Pickin’ Time

You cannot have a bad day going out to pick your own apples. OK, I’ll admit one caveat: it’s better to avoid the crowds on sunny weekends during leaf season – but other than that…

And it’s even better, of course, if you have kids along for the fun. Most of the orchards have really gotten into the family-outing spirit, and provide any number of entertainments to amaze little ones: hay rides, feeding the animals, cider pressing demonstrations. And, at least if you’re an urbanite, there’s something a little awe-inspiring even to an adult about the act of climbing a tree, picking something from it and eating it right there.

And – I almost forgot – cider doughnuts. Yes, please.

We’ve been frequenting our local Russell Orchards (formerly Goodale Orchards) a couple of times a year, since our daughter was born. Even today, when she brings friends home to visit, it’s a “must see” on the itinerary of her home town tour. It’s been around since 1920, and is still the place to go for apples, cider, pumpkins (and maybe just a couple of doughnuts wouldn’t break the diet.)

Another place we occasionally visit in October is the Nashoba Valley winery, a beautiful farm out in Bolton, MA. You can grab some apples there as well, but the main attraction is the wine tasting. They’ve got some really top-notch oenologists there, making very sophisticated wines not limited to the grape. The Baldwin apple, Gravenstein apple and Dry Pear whites are particular favorites of ours. They make a Dry Blueberry red, wonderful with steak, that you’d never guess was not from grapes. The after-dinner Peach wine is as delectable as a Beaumes-de Venise. And – although my husband is the only one in the family that really goes for it – the Cranberry Apple is a natural for the Thanksgiving dinner toast.

So, since it’s pickin’ time, we put together a menu centered completely around apples. Only our side dish contains no apple: potato Latkes, made with "pommes de terre" (French for apples of the earth). Latkes are traditionally served with applesauce, and we employ them as the perfect foil for our Poussin with a Calvados cream sauce. We’ve got our first-ever signature cocktail, the Mela di Notte, created especially for us by the folks at Salt Kitchen and Rum Bar, riffing on Applejack. Even the name of the issue,  “Scrapple from the Apple” – it’s a Charlie Parker bebop standard from 1947!

Hope you enjoy. And who ate that last doughnut???!!!

My husband says: One of the nice things about having an orchard handy is the opportunity to try some varieties that you don’t normally see in the grocery store. Since many of these have been going concerns for a very long time, I get to experiment with several so-called “heirloom” apples. One of my very favorites is the Gravenstein. It’s only available early in the season, so you need to start using them as soon as you see them. But it’s got a wonderful, wine-like richness and a perfect texture for baking. Later in the season, I’ll switch to Northern Spy – a bit crisper, making it a pretty good all-purpose apple. I usually combine these with a couple of Cortlands or similar, to up the tartness factor a bit.

Plus we even have one lonely apple tree in our yard. It’s seen better days, and I have no idea what kind it is, but I can usually get enough apples from it to make a batch of Apple Butter. Our daughter gets to take the lion’s share of that back to NYC with her, but that’s what cooking is for, right?