Apple varieties

Click here to read Cider Days, Part One

The internet search for a local cider press yielded exactly one option: Sally’s Cider Press in Harmony, PA, about an hour and a half away. They only press on Saturdays through the end of October, so on Friday I got busy sorting and packing apples.

Those buckets of apples that had been stored downstairs for a month needed to be gone through, leaves clipped off, and bad ones thrown out. There were surprisingly few bad ones, but unlike when we did our own pressing and cutting, we couldn’t just cut out the bad spots for this cider pressing. Twisted, ugly apples were fine, and so was mild bruising, but any apples with rotten spots were culled. The truck was packed the night before–pressing starts at 8 AM and we figured there would be a line.

*Here’s the truck as we left on Saturday morning at 6:15, both of us about as crabby as those apples in the orange bucket…*

I also picked some now ripe apples from the Winesap tree, some from our old green apple tree that no one knows its variety. (Yellow transparent? Grimes Golden? Rhode Island Greening?–I really need an apple DNA website…) Mr. H.C. had picked the crabapple clean two days before, and I threw in some of the Jonathans and misshapen Honey Crisps that we had left.

We pulled up at Sally’s Cider Press at 7:45 with about ten vehicles in front of us: everything from a dump truck filled with apples to small SUV’s with 4-5 tote bags. Sally’s will press any amount with a minimum fee of $25.

It was a beautiful mid-September day with everyone shedding their hoodies about 10:00. It was just about then that it was our turn…

The owners were so nice to talk to–Mister complemented us on our variety and told us that they have been so busy this year, it’s been overwhelming. We talked about the amazing apple season and he noted that last year they were lucky to press three trucks a day. I agreed. Last year, I said, we had no apples. Sally cheerfully took our photo while we filled the containers. We ended up with 24 gallons of cider, for which we paid $78. It’s a solar powered mill that does UV pasteurizing, so if we wanted to, we could resell it.

Eleven gallons went into the freezer; I’m canning three or four gallons; I’m fermenting four gallons (First timer!); and that leaves 4-5 gallons to drink and give away. (And, of course, later we found another large bin of apples that had been sorted, stashed away, and forgotten.)

So both ways of cider making were fun — and exhausting in their own ways. We’ve still got apples on two trees, but it’s manageable now. And I’ll let you know how my fermenting experiment goes…

I’m not sure why we loved Mom’s baked apples so much. They are a homely dish, not fancy, and easy to make.

It might be that we got to eat a sweet dessert-like food for dinner — she never served them for dessert — we always ate them right along with whatever else we were having. Or it might be that she only made them in fall and early winter when we had fresh apples.

Depending on how long the apples baked, or how juicy the apples were, the recipe was never the same. Sometimes the sauce was thin and sweet, sometimes the sauce was thick and caramel-like; it didn’t matter, we always loved them.

We have four different apple trees at Apple Hill and only one variety has been absolutely identified: the Red Delicious. (They are the two apples on the right in this next photo.)

So in the interest of trying to determine what varieties the others are, I decided to make baked apples using all four kinds of apples. Two of each, knowing that Mom almost always used Red Delicious for hers. They are not a cooking apple, so they hold their shape very well when baked; and also, it’s a good use for them, because who really likes to eat a Red Delicious? There are so many better varieties — beats me why they ever got famous for being a good eating apple!

See the dish of walnuts on the right? Those are from our very own English walnut tree! Talk about being happy campers when we discovered that! We thought the tree was the traditional black walnut with those nuts that you have to drive a car over to get the husks off, as well as staining your hands and fingernails a beautiful, rich dark brown.

It took us about 30 minutes to pick and shell enough walnuts for the baked apples. Technically the nuts are supposed to dry in the shell for about a week, but we couldn’t wait! Maybe the next picking…

The Recipe:

Wash, halve, and core the apples, but don’t peel them.
Mix together some soft butter, brown sugar, oats, and walnuts or pecans if you like. Some people add raisins or dried cranberries.
Scoop about a tablespoon of the mixture into the center of each apple.
Pour some liquid into the bottom of the dish. I like to use cider and a splash of water. If you’re out of cider, you could use some water and maple syrup. You could use orange juice and water. Use your imagination. Sprinkle with your favorite spice—cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg…
Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or so, until the apples are soft. Uncover for the last five minutes.

Serve warm with dinner. Pay attention now: this is not dessert. No ice cream, no whipped cream, no creme fraiche…

The experiment was a success. The greenish yellow apples on our side yard tree have been judged to be a Yellow Transparent — good for cooking and eating (just be sure to peel them).

The other two trees on the wild part of the property seem to be Jonathans (ripe now)

and McIntosh (not quite ready, but they still taste delicious!)

Verdict: the Red Delicious looked the best and tasted pretty good. The Yellow Transparent tasted good, but they separated from their skins and didn’t look so appetizing. The Jonathans looked just okay, but tasted the best. The Macs are definitely not for baked apples; they turned into crunchy applesauce.