It's apple time

[NotHardUp1]

It is a shame that the premium apples are so dear. They really DO taste better.

As far as when apple time comes, that obviously is dependent on both latitude and altitude. I knew that places like Albuquerque would already be seeing apples ripen in the nearby Sandias or upstate toward Colorado.

It will obviously come later here in the Deep South.

 

[me203]

It is a shame that the premium apples are so dear. They really DO taste better.

I really liked the apples carried at a produce market (run by the person I mentioned who put off eating apples as long as possible). They had connections to get apples from small farms, and varieties you can't get, period, in a large supermarket. But the prices weren't exactly cheap--although they probably had great apples at a price you might pay for an OK supermarket honey crisp.

Of course, even rock bottom grocery store offerings are "too expensive" for some. I remember my grandmother got price conscious, and the produce aisle was where she made cutbacks. And someone told me a few years ago how expensive vegetables are. (Maybe. But did she price the cost of treating diseases that one might not get if one eats those vegetables regularly?!)

 

[NotHardUp1]

I respect the apple delay. Feel that way myself about peaches, or more specific in ally, I pace myself so that I don't burn through fresh frozen peaches I put back to top pound cake and whatnot in winter.

 

[PrinceCory]

The prices are so high they should have a finance office by the honey crisp apples so you can arrange financing...

Yep, even at Walmart. Picked out 7 apples and they cost over $8 for the lot. My local Kroger store had them on sale of about $1 off per pound. I stocked up over a 3 day span with 5 bags of hand picked apples. I don't know if they are "new" crop or just getting rid of previous crop. I guess it doesn't matter, they are good.

 

[me203]

For those irritated about how expensive honey crisp apples are at a supermarket...

Take a look at how expensive the Apples are in the Apple store. Yikes!

 

[me203]

Another memory from when I was a boy. Every so often, my mother would make hot spiced apple cider. I've tried making it, but it's never as good as what I remembered... Maybe I should try again this fall--but I figure I probably don't need a hot cup of what is basically liquid sugar.

 

[NotHardUp1]

Maybe try cutting the cider with water until it is just sweet enough, and not as strongly sweetened.

 

[Thad1527]

My favorite apples are Cortlands. They make really great pies. I think they're underappreciated.

 

[me203]

Maybe try cutting the cider with water until it is just sweet enough, and not as strongly sweetened.

My concern isn't so much tasting too sweet as I'm not sure drinking (basically) sugar water is that healthy.

I just looked up one brand of cider. About 2 tb sugars/cup. Yikes!

If my postings suddenly make it sound like I'm on a sugar high, it could be I caved to temptation and made hot spiced cider.

 

[me203]

If I were more ambitious in the kitchen these days, instead of being the lazy sloth that I am, I might try making this apple upsidedown cake. (Recipe is written out in the description box on the YouTube page).

 

[windsors]

Love Honeycrisp, but way over priced.

 

[me203]

Another memory...caramel apples. Made when I was young by wrapping apples with caramel sheets that were made just for apples. I think I might have first encountered this in elementary school as part of some afternoon school project. (Maybe even part of a "you need to eat healthy!" unit. "Today, class, you each have a healthy apple in front of you! Now, you'll wrap your healthy apple with a piece of processed sugar!")

 

[me203]

Another memory from elementary school...but a bit sad...

Day before Christmas vacation. (The fact I thought of it as "Christmas vacation" and not "winter vacation" shows just how old I am. ) We were each given an apple as a gift. Some kid made a deal of a trade. If I gave him my apple, he'd be nice to me for the rest of the year! Stupidly, I took the deal! Then, he told me...he viewed the rest of the year being the calendar year, no academic year. And that was the last day of school for that calendar year.

I felt more crushed by this than an apple run through a cider press. Not sure what was worse. Losing my apple--even though we always had a supply at home. Or my hopes of being treated decently by just one boy in the #$@#$ school getting smashed to smithereens.

 

[PrinceCory]

Another memory from when I was a boy. Every so often, my mother would make hot spiced apple cider. I've tried making it, but it's never as good as what I remembered... Maybe I should try again this fall--but I figure I probably don't need a hot cup of what is basically liquid sugar.

When I was a kid we had hot apple cider for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The only spice (I think) we had in it was cinnamon sticks. Some years, for a change, instead of apple cider we would have hot Dr. Pepper with cinnamon sticks. Pretty darn good actually.

 

[PrinceCory]

Another memory...caramel apples. Made when I was young by wrapping apples with caramel sheets that were made just for apples. I think I might have first encountered this in elementary school as part of some afternoon school project. (Maybe even part of a "you need to eat healthy!" unit. "Today, class, you each have a healthy apple in front of you! Now, you'll wrap your healthy apple with a piece of processed sugar!")

I tried using those wraps a couple of times. I didn't think they tasted as good as dipping the apple in melted caramels. This time of the year (for Halloween) we can get caramel apples dipped in peanuts pieces in the grocery store. I usually get one or two 3-packs each year.

 

[me203]

I tried using those wraps a couple of times. I didn't think they tasted as good as dipping the apple in melted caramels. This time of the year (for Halloween) we can get caramel apples dipped in peanuts pieces in the grocery store. I usually get one or two 3-packs each year.

I can't remember the wraps--I probably last had one 40-plus years ago. But I can imagine they weren't the best. But if my memories of this being an school project one day are right, the wraps would likely have been appealing for the teacher on safety grounds vs. having us (say) dip apples in a big pot of melted caramels.

I think I remember the seeing premade apples as early as the 1980s--I think that those replaced the caramel wraps in our house.

 

[me203]

Another fun apple memory... My junior high had an apple vending machine in the cafeteria. At the start of one year, they announced that the machine was currently out of service. Apparently, the staff forgot to empty it the previous June, and now they had to clean out apples that had been rotting for three months...

 

[NotHardUp1]

That is hilarious, and sad.

 

[NotHardUp1]

When I was a kid we had hot apple cider for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The only spice (I think) we had in it was cinnamon sticks. Some years, for a change, instead of apple cider we would have hot Dr. Pepper with cinnamon sticks. Pretty darn good actually.

Hot Dr. Pepper with lemon was a marketing push in the 1960's, and it was good. A great change from hot chocolate or tea, for variation.

 

[Vannie]

I don't get an allergic reaction. But I have found that eating an apple for breakfast and then having something fatty/greasy for lunch will give me the runs! It took me a year or two to figure out what was causing my "runs" to the bathroom.

Sounds just like stuffed cabbage night

Vannie, is the reaction only with whole fruit or with any form of apple?

Wondering if it is the apple or the skin, and if the peel, then to the wax they are bathed in, or pesticides.

Peeled or not. Granny Smith was always available when Mom was baking. And standard McIntosh or Red Delicious. Cooked no issues.

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