Gail and I both grew up in the state of Washington. We thought Washington apples were the finest.

And they are really good. However, we discovered when living in Charlottesville, Virginia, that Virginia has wonderful apples, particularly the Pippin, prized by Thomas Jefferson. We took weekly drives into the Blue Ridge to purchase apples and cider. Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York also have marvelous apple crops. Quite a number of apple varieties were originated by the New York State Agricultural Experiment station in Geneva, New York. In the countryside just outside of Albany, the capital, we discovered delicious cider donuts at roadside apple stands.

Cortland is the best salad apple; it has tender, snow white flesh which does not turn brown quickly. The Cortland apple is juicy with a hint of tartness.

The Macoun apple was named after a famous Canadian fruit breeder. It has tender, show white flesh and is very juicy, extra sweet and aromatic. The Macoun apple is particularly good with cheese for dessert.

The Empire has McIntosh and Red Delicious for parents. It has a creamy white flesh and a sweet-tart flavor. They are extremely crunchy and make good eating apples; a popular school lunch apple in New York.

Apples go back over 5,000 years. Charred remains of apples have been found in prehistoric Swiss dwellings. They occur in the wild in the temperate zones (between 30 and 60 degrees latitude) of both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. Apples are grown in Argentina and Chile, Australia and New Zealand., and South Africa, as well as Europe, North America, and Asia. The largest producers of apples are the United States, China, France, Italy and Turkey, all in the Northern Hemisphere. However, the largest exporters include Argentina, Chile, and South Africa.

The apple is one of the fleshy (pome) fruits: its ripened ovary and surrounding tissue both become fleshy and edible. Apples belong to the genus Malus, of which there are over 35 species. The apples we use derive from two species, Malus pumile, which includes most common apples, and Malus baccata, the Siberian Crab apple. The most common of the varieties in the species Malus pumile are Golden Delicious and Red Delicious. They account for about half of the commercial apple production in the world.

Apples were eaten by the earliest Europeans, and distinct varieties were identified and cultivated over 2,000 years ago. When America was settled, hundreds of varieties had already been identified. In 1647, New York Governor Peter Stuyvesant planted an apple tree from Holland on the corner of Third Avenue and 13th Street. The colonists actually used apple cider and apple vinegar as currency. The first commercial apple tree nursery in America was established on Long Island in 1730. Apples were spread across North America by Indians, trappers, missionaries, and professional nurserymen. The most famous nurseryman doing so was Johnny Appleseed, whose real name was John Chapman. He spread apple trees throughout Ohio and Indiana. In 1811, the now popular McIntosh was discovered and by the 1830's was propagated and cultivated in the Champlain Valley of New York. The New York Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva was established in 1884. Over the years it developed nine varieties of apples: Cortland (1915), Macoun (1923), Lodi (1924) Monroe (1949), Spigold (1926), Empire (1966), Jonagold (1968), Jonamac (1972), and Liberty (1978).

In the 1930s, jazz clubs opened in New York City and it became known as the Big Apple. It meant that there were lots of places to play jazz, "lots of apples on the tree."

Red Delicious - Very popular; commonly used for holiday centerpieces and wreaths. Sweet, juicy, with crisp yellow flesh. Excellent for eating and salad.

Yellow Delicious - Very popular. Not a cousin to the Red Delicious. Sweet, juicy, with crisp light yellow flesh. Excellent for eating, salads, and sauce. Good for pies, baking, and freezing.

McIntosh - John McIntosh discovered the first seedling in 1811. Sweet with a tart tang; very juicy with tender white flesh. Excellent for eating and sauce. Good for salads and pies.