McIntosh apple

Try Empires in Apple-Pear Cobbler with Cheddar

WITH THE ARRIVAL of classic mid- to late-season apples like Cortland, Macoun, and McIntosh, and newcomers like Gala, Honeycrisp, and…

Versatile Cortland a Great Choice for Apple Brownies

MANY APPLES are described as “all purpose,” meaning that they are equally good eaten fresh, baked, cooked, or pressed into…

New England’s Apple Crop Approaching its Peak

A BRIEF TOUR of Vermont orchards Monday shows how New England’s 2016 apple crop is shaping up. Mid-season varieties like…

Table of apple pies by Geri Griswold (Russell Steven Powell photo)
The Apple Pies of Our Eyes

THE APPLE’S unique status as a cultural icon takes on special meanings in America when baked in a pie. Apple…

A bin of Cortlands from Boothby's Orchard and Farm
The Classic All-purpose Cortland

THERE MAY NOT BE a better all-purpose apple than Cortland. It has long been known for its excellence in pies….

Empire apples on the tree at Ragged Hill Orchard, West Brookfield, Massachusetts. (Russell Steven Powell photo)
Mid-season Pleasures: Empire and Spencer

IT TAKES YEARS, sometimes decades, between the time an apple variety is discovered and it becomes available to the public….

There is no ‘A’ in McIntosh

MANY PEOPLE, and some orchards and supermarkets we have visited, want to stick an “a” between the capital “M” and…

Time to Get Hopping (to New England’s Apple Orchards)

THERE IS NOTHING like a day of orchard hopping to get the juices going about the 2015 apple crop. We…

My Favorite Apple

NEXT TO “What is the best pie apple?” the question I am asked the most — and which I frequently…

McIntosh Meets Cardamom

VERSATILE as apples are, I have not come across many recipes that combine them with the sweet spice cardamom. Though…

How to Eat a Fresh Apple

TWICE A DAY at least I reach into a paper bag in my refrigerator and pull out an apple. It…

What is the Best Pie Apple?

AFTER TWO MONTHS of intensive research, we are forced to admit failure — once again — in our perennial quest…