Wednesday, October 20, 2004

An apple a day...

On the last day of the Farmer's Market, F the orchard man showed up, finally, with the Arkansas Black apples he had been promising to bring. No, they aren't black, just a very deep, dark red. So I bought a bag and then caught sight of some Golden Delicious, so I bought some of them too. It is a sad state of affairs that millions of people have never tasted a fresh-off-the-tree apple but instead must rely on store-bought apples that may have been sitting in a storage for weeks or even months. And having said that, as I picked up the sack of Arkansas Black apples. . .
F: You know, you can't eat those apples.
Me: I can't eat them?
F: They have to mellow.
Me: Mellow? (why do I keep repeating what he has said??)
F: Yes, you must put them in the refrigerator for at least a month and half or they won't be any good.
Me: Really? You're not teasing me are you? (F has been known to do that on occasion. Before he retired, he was our regular UPS delivery person.)
F: No, I'm not kidding. We usually put ours in the cooler and don't eat them until February.
Okey dokey. So yesterday I had a Golden Delicious, which truly was delicious -- sweet, crsip, a and jucy, and the bag of fresh-off-the-tree Arkansas Black apples are sitting there in the refrigerator, in storage. Go figure. . .

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