So I guess we have more than enough apples to enjoy for a few days… or so…
I didn’t get to fulfill my hopes of apple picking in Korea this year. I couldn’t track down a farm that would allow you to pick yourself. I guess I can add that to my list of things that I do miss from home.
Don’t worry! We did fulfill the apple void by ordering a 15 kilo (roughly 33lbs) box of freshly picked apples from a farm South of us. These apples are delicious! My stomach is envisioning many nights of apple slices dunked in caramel and topped with whipped cream, totally healthy, hey! You’ve got to live a little.
Speaking of apples and things that I miss, almost every fall my family makes applesauce and cans it for the winter. The sauce is heavenly. Just the perfect amount of sweetness. If I were home right this second id be begging to make it with them. Hopefully there is at least one jar left when we go home for a visit to savor.
How do you enjoy your apples? Plain? sauced? baked? Feel free to let me in on a few recipes too! Goodness, you see our refrigerator, I think we can spare a few and try out a new thing or two.
The nerd in me had to share these fun facts that I received in an e-mail as I was writing this blog. Perfect timing!
- The crabapple is the only apple native to North America.
- Apples come in all shades of reds, greens, and yellows.
- Two pounds of apples make one 9-inch pie.
- 2,500 varieties of apples are grown in the United States.
- 7,500 varieties of apples are grown throughout the world.
- Apples are grown in all 50 states.
- Apples are fat, sodium, and cholesterol free.
- Apples are a great source of the fiber pectin. One apple has five grams of fiber.
- The science of apple growing is called pomology.
- Apple trees take four to five years to produce their first fruit.
- Most apples are still picked by hand in the fall.
- Apple varieties range in size from a little larger than a cherry to as large as a grapefruit.
- Apples are a member of the rose family.
- Apples harvested from an average tree can fill 20 boxes that weigh 42 pounds each.
- The largest apple picked weighed three pounds.
- Most apples can be grown farther north than most other fruits, because they blossom late in spring, minimizing frost damage.
- Apples have five seed pockets or carpels. Each pocket contains seeds. The number of seeds per carpel is determined by the vigor and health of the plant. Different varieties of apples will have different number of seeds.
- Apples ripen six to ten times faster at room temperature than if they were refrigerated.
