Anyone who doesn’t understand why the tomato is sometimes called ‘love apple’ has never taken a good look at a perfectly ripe heirloom tomato. Even if pomme d’amour was a misunderstanding of pomme de Moors, a perfect tomato is one sexy fruit. I picked up this rubenesque beauty at the U District Farmers Market this morning, on the last day of Kittitas Valley Greenhouse’s very long season. Their greenhouses keep the plants warm, but they use no artificial lights. At this time of year the tomatoes will grow, but there’s not enough daylight to ripen them. As I think about eating seasonally, I puzzle a bit over tomatoes in November. However, I just plucked the last few cherry tomatoes from my plant today; if they’ll ripen on my front porch, that’s seasonal enough for me. With this tomato, however, I say farewell until next year.
Truly, madly and deeply in season right now are apples. Who doesn’t love apples? With all of the varieties available, there must be an apple for everyone to love. At the farmers market today, Paul and I were shopping for apples for the traditional Thanksgiving apple pie. (There’s a good story about apple pie in our family, but that’s for later.) We stopped at Jones Creek Farms‘ stand, and sampled Melrose, Quebec Belle and - get this name - Zabergau Reinette apples. All of these varieties were new to me, and all were delicious. The Zabergau was particularly interesting - a russeted apple with a rich, complex flavor. Not an apple that would appeal to everyone; another shopper who tasted it just after us did not like its taste. We bought a few Melrose and Quebec Belle for pie, and two Zabergaus just because I liked them. (I also thought they would photograph well, and they do.)
As we were completing our second circuit of the market, Paul spotted a farmer selling Empire apples. A cross between McIntosh and Red Delicious, Empires were developed at Cornell in the ’60’s. One bite took me back to the little market near Paul’s house in Connecticut where I first bought them. To me, Empires taste like fall in New England, and like young love - sweet and juicy, crisp and spicy. We brought a few Empires home with us, too.
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These apples superficially look a lot like the Asian Pears.
I bet you have a great apple pie recipe. My mom would love to have it.
She and my father have worked out a pretty good recipe that is sugar free and combines apples and the figs we grew here in the yard. It is pretty good actually.
Dang, girl. You’ve gotten me all hot and bothered. Fabulous fotos. You just keep getting better and better (writing and fotos, both).
I just wanted to express my appreciation for a most enjoyable reading experience - your whole blog (not just this post!). I stumbled upon it just by chance several months ago,looking for some cat related sites and I have returned regularly to see what has been happening. Your style of writing is refreshing, you cover a wide variety of topics and it is a pleasure to read. Thank you for the opportunity to have a continuing glimpse into an interesting life!
Carnival of the Cats #139
Despite the host becoming a grandmother this weekend, Mog still has the time to pretent the Carnival of the Cats over at Mind Of Mog for its one hundred and thirty-ninth appearance. And let’s not forget the Catmodel of the…
Carnival of the Cats #139
Despite the host becoming a grandmother this weekend, Mog still has the time to pretent the Carnival of the Cats over at Mind Of Mog for its one hundred and thirty-ninth appearance. And let’s not forget the Catmodel of the…
We went to an heirloom apple festival in Hood River, Oregon, a few weeks ago and it was fantastic. There were dozens there we could taste. My new favorite is the Newtown Pippin–it was Thomas Jefferson’s favorite as well!