the person who gave you the lemons until they give you the oranges you originally asked for?"
I made an apple crisp yesterday with MacIntoshs that was quite yummy. I may make another one today.
If the weather is nice this weekend, we'll probably go out to one of the local apple farms and go apple picking. Then make applesauce.

rtb -- Monday, September 26, 2005 -- 12:31:32 PM -- 29 of 93
live from new york!
The Botany of Desire has a very interesting section on apples, Johnny Appleseed, and how different varietals made it or didn't. Apparently there's an orchard in upstate New York with thousands of nearly extinct heirloom trees, all different kinds, many practically inedible.

duck -- Monday, September 26, 2005 -- 06:35:17 PM -- 30 of 93
ambition without intellect is really all you need, Kate Carmichael
Years ago, I found an old abandoned apple tree, quite a small one, in the corner of two fields next to a road in Fall City, WA. I was a poor grad student, and I used to go collect them to make apple sauce. They were almost woody in texture, inedible without cooking, but great cooked. They were almost brown, almost like large medlars as I remember.

J-Ro -- Monday, September 26, 2005 -- 06:40:59 PM -- 31 of 93
It will all be OK in the end. If it isn't OK, it isn't the end.
Russets.

Wilma Flintstone -- Monday, September 26, 2005 -- 08:02:25 PM -- 32 of 93
I'm on my second batch of apple butter with apples from my mom's tree. I make it in the crock pot.

TAFKA -- Monday, September 26, 2005 -- 08:26:54 PM -- 33 of 93
If life gives you lemons, make lemonade--and then try to find someone whose life has given them vodka.--Ron White
Who wants to eat the globalized varieties, anyway?
Southerners who, before the advent of globalization, were stuck with way too many so-called Red Delicious apples.

Marya -- Monday, September 26, 2005 -- 09:03:36 PM -- 34 of 93
You are the Proust of TPW, and we all prefer J.K. Rowling. -j. ross
I made an apple pie yesterday. With Granny Smiths, because the Gravensteins I bought AT AN ORCHARD were sow wretched and spotty and mealy they weren't worth eating. Sheesh.

Scarface Claw -- Monday, September 26, 2005 -- 11:18:36 PM -- 35 of 93
Loads of class and all of it third.
I thought there were local varieties too but my faves are all thes ones Lila mentioned. Pink Lady is my apple of choice but aren't Grannies supposed to be best for cooking?
I'm planning make apple turnovers this week so the conversation is timely.

GregD -- Monday, September 26, 2005 -- 11:55:29 PM -- 36 of 93
The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. I find pink lady far too sweet. Like candy.

Scarface Claw -- Monday, September 26, 2005 -- 11:56:43 PM -- 37 of 93
Loads of class and all of it third.
Good for a healthy fix if you want something sweet though. And very nice with natural yogurt.

Sabine -- Tuesday, September 27, 2005 -- 12:26:14 AM -- 38 of 93
Nutrax for Nerves Of course we now need all sorts of apple pie recipes.

Eileen_Kramer -- Tuesday, September 27, 2005 -- 01:09:03 AM -- 39 of 93
My favorite dessert apple is the Empire and my favorite all purpose apple (cooking and eating) is the Cortland. I think coming from New York State has a lot to do with my preferences. Eastern apples have a certain flavor that Western varieties don't. I've tried Pink Ladies and they are excellent, but Empires still beat them, I think.

Jillian PlicPlic -- Tuesday, September 27, 2005 -- 01:38:47 AM -- 40 of 93
So round/So profound/So great/To contemplate
I love Pink Ladies. The worst apples in the world, though, are the damn ones growing in my backyard, speckled with apple scab and falling all over my yard so that I will have to pick them all up...