I relived a bit of that apple picking tradition today. My friend Joan has celebrated her birthday by picking apples for as long as she can remember. So she invited a bunch of us along to a trip to Carlson Orchards to pick apples, eat apple cider donuts, and generally have a good time.
Trees full of Empire Apples, which are deep red in color (almost like plums), and have a finish that somehow reminds me of a red wine. I'm holding onto what I picked of these (almost 1/3 of the peck I bought!) for eating straight.
There were several varieties of apples to pick at the orchards today. We discovered the Empires first, which are my favorite snacking apples of the day and the first apples that Tabby--the youngest member of our crew (she's 2!)--had ever picked. Super exciting (and super cute!). A row over, the Royal Galas were our next stop. These almost artificial-looking bright red apples were too sweet for our taste--I put three in my bag before tasting them, and that's all I ended up bringing home. The rest of my peck was split between Cortlands (the apple I rediscovered at Rochester's Public Market when I was an undergrad) and Macouns.
When I got home, (after a period of trying to be productive and then napping), out came the Cortlands and the cutting board:
...and about two hours later, I had an apple pie!
apple pie filling my favorite pie pan. apple pie and pastry recipes from the 12th edition BHG cookbook
Now the apartment smells like those applesauce making extravaganzas I remember from years ago... and I'm looking forward to putting apples in the slow cooker to make apple sauce or apple butter and making it smell this way again later this week. Mmm, fall.