Apples

[altivo]

I am really getting tired of this cold...

If I wanted any evidence of the equine in myself, I don't think I'd have to look any farther than my craving for apples. Mind you, I'm choosy about them. Some of the common varieties are not worthy of the name, let alone of being eaten. Roger Yepsen was entirely correct when he declared the so-called Red Delicious to be nothing more than "a shiny little red plastic bag filled with sawdust." Fortunately, we seem to be slowly emerging from the dark ages in which the oxymoronic Delicious varieties dominated the marketplace almost completely. Now if we could just teach the people who produce cider how to select and blend their apples...

Life is too busy lately, not enough time for reflection, let alone artistry and sharing. But I'm looking forward (a bit nervously) to Midwest Furfest in another month for a little mini-vacation. The stupid election will be over with, whatever the disastrous results are. My phone will have stopped ringing with requests for money to support candidates and parties to whom I wouldn't give the time of day, let alone my financial resources. The fall round of fiber art shows will be finished, the "getting the farm ready for winter" chores done (I hope.)

Best of all, I should be rid of this irritating stuffy head and cough by then. I think I'll go bake an apple pie. :)

Comments

[animist.livejournal.com]

Get well soon. I like apples, too, but rarely eat them - I have poor luck in getting any they last in my fridge more than a few days. I read a neat book a while back, called "The Botany of Desire" that talked at length about apples. Did you know they originated in Kazakhstan? And the Johnny Appleseed's apples were meant for making hard cider?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yes and yes. "Hard" cider (somewhat less alcoholic than modern beer) was a staple in colonial times and up through the 19th century. Apple varieties were grown and selected just for cider, and combined in blends designed to produce maximum flavor and sweetness.

Temperance rioters burned and destroyed whole orchards back a century or so ago, rendering some apple varieties extinct as a result. Harrison apples and Campfield apples were grown in quantity for the cider trade. No known example of either tree exists today.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Rules for buying and keeping good apples:

1. Do not under any circumstances buy Red or Golden Delicious.


2. Be aware of the varieties and their characteristics. Jonathan and Macintosh are good in the fall, but often do not store well.


3. Apples are best stored in such a way that they can breathe. Do not leave them in plastic bags. Do not put them in the refrigerator. Cool, not cold, and darkness are best.


4. If possible, obtain your apples from a farmer's market or orchard. Supermarket apples have often been mishandled and stored too long, and they come in plastic bags.

I've known 3 horses...

[favouritewindow.livejournal.com]

That didn't like apples. Very rare, but you do get them, it seems :P One of them is hilarious. She looks at the apple, sniffs it, then turns her head away disgustedly. Funny though, since she will eat just about anything else...

Re: I've known 3 horses...

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I've met horses who wouldn't take a whole apple or bite from one, but never a horse who would not accept a cut piece of apple. I think all four of mine might take a carrot first if offered a choice, but they do like apples. Others I've known would mug you mercilessly if they could smell apple on you. Woe betide you if you tried to eat one yourself in their presence without sharing.

Stablemates when my boys were at a boarding stable taught me that my horses also like sweet corn (cob and all), grapes, chunks of banana (with peel), and uncooked brussels sprouts. I discovered on my own that they love snow peas as much as I do, ripe strawberries, and fresh green beans.

The most amusing reactions come from pieces of broken peppermint stick. The boys chew those, then race in circles shaking their heads with occasional pauses to flehmen. When the effect wears off, they come back and nibble my pockets to see if there are any more.