http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=236x81660Oh my.
tigereye (1000+ posts) Sun Nov-07-10 12:21 PM
Original message
Favorite apples? Or favorite apple recipes?
Ever since we started getting community share boxes from local farmers, I remember what apples used to taste like in the 60s, when I was a kid. They had a certain smell and wonderful sharp taste, which seemed to be absent in most grocery store apples as the years wore on. They were tasteless, mushy and lacking in that wonderful diversity.
The last 5-10 years I have been searching out more varieties of apples - Jonathans are my favorite, but I also like Winesaps, Jonagolds, Cortlands, Honey Crisp, McIntosh, etc. I went to an apple festival with local farmers and great pies this fall, and actually got to have a Black Amish apple, which were hand-bred (can't think of the gardening term at the moment) by a local farmer. It was amazing and not cheap, since there are so few of them produced.
I like to eat apples raw for the most part, but there is nothing like good apple pie or crumble.
Any favorite apples or apple recipes? Or ones you grow?
eleny (1000+ posts) Sun Nov-07-10 03:35 PM
Response to Original message
1. Honey Crisp and Pink Lady for munching
For baking I mostly use Granny Smith.
We're positively addicted to Honey Crisps!
grasswire (1000+ posts) Sun Nov-07-10 07:03 PM
THE FARMERETTE PRIMITIVE FROM UP OVER THERE IN WISCONSIN
Response to Original message
2. I had a wonderful time at farmer's market this year
An elder farmer and his wife became my go-to for apples. They are in their 37th year of apple farming, started the year their first child was born. They want to sell the farm as they are now exhausted. But they were at market every week, with many heirloom varieties. One that I really liked is the Cox's gold. Spitzenberg was excellent, too. My all-time fave for cooking is the Gravenstein, but it has a short life and early crop. Only about three weeks. I have bags of those sliced and frozen in the freezer for winter use. Thanks, farmers!
Also, here on the property is an espaliered row of about fifty different apple trees. Each one different. I have tried some of those, but honestly they have been so buggy that I might as well let the birds have them. They are pretty young yet, and not full-bearing.
Love apples! My favorite lunch: grilled cheese on whole wheat bread and an apple.
The empressof all (1000+ posts) Sun Nov-07-10 07:50 PM
THE IMPERIOUS PRIMITIVE, WHO DOESN'T LIKE US
Response to Original message
3. I've been making a lot of fresh Apple Charoset
I've been having it almost every night for dessert. I just grind an apple (or two) in the processor with some raisins, almonds and cinnamon. Give it a hit of Agave nectar and go to town. I sometimes add a splash of wine or rum. It's quick and easy and I don't have to chew it too much so I don't have to think about the teeth. It's also lovely mixed in with Oatmeal for breakfast.
My local fruit stand had local Honey Crisps for 49 cents a pound this week. They are closing next week so everything is rock bottom right now.
eleny (1000+ posts) Sun Nov-07-10 08:03 PM
Response to Reply #3
4. That sounds like it would be fabulous heated and topped with some sugar free Cool Whip
The empressof all (1000+ posts) Sun Nov-07-10 08:15 PM
THE IMPERIOUS PRIMITIVE, WHO DOESN'T LIKE US
Response to Reply #4
5. It's also really really good mixed in with jello
I use agar agar mixed with apple juice and the ground up apple mixture. Very yummy and filling.
You are right though it's great zapped in the microwave and used as a topping for ice cream. Trader Joes has these amazing Cinnamon Almonds that I've been using but it's also great with Pecans or Hazelnuts and adding your own spices. Cardamom is also really wonderful with it if you get tired of the cinnamon.
eleny (1000+ posts) Sun Nov-07-10 08:42 PM
Response to Reply #5
6. These days I've had cinnamon almonds on the brain
A friend wanted to find some for her grand niece for the holidays. I found a recipe that sounds so easy to make them at home. So I'm going to make these as neighbor gifts at xmas along with the same homemade marshmallows I made last year. The cinnamon almonds sound real Christmasy.
I also want to try and make them with the granulated Splenda they advertise for baking. Those would be for me and hubby.
You know, there's a sad sad story about franksolich and apples.
franksolich loves apples with a passion.
But alas apples make franksolich feel ill, and so he usually stays away from them.
I have no idea why; the same thing happens with chicken noodle soup and tea, too. Perhaps apples, chicken noodle soup, and tea have some microscopic trace-element in common that disagrees with franksolich,
Those things don't make franksolich ill; they merely make franksolich
feel ill.
And so one is reminded of the sad tragic story about the youngest son of Theodore Roosevelt, who had childhood diabetes. One day, when going about with his nanny, the little lad stopped to look through the window of a candy-store. The nanny reminded him that if he had candy, he would get sick.
"How sick?" the young Roosevelt asked.
So that's the choice franksolich has to make when considering an apple (or chicken noodle soup or tea); weighing the desire to have it, versus the speculative consequences of having it.
