Autumn is my favorite season – not only because it brings a relief from the heat of summer (however, this year, summer was a sequence of rain days and heavy temperature swings, often in the downward direction), as well as the most wonderful colors in nature and this gentle, golden sunlight, but also because it yields the most wonderful fruit and vegetables. During the rest of the year, I usually long for all that wonderful produce that is out of season then, and look forward to autumn.
The transition from summer to autumn is marked by the beginning of the apple season. This is wonderful because apples are my favorite fruit.
In August there are the first new apples which we call “Augustäpfel” in German – those rather pale, greenish apples that want to be eaten quickly because they do not last very long.
Due to the warm spring we had this year, a rich harvest can be expected: There was an abundance of grapes, and the fruit trees bow from the amounts of plums, pears, and apples on their branches. Meanwhile, other apple varieties have ripened as well, and by the beginning of the week, my landlady has placed a big basket of windfall apples from her garden in the courtyard for everybody to take. I snatched quite an amount which I carried away in my spotted red (and favorite) bowl.
These apples are wonderful because they come with a refreshing sourness, totally unlike the little sugar bombs that are sold at the supermarkets nowadays. Admittedly, from time to time, I enjoy the sweetness of a Pink Crisp apple, but overall, I very much prefer the sour and juicy kinds. So now, I am sitting on this big bowl of apples, trying to eat my way through it. This was done in the following regards so far …
First of all, these apples make a wonderful snack.
However, they do contain some worms … This is natural, organic produce, friends! And since I am not so hardcore that I would take the risk to bite into a worm, I rather cut them into pieces before eating them.
~ naturally, lots of cinnamon have to go with it ~
And – surprise, surprise! – I also like to enjoy them in a combination with roasted chicken.
Finally, I love to add an apple to a green smoothie. (This love goes on and on and on …) Here is a recently enjoyed combo of spinach, carrots, apple, and plum.
~ looks muddy, tasted delicious ~
I already have some more (and more fancy!) ideas what to do with all those apples, but I would love to hear yours as well! So, if you were sitting on a big bowl of apples, what would you do with them?
