An Autumn Gift

AN APPLE IS AN APPLE, IS AN APPLE, IS AN APPLE

No way!
It seems that, overnight, the leaves have started changing color here in Massachusetts’ Pioneer Valley. I’ve watched the apple trees go from dark, bare branches, to veils of snowy blossoms, to the quiet green of summer and now those branches are weighed down with APPLES.

I love the juicy, crisp Macintosh that I find in mid-September. . .. Then there are the Cortlands, the Macoun, Mcintosh, Empire, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, the Baldwin, the Northern Spy and, my very favorite for making apple sauce, the SpyGold. Spy-Gold Apple is a cross between Northern Spy and Golden Delicious and sometimes this variety is hard to find but well worth the search.

Because I am known to be an apple lover, I am often asked to name my favorite apple. My first reply is that taste is an individual thing. Certain people like only sweet apples, others only tart. My favorite sweet apples are, ‘Pome Gris’, ‘Hudsons Golden Gem’,and ‘Golden Russet’. There are just so many good apples. All these are better than ‘Red Delicious’. ‘Red Delicious’ is sweet but not much flavor. These are all flavorful apples. Try them and you will see that some of them even have a longer aftertaste. After taking a bite and tasting the apple you will notice that the flavor lingers in your mouth like a fine wine.
The old axiom “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” is not far off the mark. The apple is found to be high in a variety of nutrients and the happiest number is the calorie count of 86m for a medium sized apple.

There are many, many apple foods. Must admit that after the new crisp Mac, the beautiful Cortland and the Spy-Gold’s wonderful applesauce. However, when it comes to apple foods, I lean heavily to apple cider (a few more calories here).
As children my brother and I would ride in the back of Dad’s old pick-up truck, taking the apples to the cider press. What a glorious aroma! We were treated to some sweet apple cider there and then and loved it right from the source, as it were. However, after the cider came home, that which was allowed to “work” was rather rationed for children. The fizz and sparkle on the tongue was unforgettable and so were the results of overindulgence!

Before the cold blasts of winter, the snow, the heavy skies and often colorless days, through the winter we still have the gift of the autumn – the crisp crack, the tongue tingle, the sweetness and color of the apple. And with this bounty is the promise of return as soon as the dark bare branches dress in their bursting soft pink and white then warm themselves in the sun and soft rains and their natural foliage. Then the apple lovers wait impatiently until the early, crisp Macs signal one of the most well-known gifts of autumn, the Apple.