It’s Apple Time! America’s Favorite Fruit is in Season

It’s that time of year when apples are plentiful and are priced their lowest in the year. Amazingly there are over 5000 varieties of apples! But your local grocery store will probably carry closer to a dozen types that are most popular and readily available in the United States. Apples are relatively careless when it comes to growing conditions, and this is why they grow easily in many parts of the world. Lucky for us, because apples are not only healthy, but they are one of America’s most beloved fruits. This is the time of year to take advantage of all those luscious beautiful apples which can be eaten raw, juiced, baked, and many other ways! Even the most tart of apples make good apple pies, so get out and buy a bunch of apples and bright up your counter with a basket full and get cooking! From apple sauce to apple cider to apple butter to countless desserts and breakfast ideas, make yourself feel like a kid again with the excitement of exploring the world of apples.

The most popular apples you are likely to find in your local market are Red Delicious, Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, Jonathan, McIntosh, Cortland, Fuji, Honeycrisp, and Braeburn. For a guide to the most popular apple varieties, including a gallery of pictures, visit

http://www.usapple.org/consumers/appleguide/guide.cfm#gingergold

The average Americans eats about 20 pounds of apples each year or about 65 fresh apples every year. If you eat raw apples, it is best not to peel them because more than two thirds of the fiber and antioxidants are found in the apple peel.

Apples are crispy, tasty and always handy to grab and eat. Apples are known to aid in weight loss and reduce cancer and blood pressure risks. Apples are a key ingredient to having a healthy diet. They also brighten your teeth and help you breathe easier!

When buying apples in bulk, for long term storage put them in a perforated plastic bag. This will keep them from shriveling. Apples will ripen 10 times faster in a warm place, so it is best to store them in a cooler temperature. Keep some in your refrigerator, and some in your basement or garage in the autumn months, so long as it is not too warm or too cold. You don’t want the apples to freeze. They keep best at a temperature of about 40 degrees. Check on your apples to make sure they don’t get soft, because that will affect the surrounding apples too. It is also advisable not to store apples near potatoes because gases are released that make potatoes sprout “eyes” faster.

For a collection of apple recipes visit

http://www.vermontapples.org/recipes.html

and

http://whatscookingamerica.net/AppleRecipes.htm

and

http://www.worldfamousrecipes.com/apple-recipes.html

and
http://grannyskitchen.com/apple/

and

http://www.waga.org/recipes.html

and

http://www.virginiaapples.org/recipes/

and

http://www.vtweb.com/vermontweathervane/96.9september/recipes.html

and

http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/family/specialfeature/apples_sf/

and

http://www.traxfarms.com/recipes/apple_rec.htm

For a list of apple orchards you can visit, check out this link

http://www.applejournal.com/trail.htm

To learn about apple varieties visit

http://www.allaboutapples.com/varieties/

To learn about the history of the apple visit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple

and

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/maia/history.html

To learn interesting facts about apples, go to

http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/apples/facts.html

http://www.bestapples.com/

See what the US Apple association says about apples

http://www.usapple.org/consumers/recipes/index.cfm

For the basics of home canning apples visit this link

http://www.homecanning.com/usa/

For a collection of caramel apple recipes visit this link

http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/FoodandFamily/Fall_2002/simplecelebrations/rw_fall+fare.htm

And for a collection of even more apple links visit

http://www.orangepippin.com/

I bet your mouth is watering now, just thinking about all those delicious apples just waiting to get into someone’s belly! It’s that apple time of year, so do something good for yourself and treat yourself to a healthy apple. It’s all good.