What's On Tap

Apples at Somerville's Winter Market earlier today

There are fifteen different kinds of apples for sale until 2 pm today at Somerville's Winter Market, unless they have run out.

Mostly Harmless

On December 2 of this year, when things are usually pretty quiet here, the traffic to this little blog suddenly went through the roof.

On Twitter, Matt Haughey, who has a preposterous 28 thousand followers, had tweeted some very nice things about my blog.

Temporary internet fame ensued.

The Two Sisters

Once upon a time there were two sisters, Lucy Glo and Lucy Rose.

Lucy Glo was the tangy one, Lucy Rose the sweet.

Or so they say. Today, we'll see.

A good many apples

It's easy to see a list of all the apples I review on this blog, if you are reading this on a desktop computer.

Just scroll down enough and you'll see the list in the right-hand sidebar.

Some of you are reading this on a phone or tablet and the sidebar is hidden.

For you, all my apples (as of today) are listed below as clickable links.

Lucy Rose

I had to travel all the way to Colorado to find this apple from Washington State.

Lucy Rose, and her sister Lucy Glo, are in supermarkets in many parts of the U.S. They have not, however, made it to eastern Massachusetts.

This does seem to be the Year of Red Flesh here at Adam's Apples, does it not? Lucy Glo is also red fleshed, though she is otherwise unlike her sister.

Yes, we have no bananas

Behold, not for the first time, Calville Blanc d'Hiver, the classic French cooking apple.

I'm glad to have two of these, but also disappointed. Here's why.

Season's end

Beneath the grey November sky, the last farmers market of the season held court today in a parking lot in Davis Square, Somerville.

Lucy Glo

What's striking about this apple? It's the unusual color—a "glo" that is the result of a pastel orange-pink color peering through an otherwise pale green peel.

(Click on any photo for a closer look.)

This look reminds me of the tan exterior of the Pink Pearl. Which raises an interesting question...

Hundreds of apples

Excuse me, but I am closing in on a minor milestone: 300 unique apples reviewed on this site.

Western Slope Honeycrisp

I was in Boulder (Colorado) for less than 20 minutes when I first heard praise for "western slope Honeycrisps," the best apples in the world.

Within the hour, I'd heard it again, from my landlady. She had one ready for me.

Best apple in the world: that's debatable. But it was the best Honeycrisp I have ever had. (And we now know what they like to eat in Boulder!)

Bite Me

In the 17th Century, left-wing puritans would frequently find themselves before magistrates for disrupting church services, refusing to pay tithes, and otherwise resisting the public order.

Then they would dig deeper holes for themselves by addressing the judge with the egalitarian "thee" instead of the respectful "you."

It is perhaps in this spirit that Steven Edholm, the originator of today's apple, informs me that the correct spelling is, all caps, "BITE ME!" including an obligatory exclamation point.

Sungold

Behold this large apple, shapely and tapered (if a little lopsided), a cheerful yellow with patches of orange-pink blush.

Russetted lenticels stand out against the light background, and there is a very small amount of ribbing.

C2 Leader

You has to eat a peck o sharpie to be a nappleman true, as John Chapman once said.

Today's sharpie was wielded by Will in Central Massachusetts.