Apples

Apples are in the fruit group of the food pyramid. One apple gives you a juicy, crisp source of energy from carbohydrates, as well as healthful fiber and potassium. Try the many different apple varieties, because each one tastes different. Always remember to wash apples before eating them.

Apples make great snacks any time of the day, simply wash and eat. Eat apple slices with your favorite cheese, or dip into cottage cheese. Slice an apple thinly, then add it to a peanut butter sandwich. Chopped apples can be added to muffins, pancakes, and breads. Applesauce is another way to enjoy the great taste of apples.

Individual servings pack easily into lunches and school bags Use applesauce in recipes instead of oil or margarine. Spread applesauce on waffles or pancakes. Sprinkle with cinnamon. You can try dried apple slices, too!

Look for apples in the produce section. Applesauce is available in the grocery section of the store. You can find dried apples in the produce department, and the bulk department.

Why do fresh apples float?
About a fourth of the apple is air, so when you put an apple in water, it will float to the top.

What causes a bruise on an apple?
When you accidently drop your apple on the floor, it starts to discolor at the spot of impact. Even though the skin isn’t broken, the thunk on the floor damages the cells under the skin, and squashes their surrounding airspaces. As a result, the air mixes with some enymes in the squished apple cells, and the apple turns brown where the damage occurs. (Think. Why does an apple turn brown after it’s cut?)

What’s that dried up fuzzy thing on the bottom of my apple?
That fuzzy thing is called the sepal, and it used to be the apple blossom. In the spring, the apple seed forms there after the flower is pollinated, and the fruit grows around the seed.

Cut an apple in half, across the core, and you’ll see a star shape!

Smiling Apples

Golden Apple Pizzas

Apple Worlds

Cranapple Sauce

1 red-skinned apple

Creamy peanut butter

Mini marshmallows

Core and slice an apple into eight wedges. Spread one side of a wedge with peanut butter. Top with a few marshmallows. Place another apple slice on top; make sure the red sides face the same way, because these are the lips, marshmallows are the teeth! Smile and eat.

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Golden Apple Pizzas
Makes 20

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

2 Tbs. flour

5 Golden Delicious apples

2 8 oz. tubes refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

4 oz. mild cheddar cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line two cookie sheets with foil or parchment paper. In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour. Peel, core, and thinly slice the apples into a medium size bowl. Separate and pat the biscuits into 3-inch flat circles and put them on the cookie sheets. Sprinkle the cheese over the biscuits. Divide apple slices among the “pizzas” and top with the brown sugar mixture. Bake the pizzas for 20 minutes until brown and bubbling.

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Apple Worlds
Makes 6

If you peel a strip of skin off the “equator” of the apples, they won’t explode in the oven. The cinnamon stick is the axis. Who says geography isn’t interesting? (And your kitchen will smell wonderful.) If desired, serve with a “moon” of vanilla ice cream.

6 apples

6 cinnamon sticks

1/4 cup raisins

1 cup apple juice or cider

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

pinch of ground cloves

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Wash and core the apples. Peel a strip of skin off the apples’ equators, and place the apples in a baking dish. Put a cinnamon stick and one tablespoon raisins into each core. Pour the apple juice or cider over the apples. Dust the nutmeg and cloves on top of the apples. Bake, covered, for 30-40 minutes, until the apples soften.

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Cranapple Sauce
Serves 4

Kids love this naturally pink applesauce. If they don’t like lumps, use jellied cranberry sauce, and omit the dried cranberries. (P.S. This is also great on a piece of sliced turkey rolled up.)

3/4 cup whole cranberry sauce

1-1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce

3 Tbs. dried cranberries

Mash cranberry sauce in a medium-size bowl with a fork. Stir in applesauce and cranberries. Chill before serving.

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