“Schiller liked to have a smell of rotten apples, concealed beneath his desk, under his nose when he was composing poetry. Walter de la Mare has told me that he must smoke when writing. Auden drinks endless cups of tea. Coffee is my own addiction, besides smoking a great deal, which I hardly ever do except when I am writing.” – Stephen Spender
The most popular apples sold in the United States, according to the US Apple Association in 2011 were, in descending order: Red Delicious, Gala, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Fuji, McIntosh, Rome, Empire, Honeycrisp, Idared, Jonathan, York, Cripps Pink, Breaburn, Cortland, Northern Spy, Jonagold, Stayman and Cameo. All the names sound intriguing and and like a travelogue; well, except for Granny Smith which always makes me think of Granny on The Beverly Hillbillies…And yet we see so few varieties at the grocery store.
And rarely seen, too, at least in my prosaic neck of the woods, are heirloom apples. I am sure the hypothetical artisanal Brooklyn green market that I see in my mind’s eye has some of these very exotic apples: Pitmaston Pineapple, Calville Blanc d’Hiver, Maiden Blush and Grimes Golden. Organic Gardening says that the Newtown Pippin was George Washington and Thomas Jefferson’s favorite apple, and that Jefferson grew Esopus Spitzenburg in his garden.
Red Jacket Orchards, located in the Finger Lakes region of New York, is a supplier for the Brooklyn Borough Hall Greenmarket. They grow 30 kinds of apples! Closer to home, Lockbriar Farms has 19 varieties of apples, including Ginger Gold, Honey Crisp, Braeburn, Granny Smith and Pink Lady. More apples can be found at Redman Farms and Gingersnap Farm and at your local green or farmers’ markets. Don’t be held hostage by the limited varieties available to you at the grocery store! You can also order apples from a veritable panoply of websites, but shopping local is really best. Don’t forget to cruise through the Easton, Centreville, and Chestertown Farmers’ Markets.
Apples always seem to be the harbinger of autumn and of school lunches and snacks gnawed after school while sitting at the kitchen table, pouring over the latest copy of Life magazine. Though I remember lolling the summers away in a neighbor’s back yard, where blowsy hydrangea blossoms wavered in the heat and the grass was covered with fragrant, rotting crabapples. That crabapple tree was a good height for climbing, too, always an added kid bonus. And there were grapevines, with lip-puckering green grapes. Eventually the grapes ripened into sweet purple orbs, which were perfect for spitting. But I digress…
Apples were a lunch bag staple, as were oranges. Bananas never seemed to survive the trip to school, the morning spent shoved in a locker and then being bounced down to the lunch room. So tender, so unstable. Yet they were an intrinsic part of the lunchroom smell: old bananas, sour milk, vomit and the green sawdust the janitors used for sweeping up the floors.
“Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.”
– King James Bible “Authorized Version”, Cambridge Edition
There seem to be an equal number of apple dishes we can prepare as there are varieties of apples: apple sauce, apple butter, apple cake, apple pie, apple tart, apple cider, apple brown betty, apples and cheddar cheese; there is probably an enterprising entrepreneur at a state fair someplace in the great Midwest who is replacing deep-fried Twinkies with deep-fried apples! We discovered last night that Luke the wonder dog likes Fuji apples. (He also likes iceberg lettuce, fresh asparagus, Roma tomatoes, green peppers and plastic wrapped slices of American cheese, sans the plastic, please.)
We like a good humble apple pie. I get my best Martha moments trying to weave the top crust without swearing like a sailor. As always, I cheat and buy pre-made, rolled up pie crust in the refrigerator section of the grocery store so I have no excuse for my pies not turning out picture perfect. I maintain that candlelight is not just for romance; it is nature’s own Photoshop, and my wobbly crust weaving looks practically perfect. Of course, there are also recipes which do not entail torture devices. Food52 had a competition for “The Best and Prettiest Apple Pie”. What a positive concept!
Remembering Autumn Apples Pie Filling
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 pounds Golden Delicious apples (or something pretty from Mr. Jefferson’s garden if you can find it!), peeled, cored, thinly sliced
Using the store-bought pie crusts, put 1 crust in a 9-inch pie pan, and crimp the edges. Add the pie filling ingredients.
Roll the second pie crust out on a flour surface and use shears or a knife and cut the dough into 12 1-inch strips. Arrange 6 strips across the top of the pie, and then diagonally arrange the other 6 strips to create the lattice effect. I always struggle with the skills I honed at summer camp making dozens of woven potholders to bob and weave the strips into a painful semblance of latticework. I am assured that it is very tasty despite the rustic appearance.
Crimp the edges, brush with milk or egg white, pop onto a cookie sheet and into the oven – which you have already cleverly preheated to 400°F. Bake for about 10 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 375°F, and continue baking for about an hour and 20 minutes. Keep an eye on the crust – you don’t want it to scorch.
Cool. Serve with ice cream because you know you want to.
“With an apple I will astonish Paris.”
-Paul Cezanne
https://food52.com/recipes/10221-the-best-and-prettiest-apple-pie
https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/04/heritage-apples-john-bunker-maine
https://www.ruthreichl.com/books.html
https://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/heirloom-apples?page=0,2
https://www.redjacketorchards.com/
https://www.food.com/recipe/deep-fried-apple-rings-137045
All about Apples: The Apple Lover’s Cookbook: https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/28/dining/the-new-apple-lovers-cookbook.html?_r=0
Decorative Piecrusts: https://www.marthastewart.com/274216/making-decorative-piecrusts/@center/276949/everything-thanksgiving
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/old-fashioned-lattice-top-apple-pie
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