Is it truly Autumn without a visit to an apple orchard? Or at least to the store to buy a candle so your home at least smells like an apple orchard?
If you love apples as much as we do, stop by our market for fresh cider, multiple varieties of apples, and new this year: caramel apples!
You Had Me at Caramel
Perfect, gooey fall delights aside, apples are quite healthy as a stand-alone snack. They contain only 95 calories (less than most granola bars), 4 grams of fiber, vitamins C and K, potassium, and antioxidants. Two-thirds of the fiber content and the antioxidants are found in the peel, which makes the apple the perfect no-fuss, grab-and-go snack.
Apples have been shown to help lower the risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, cholestorol, type 2 diabetes, and weight control. They have also been associated with improved brain health as well as lung conditions such as asthma.
Apple-solutely Influential
While the fruit in the story of Adam and Eve was never mentioned, most of us immediately picture an apple. Why? It is most likely due to the visualizations created by Renaissance painters, who were thought to have been influenced by several things: a misreading of the Latin word for apple, which also means evil; by the Greek mythology of the Garden of Hesperides, which contained a tree that produced golden apples (think Hercules); and lastly, by John Milton’s epic poem, Paradise Lost, in which he specifically names the forbidden fruit as an apple.
In reality, it may have been a pear, fig, peach, or it may remain a mystery.
Let’s Have a Toast-ed Marshmallow
How about some mulled cider to go with those s’mores and bonfire on these chilly Autumn nights?
Ingredients:
- 16 cups pure apple juice or fresh apple cider
- Four 2-inch cinnamon sticks
- 2 oranges, peels and juice
- 8 whole cloves
- 6 star anise
Directions:
- Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Pour into mugs and serve!