"I know the look of an apple that is roasting and sizzling on the hearth on a winter's evening, and I know the comfort that comes of eating it hot, along with some sugar and a drench of cream... I know how the nuts taken in conjunction with winter apples, cider, and doughnuts, make old people's tales and old jokes sound fresh and crisp and enchanting."

Mark Twain

Apple Trivia

Apples come in all shades of reds, greens, yellows.

Two pounds of apples make one 9-inch pie.

Apple blossom is the state flower of Michigan.

2500 varieties of apples are grown in the United States.


Apples are grown in all 50 states.!


Apples are fat, sodium, and cholesterol free.


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.


Apples were the favorite fruit of ancient Greeks and Romans.

Apples are a member of the rose family..

Americans eat 19.6 pounds or about 65 fresh apples every year.

25 percent of an apple's volume is air. That is why they float.

The largest apple picked weighed three pounds.

Europeans eat about 46 pounds of apples annually.

The average size of a United States orchard is 50 acres. Many growers use dwarf apple trees.

Charred apples have been found in prehistoric dwellings in Switzerland.

Most apple blossoms are pink when they open but gradually fade to white.

Some apple trees will grown over forty feet high and live over a hundred years.

Most apples can be grown farther north than most other fruits because they blossom late in spring, minimizing frost damage.

It takes the energy from 50 leaves to produce one apple. Apples are the second most valuable fruit grown in the United States. Oranges are first.

In colonial time apples were called winter banana or melt-in-the-mouth.

One of George Washington's hobbies was pruning his apple trees.

America's longest-lived apple tree was reportedly planted in 1647 by Peter Stuyvesant in his Manhattan orchard and was still bearing fruit when a derailed train struck it in 1866.


Archeologists have found evidence that humans have been enjoying apples since lat least 6500 B.C.

The world's larges apple peel was created by Kathy Wafler Madison on October 16, 1976, in Rochester, NY. It was 172 feet, 4 inches long. (She was 16 years old at the time and grew up to be a sales manager for an apple tree nursery.)

It takes about 36 apples to create one gallon of apple cider.


The old saying, “ an apple a day, keeps the doctor away ”. This saying comes from am old English adage, “ To eat an apple before going to bed, will make the doctor beg his bread.”

Don’t peel your apple. Two–thirds of the fiber and lots of antioxidants are found in the peel. Antioxidants help to reduce damage to cells, which can trigger some diseases.


Courtesy of University of Illinois Extension



"Comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love."
The Song of Solomon 2:5

Ode to the Apple


Look at the apple I have found,
so fat and rosy on the ground.
Mother will wash it and
cut it in two
half for me and half for you.











CAMPFIRE BAKED APPLES

INGREDIENTS
1 large apple of choice
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3/4 teaspoons butter
3 or 4 cinnamon red hot candies
INSTRUCTIONS
Core apple while leaving it whole. Place sugar, butter, and red hots in the hole of the apple. Wrap in foil. Place wrapped apple into hot coals and cook until apple is done. Baking time varies with the variety of the apple but is usually 10-15 minutes. Apple may be tested for doneness by poking it with a fork






MICROWAVE BAKED APPLES
1 medium apple
2 tablespoons frozen unsweetened blueberries (not thawed)
about 1/16 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons agave nectar (or other sweetener)
Wash an apple and remove most of the core, leaving about 1/4-inch at the bottom. Remove a thin strip of peel from around the cavity. Place the apple into a deep microwave-safe baking dish or bowl. Sprinkle the inside with a little cinnamon and fill with frozen blueberries. Drizzle the syrup over the filling and top of the apple.
Cover the dish with lid or plastic wrap. Microwave until apple is tender, 3-5 minutes, testing with a fork after 3 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving. (Caution: Inside can be very hot, so do let them cool before eating.)