To Peel or not to Peel Apples for Pie

[BakerAunt]

Thanks, Italian Cook. The map shows an orchard to the south. I'll investigate if it is a you-pick one. It may be where the vendor at last Tuesday's farmers' market is located. I'll also use the map for when we make our trip.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.

[Mike Nolan]

I know there are some u-pick orchards in western Ohio (somewhere around Toledo), I see them every time we drive down I-80 to visit our son in Pittsburgh, but we're never making that trip during apple season, so we've never stopped there. Not sure how far away that is from where you are, there may be better options in Michigan or Indiana.

[BakerAunt]

I checked and the orchard to the south is not u-pick, and they only sell at farmers' markets (including Indianapolis!) I'll see if there are any around Rockville, where we will go for the covered bridge festival in October. We'll be in west central Indiana.

Addendum: My husband thinks that there will be plenty of apples available at the festival. He remembers that from years ago, and says there was fresh-pressed cider as well--so will I please stop bugging him about our route. Sigh. Non-bakers just do not understand about sourcing the right ingredients, but they certainly appreciate eating the results!

• This reply was modified 6 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.

[Italiancook]

Drink some fresh-pressed cider for me. When I was a kid, our after-school chore in the fall was to pick up apples off the ground from under the trees. These apples were taken to the mill and sold for cider.

[Mike Nolan]

I knew a guy who made applejack from apples that grew on his farm. He'd let the jug sit out in the winter and after it froze he'd chop through the ice to pour off the fermented applejack, it had a REAL kick by then!

Local legend had it that his trees and some others in Jo Daviess County were the descendants of ones planted by John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed), but the Johnny Appleseed historians have no record of him ever having visited NW Illinois, where I grew up.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 8 months ago by Mike Nolan.

[Rascals1]

I'm all for a jug of cider lol

[BakerAunt]

There was a speaker at the farmers' market today whose talk was on the apple orchards that once were a major part of this area. When he was asked why they were no longer here (the last one closed in 2000), he said that the movement toward commercialization and few people baking with apples had led to the closings. Sigh. We need a Make America Bake Again movement.

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