BY KRISTINA CASE
Fun facts, delicious recipes, and how to pick the best variety-we are celebrating this favorite fall fruit!
THE RIGHT PICK
With over 100 varieties to pick from at your local grocery store, selecting the right apple can be hard. Here’s some help!
PIES/BAKING
Pink Lady (hold their shape well), Gold Delicious, Jonagold, Braeburn
SNACKING
Gala, Fuji, Cosmic crisp, Jazz
APPLESAUCE
McIntosh, Pink Lady, Gold Delicious- they are soft and cook down nicely
SALADS AND CHEESE BOARDS – pick crisp ones!
SweeTango, Ginger Gold, Honeycrisp–with a flavor closest to apple cider, Honeycrisp are a delicious addition to salads and paired with cheese
Tartly perfect!
Granny smith continues to be a favorite for baking.
BOBBING FOR APPLES
Apples are 25% air (which is why they float)
Where did this come from?
Surprisingly, even though it’s a fall activity, this game originated in Europe hundreds of years ago as a common way for young lovers to court one another. Each apple represented a special someone, and if the bobber, typically female, successfully bit into the apple with the name of a love interest in one go, then fortune favored the lucky couple, and fate gave them the go-ahead. Two attempts meant their love wouldn’t last a long time, and three attempts to bite into the apple meant it would probably be best to not pursue it at all. That’s a lot of pressure for one apple.
Apple Pie Caramel Apples
BY JENNY GOLDSBERRY
Save yourself the $10 and make your own apple pie caramel apples for just over a buck! My family makes them every year and gives them as gifts to our neighbors.
4 green apples
4 wooden skewers
⅛ of a 5-lb. caramel block (the whole block will make you 30 caramel apples)
4 cups white chocolate chips
½ cup cinnamon
½ cup sugar
First, stab your apples with the skewer. Do not pierce the apple all the way to the bottom. Also, keep in mind that the middle of the apple isn’t necessarily where it stands upright from. Stab the apple from an angle that keeps it upright. Then refrigerate all the apples. Microwave the caramel to soften and then pour into a slow cooker to keep it soft. Dip each apple as far into the caramel as you’d like. I like to leave less than an inch of the green apple showing. Once dipped, pull the apple out above the caramel but still in the pot and twist and twirl it until all the excess drips off. Then, the apples rest on a baking sheet while the caramel hardens.
Now, get some water boiling in a pot. Put the chocolate in a metal bowl and then put that bowl over the boiling pot. You will have to mix the chocolate as it melts. Take your caramel apples and dip them into the chocolate but just below the line of caramel. Lift and twist and twirl like you did before. While the chocolate is still warm, take a shaker and put your cinnamon and sugar inside, mixed. Sprinkle the mixture all over the apple. Refrigerate until you eat them.
Stately fruit
Did you know? 58% of all apples come from Washington state.
The apple is the OFFICIAL FRUIT of six states: Minnesota, New York, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Illinois.
APPLE FLAVORED
These apple products will have you celebrating fall in the best way!
Stonewall Kitchen Cinnamon Apple Pancake & Waffle
stonewallkitchen.com
New takes on classics
Available at grocers for a limited time
APPLE SCENTED
Your home and hands will smell delicious!
Mrs. Meyers Apple cider dish soap & hand soap. Target.com
Wax and Wane Apple Cider soy candle. Amazon.com
Make your own apple scented candle at the Art Box in Ogden. Call 801-675-1078 or visit 455 25th St, in Ogden.
We didn’t want cranberries to get jealous, so here’s a dip for your holiday table!
Cranberry-Jalapeno Cream Cheese Dip
BY CRYSTAL RAPPLEYE
12 oz. fresh cranberries
¼ cup green onions
1-2 jalapeños, deseeded
2 Tbsp. cilantro
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
¼ tsp. salt
16 oz. cream cheese, softened
Pulse the fresh cranberries in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Add the green onions, cilantro, jalapeño, sugar, lemon juice, and salt and pulse until the ingredients are well combined and finely chopped. Let the mixture refrigerate for at least 4 hours to combine the flavors.
Whip the cream cheese. When ready to serve, spread the cream cheese in an even layer on a serving plate. Top with the cranberry-jalapeño mixture.
Serve with crackers.
Apple Fritter Pull-Apart Bread
BY KRISTINA CASE, ADAPTED FROM DELISH.COM
2 granny smith apples, peeled and diced
1 Tbsp. Butter
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
½ tsp. vanilla
1 can Grands buttermilk biscuits
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
5 Tbsp. melted butter
Glaze:
1 ½ c. powdered sugar
¼ cup half and half
1 tsp. vanilla
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9×5” loaf pan. Cook first 6 ingredients over low heat for about 8 minutes until thick and apples are mostly cooked through.
Cut up biscuits into quarters and roll into balls. Dip into melted butter, then dip into the ¼ cup sugar and cinnamon mix. Put a layer of biscuits into loaf pan and add a layer of cooked apples and repeat. Before baking, make sure to put a parchment paper-lined baking pan under the loaf pan to catch any drips. Bake for 40 minutes until golden brown and biscuits are cooked through.
Let cool for about 10 minutes and invert onto serving plate. Drizzle glaze over the top and serve warm.
For extra fall flavor add ½ tsp maple extract to glaze for a delicious maple glaze.