Monday, September 29, 2008

I Picked Them Apples

Gala, McIntosh , Golden Delicious and Jubilee Fuji

Our annual Indiana apple picking extravaganza was later than usual this year and we missed the Honeycrisp apple picking season. The apples we brought home were consolation enough. Plus, they're still available further north. Honeycrisp season extends into October in northern Michigan, Wisconsin and its native Minnesota and several farmers are still bringing them to market in Chicago.

For those unacquainted with the variety, the Honeycrisp is a product of cross-breeding the Macoun and Honeygold varieties. The coupling produces an apple that is notably crisp and simultaneously sweet and tart. Also, there's less shedding.

So what are we going to do with them apples? Most of them will be eaten whole or with peanut butter. But a few lucky ones will be braised with cider and cinnamon and heaped on tomorrow morning's oatmeal. Mmm.

2 comments:

Jessica Paul said...

Had to comment on the Honeycrisp post. I first learned about them 3 autumns ago via a segment on Chicago public television advertising their arrival at the farmer's markets. I was pregnant and literally ate nothing but honeycrisps and peanut butter for days on end! Ever since, I anxiously await their arrival and even photographed their sign at my local whole foods with my cell phone and texted it to my friend to let her know honeycrisp season on the east coast had started. Glad to know Pinch shares my zeal (and thanks too for the background on the variety. Interesting!).

Katie Fairbank said...

Glad you're enjoying them in your new city! I wasn't sure how far across the country they had swept. Washingtonians (State, not district) are still in the dark on the phenom.