An apple a day...BLACK APPLES?

I have decided that the produce I buy at my local store tastes like dirt compared to the organic (same priced) produce I can buy at the People's co-op if I drive to another end of town. Yes it's making more emissions with my (but I drive a Fit so that helps?) but the organic food is a million times better! 


After hanging out with my cousin yesterday I headed over to People's co-op (in Ocean Beach, Ca), she graciously let me use her member number and I played around getting random types of fruits and produce--like a kid in a candy shop. She had warned me that there were apples everywhere. No joke! There were heaps of different varieties of apples (and you all should know how I love my apples!), so I grabbed one of each. 


Because I eat an apple a day I'll be trying a new one and sharing about it daily. Today's apple is the Arkansas Black apple. It reminds me of the apple given to Snow White. It tastes very sweet but very hard--almost like a baking apple. I wrote that description then did some research, here's what I found...(not surprisingly):

Arkansas Black is one of the darkest of all apple cultivars, hence the name; with storage the skin continues to darken. The Arkansas Black apple is one of the crispiest and most dense apples around. It is a late maturingapple that is generally considered best for cooking & desserts rather than eating out of hand. hahaha


Here's a little more apple fun for you as I go on my apple tasting journey throughout the next few days.

Apple Tips & Trivia

• Rub cut apples with lemon juice to keep slices and wedges creamy white for hours.
• Store apples in a plastic bag in the refrigerator away from strong-odored foods such as cabbage or onions to prevent flavor transfer.
• Apples are the second most important of all fruits sold in the supermarket, ranking next to bananas.
• Tens of thousands of varieties of apples are grown worldwide
• The history of apple consumption dates from Stone Age cultivation in areas we now know as Austria and Switzerland.
• In ancient Greece, tossing an apple to a girl was a traditional proposal of marriage; catching it was acceptance
• Folk hero Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman) did indeed spread the cultivation of apples in the United States. He knew enough about apples, however, so that he did not distribute seeds, because apples do not grow true from seeds. Instead, he established nurseries in Pennsylvania and Ohio.
• Three medium-sized apples weigh approximately one pound.
• One pound of apples, cored and sliced, measures about 4 1/2 cups.
• Purchase about 2 pounds of whole apples for a 9-inch pie.
• One large apple, cored and processed through a food grinder or processor, makes about 1 cup of ground apple.