The Apple of My Eye

Americans eat approximately 19.6 pounds of fresh apples annually.

Apples are a member of the rose family.

The most popular variety in the United States is the Red Delicious.

Fresh apples float because 25 percent of their volume is air.

There are more than 7,000 varieties of apples grown in the world.

This weekend I hoped to get in the apple picking mood by attending the Sebastopol 100th Gravenstein Apple Festival. Located in the beautiful Sonoma Valley, California, the festival takes place nestled amid the rolling vineyards and orchards. Local artists ply their wares. Small town historic societies display artifacts. And apple growers sell every imaginable apple product known to man. Families play darts to win a jackpot of a bag of apples. From apple fritters and apple doughnuts to apple pies and apple port, there was something to satisfy any apple craving you might have. I am proud to report my husband and I were able to try it all. I am inspired to create my own apple masterpieces.

I have a very old apple tree in my backyard. Every year yields enough apples to fill my kitchen. Traditionally, for two days I peel and core apples making batches of applesauce, pie filling, and apple crisps. Some years, I leave most of the crop on the tree for the local wildlife. Squirrels always send a thank you. The tree only produces fruit on one side these past couple of years, as if a stroke paralyzed the other side. It is aging like the rest of us. Out of respect for the work it takes to still crank out fruit after 50 years, I cannot ignore the crop this year. Thus my UFOs have multiplied tenfold for the week.

Unlike knitting, this UFO is time sensitive unless you are aiming for a fruit fly breeding business. Today the ladder comes out and up I go. I know from experience that this is my least favorite part. Branches whip me in the face like they are auditioning for a part in the Wizard of Oz.

After the picking, sorting, and cleaning, comes the peeling. Over the last twenty five years of hosting my own "Apple Days", I have acquired a bevy of apple related gadgets to peel and core. One peeler is so complicated an engineering degree is needed to assemble. I use them all. By this afternoon my kitchen will be pleasantly fragrant with the smell of fresh apples. It will also be covered on most surfaces with bits of apple and peels hanging from places that should be gravitationally impossible. Peels will be in my hair and if the cat ventures through the room she will no doubt leave with a peel or two to play with. Won't that smell good when discovered under the bed two days later?

So I am off to face the day. If you don't hear from me please come dig me out from under the apple peels.