Adam's Apples

I have two fire-engine-red RubyRush, medium and large. They are round with a little flattening at the poles.  ¶  A small less-blushed spot on the back is orange over yellow, and the shallow calyx well is yellow green, around an open calyx. Faint but noticeable lenticel dots add visual interest. The stem is thin and shares some color from the blush. No ribbing to speak of.

How wrong is it to assess a cooking apple by eating it out of hand? It certainly cannot do justice to the apple.  ¶  Nonetheless, eating uncooked is my measuring stick. When I had to opportunity to try this legendary culinary apple, a staple in the United Kingdom, I did not hesitate.

Today's apple is large, very tapered and modestly ribbed. It's colored with a mixture of an orange pink, yellow, and yellow green.  ¶  Yellow-green dots are small and fused together at the base, becoming larger and distinct further up. There's a green dimple on one side. It's really pretty, don't you think? That peachy color. Its calyx is closed.

Yesterday was the last Wednesday of October and thus the end, until next June, of Arlington's farmer's market.  ¶  This is the earliest closing the calendar allows. Were Halloween just a day later, we'd have another week.

Many apples develop a powdery bloom, which is actually some of the natural wax made by the fruit as it matures.  ¶  Today's photo (click for a closeup) shows both a bloom and the swath where the bloom was removed by a strip of masking tape that the grower, Jesse Downs, taped to the apple as an ID tag. The tag read "Smerelda," and this pretty, conical apple, with a partial pink-red blush neatly framed (in this view) by a fringe of green, is one of two from Jesse. They are small, and on has to look closely to detect the slight amount of ribbing.

These orange-tinged-red–blushed apples are wide and oblate, with tan lenticels that are occasionally filled in with something dark.  ¶  There is modest ribbing, and a wonderful sweet aroma. The peel is glossy and the underlying color is yellow.

In Derek Mills' opinion, there was something off about my 2015 description of the Cornish Aromatic .  ¶  So he reached into his living museum of 1,600 apple varieties , sent me two Aromatics, and asked me to try again. Happy to oblige.