Adam's Apples

Blushing Golden improves with age. A good pick for November, it gets better in December, when lush flavors bloom. Highly recommended. Buy them now and eat them later. If you are like me, you can't get these in December. So, stock up while you can. Winter is coming!

Once the king of American apples, this variety is named for the Revolutionary War hero who popularized it. Baldwins are crisp, hard, and richly flavored. They mellow in storage.

For an old-fashioned, high-quality desert apple, try the splendid Opalescent—if you can! This heritage apple is hard to find. Opalescent is large and handsome: I use this photo of it as my personal online avatar.

Are you missing McIntosh this week? That classic fall apple is still a good 3 weeks away (4 if you don't want yours green). In the meantime there is Paula Red, the best of the early Mac-like varieties of August (take that, Jersey Mac !)

This apple, tart, sweet, and complex, may be the best of August. Gravenstein makes me think of an early Macoun . It is the one to get this week! and probably the next.