Pricing Out Apples

The apple challenge has certainly made me more conscious about the price and availability of apples. I am a localvore, that is I really try to ONLY eat food that is grown or produced locally and none of that processed stuff that fills the grocery store shelves (ahem, artificial grape flavor added to apples, WJR). Anyway, it can prove to be challenging, especially when trying to find a great deal for delicious apples.

Fret not, Clevelanders, for I have the answer; Nature's Bin offers locally grown Ohio apples for $0.79 a lb! That is certainly the cheapest I have seen it and it is consistently at this price.

Eat on, fellow applers.

Economy Boost

I know we're pretty early in the year, and some of these stats were on the rise before 2011 even hit, but I'd still like to think we're contributing: Strong Sales For Washington Apples

You're welcome, Washington.

BAT - Bacon, Apple, Tomato

Last week I was discussing Apple Challenge with some co-workers and Bill's TAB/BAT sandwich. We were debating which acronym was better. Someone proposed a different kind of sandwich that can also be called a BAT - bacon, apple, and tomato! At first I thought this would be awful, but curiosity got the best of me, so I had to try it.

I used half of a stem tomato, half a jonagold apple, and 2 slices of bacon.

Verdict -- win! It was a little messy with the thick tomato and apple slices, making it difficult to keep everything together.

Still, it was a good combination of juicy, sweet, and a little bit of salty. I'll definitely try this again.

Variety is the (Apple) Spice of Life

I'll admit it.  I'm really not at all an apple fan.  When I think, "Mmm, I'd really like to eat a piece of fruit right now," apples are usually my last resort (except for melons. Melons I won't touch).  I don't know where this apple prejudice comes from.  I really have no good reason not to like them.  Is it the taste, or the texture?  Do they remind me of that horrible night in college when I tried Apple Pucker for the first time?  I thought participating in the Apple Challenge 2011 would help me squelch my biases.  It was time to give the apple a fighting chance.

And, after eight days of eating them, I figured it out.

I prefer cooked apples over raw apples.  Cooking an apple just makes it so much more delicious than eating it right out of the fridge.  I think it has something to do with the juices being released.  And they become much more fragrant.

So great, I thought.  All I have to do is diversify my apple recipes over a year.  There are around 1,000,000 varieties of apples, so there has to be literally a ton things I can do with them in the kitchen, right?

Apparently, wrong.

Everyone on the Internet, and all of my cookbook authors, only want to put apples in desserts.  That's great, except for the times when you have to eat an apple a day for a whole year.  Sure, there are suggestions to pair apples with just about any type of pork; apples with cheddar cheese; apples in salad.  But where are the REAL savory recipes?  What delicious dinner dishes are there where I can incorporate apples?  Slim pickins, Internet, and I am disappointed in you.  So I've resorted to experimenting.

I like spicy things, so I thought I'd try apples with jalapenos.  On Tuesday night, I made Southwest-style chicken 'n' cheese with fajita-style apples, onions, and jalapenos on the side. Not bad.

The chicken IS under there, somewhere...

Tonight, I made another chicken dish: baked chicken with green beans, jalapenos, and apples, all smothered in a good country helping of hot jalapeno mustard from Grandpa's Cheese Barn.  Much better, if I do say so myself.

 What other exciting savory recipes for apples can you find, that don't call for pork or cheese?  (Although I must say I'm particularly excited about this one from KitchenDaily.com...which involves both cheese and a pork product...)

Let's get creative!  Only three hundred and forty-five days left to go!

You Got Your Grape In My Apple

It's tough to get anywhere in an apple challenge, and as I am completely out, I hit the store tonight to stock up on more apples and get myself caught up.

At the end of one of the apple sections I noticed a little 4-pack of apples that catches my eye.

To be honest, the "Free Soccer Ball" is what lured me in to begin with but then I wondered what was so special about these apples that they were in their own package rather than just hanging out with all of the other renegade apples. Why so fancy?

Upon closer inspection I found these apples were not your average apples. Apples for sure, yet different ... Grāpple! (pronounced "Grape-L" rather than "Gr-apple"). What on earth? Apples infused with natural and artificial grape flavor, that's what.

While intrigued, I got a little freaked out about grape infused apples so I didn't buy any of the Grapples and just stuck with the standard apple options. But now I've checked out the information on the Grapple web site and am slightly more open to the idea (that internet sure is persuasive), so in the name of experimentation and of Apple Challenge 2011 variety I think I will pick up a pack next time I'm at the store. Perhaps even two packs so I can get a Grapple soccer ball. "Allow 90 days from receipt of order" should get me a ball just in time for Spring soccer season. Yes!

I'll be sure to update if once I get on the Grapple bandwagon.

For those that shop at Pathmark or A&P...

...they salute you (with free apples this weekend):



If you already have the keychain swipe card for these respective grocery stores, you're halfway there. Just join their online coupon club to get the coupon, then you just spend at least $15 while shopping this weekend, and a free 3 pound bag of Empire apples are yours.

Why do apples always turn brown five minutes after the air hits them?

Taken from Steve's Consumption Details on 1/13/2011 12:48:33 PM. I always wondered that so I looked to the web and this is what I found:

Why Do Cut Apples Pears Bananas and Potatoes Turn Brown?

Why do apple slices turn brown after being cut?

Another Successful Sandwich

Made another tasty sandwich for lunch today. Tasty and apple infused.

The apple portion was half Jazz and half Granny Smith. The rest was turkey and brie. All on ciabatta with some honey mustard. I threw it under the broiler on the handy work toaster oven for a little toasting/melting action.

It looks a little bleached out in that photo, but believe me when I tell you that it was pretty excellent.

Four of the five food groups all in one easy to handle package. I should have thrown some veggies on there to go five for five but I feel like that might have thrown off the balance.  

It seems that while expanding my apple eating options I am also strengthening my opinion that cheese is great on pretty much everything and anything.  Apples are pretty versatile but cheese is the king of versatility.

One question though ... do I call it TAB for Turkey, Apple and Brie or call it TBA for Turkey, Brie and Apple or BAT for Brie, Apple and Turkey? Or perhaps skip the witty acronym and just call it what it is. 

Oh, the humanity!

day of a thousand apples... or three

So far I’ve been on track for the apple-a-day – 7 for 7. But, I’m worried I might pull a mile challenge and just end up taking a month-long break or two. That got me to thinking, if I got seriously behind in the apple challenge, would I be able to make it up? Would I be able to sit down and enjoy four apples in a day? Enjoy? I don’t know about that. But to have multiple apples in a day could end up being a real challenge. So I decided to challenge myself.

Today is my day of apples. Exhibit A: Breakfast.


Yep. That’s right. I own a gallon of maple syrup. I also made my own apple cinnamon oat meal from scratch and it was delicious.

Exhibit B: Lunch


I’ve seen a few people posting about their apple and cheddar sandwiches, so here’s mine -- Granny Smith apple, extra sharp cheddar, and ham! Perfect. (And I know it looks skimpy on the apple. I only used half of the apple, and ate the other half old school style.)

Exhibit C: Dinner


The classic combination of pork chops and apples. The recipe was from Martha Stewart and she wouldn't steer you wrong.

Three apples down, and I'm not sick of them yet. In fact, I'm ready for more. Maybe some apple crisp for dessert!

Apple Snob

My first job when I was 15 years old was working in the produce department of a large Cleveland supermarket. My first day on the job, this older guy Ken who apparently had 4 college degrees taught me an important lesson: when you work in produce, apples are free. In fact I later learned that pretty much anything was free. All you had to do if anyone asked was to say, "Oh this one had a bruise on it," and that thing was yours for the eating. I quickly moved on to other things, and most of my days on that job involved sampling apples while Ken made us fresh lemonade with "bruised" lemons and "damaged" boxes of sugar that he took right off the shelf. We were hardcore, man.

But I think my favorite part about eating all of that free produce was that I quickly became a self proclaimed Apple Snob. There are so many different kinds of apples and such a wide spectrum of tastes, and I got to try as many as we could get. For some reason, apples were often a topic of conversation at my school lunch table (because that's what all the cool kids talk about at an all boys college prep school), and it was nice being able to tell Eric that his taste in apples sucked after he had just made fun of me during Sex Ed class. Phrases like "a red delicious is like gross apple sauce stuffed inside an apple skin" had the whole lunch table admiring my superior knowledge.

What excites me most about doing this apple challenge is the fact that I once again get to dive into the world of apples. Growing up, I was a braeburn man. Working at that store turned me on to pink ladies, which I've almost exclusively eaten until now. It's time for a change, and I'm super excited about getting back into the apple scene.

So, what kinds of apples do you folks eat?

Cheese It Up

I strayed from the plain ol' apple routine already. Cheddar and apple sandwich for dinner:

Nothing fancy, but it certainly was tasty. I think next time I would probably go with a cheddar with a bit more sharpness and perhaps a Granny Smith (I used a Pink Lady). A little more bite would have been nice.

Hopefully I'll plan ahead a bit better for future endeavors but using what I had turned out A-OK.

I struggled to eat all those wedges, ugh...

One Granny Smith down. We don't need to eat the cores, right?

Art and Food

You don't really need to draw what you eat, but just in case you want to ...

Let's roll

All I'm saying is a Sharp Cheddar and Apple Grilled Cheese sandwich will definitely break up just pounding whole apples day in and day out. With all that cheese I will enjoy also working towards 365 miles in 365 days, i.e. the great challenge of 2010.

1 apple, 0 miles down. The health benefits of the apples and miles should play well with each other.

Arthur Brown - Spontaneous Apple Creation (1968)

Some theme music for the Apple Challenge. Especially appropriate for those who want to combine their apple intake with hallucinogen experiments.

It's Go Time

Welcome to 2011.

Challenge on! Begin your eating.