Autumn apples

In a world where you can eat strawberries to celebrate the New Year, it’s easy to lose track of the seasons when it comes to fruit.  But even though I never made it to the farmers’ market this summer, I did get to enjoy one fruit at the peak of its season: apples.

There’s a little apple orchard that we drive by on every trip to Wisconsin, but the gates are generally closed – except for a few months in the fall.  We often seem to miss our chance, but not this time.  Thanks to a reminder from D’s mother, we made sure to stop in during our last trip up north!

Quednow’s Heirloom Apple Orchard grows over 90 kinds of apples, and at any given moment you can stop by and choose from whatever is ripe and ready to eat.  These aren’t just Golden Delicious, Gala, or Pink Ladies – they’re unusual varieties (that I’ve never heard of!) like Wolf River, Akane, or Blushing Golden.

Stop by the stand and you’ll meet the friendly proprietress, two sleek and pretty cats, and a jumbo-sized rooster.

We came home with two bags of apples, a quart of cider, and some apple crisps – air-dried and crunchy.  Those were gone before we’d even made it back to Illinois!

Since I’ve been back, I’ve eaten apples for lunch and dinner (they make a great side for a grilled cheese sandwich) and dessert.  I’ve enjoyed glasses of cold cider and mugs of warm cider – next up is cider with a splash of rum!  And I have four big apples earmarked for applesauce, just as soon as I have a spare minute…