Consider The Apple

“Surely the apple is the noblest of fruits.” -Henry David Thoreau

I love apples, always have and likely, always will. There is something special about an apple, a hearty little orb, with crisp skin and flesh, gushing juice with each bite. The skin is brushed with reds and greens, reflecting sunlight. It’s a humble fruit, relatively easy to access, and long-lasting. But there is no fruit that quite compares to the apple. 
  
It's not just the apple itself that is majestic, apple trees are full of beauty as well. They are knobby trees, with branches that jut out in every direction. In spring they are covered with apple blossoms, blooming in the sunlight, preparing to turn into apples. 
  
 My brother calls me an apple nerd because I care so much about apples. I hate a mealy apple, I hate an apple that isn’t sweet. I don’t like apples with thick waxy skin. I don’t like apples that are too sickly sweet. Red Delicious apples should be banned from the face of the earth, their thick bitter skin and yellow, too sweet, too soft, and mealy center is barely fit for human consumption. 
    
The purest and loveliest apples are often only found in an orchard or in apple season. The soft skin and delicate, juicy crispiness of a Honeycrisp apple, the firm, sweet-sour flesh of a Gala, all of which are not to be considered greater than the Macoun. A macoun in a hybrid apple, a blend of one of the Mcintosh, and the Jersy Black.

The skin of a macoun is primarily red, with streaks of white and green. The skin is snow white. The flavor is unmatched. It tastes not purely of apples, but of the scent of a morning in September, dew, fresh-cut grass, autumn leaves, and of course - apples.  I am aware that that description doesn’t sound the most appealing, but it’s the best I can do to describe this apple to you without actually handing you one.

One of the best things about an apple is its versatility. Apples are easy to bring with you anywhere you go, I am a huge fan of putting one into my bag when I go somewhere in case I get hungry. Apples are of course wonderful when eaten raw, but the firmness of the fruit makes it perfect for baking. Apple pies, apple crisps, apple crumbles, apple cobblers, apple bread, apple cakes, apple cider donuts, and apple turnovers, are only a few of the many ways apples can be cooked. 
    
Apple also works in savory applications, I have seen it added to stews and curries, eaten as a sauce with pork chops, and roasted in the oven with chicken.

    
Apples are a fruit that can be used even when they have fallen on the ground and begun to rot, traditionally apple farmers would use the apples that fell on the ground to press into apple cider. This is still done, though most apple cider that you buy in the grocery store won’t be from apples picked off the ground, but the apples that weren’t perfect enough to sell. Apple cider is also allowed to ferment into hard cider and apple cider vinegar. 

​I would dare to say that there is nothing an apple can’t do. 

“It is remarkable how closely the history of the apple tree is connected with that of man.” - Henry David Thoreau

Apples play an important part in American culture, especially in the not-so-tall tale of Johnny Appleseed. Johnny Appleseed was a real person who planted apple trees all across the U.S. - though his name was John Chapman, not Johnny Appleseed. 
  
 According to vermontapples.org, apples have been around as long as human history has been recorded (as we all know, an apple is what we commonly think the fruit on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in Genesis was - but that isn’t Biblically cannon.)

Apples have been seen as an important part in almost every civilization since the dawn of time - the ancient Greeks and Romans painted pictures with apples in them, and apple varieties were spread around the world due to the Silk Road. 
  
Apples are also considered to be the reason gravity was discovered (though many people believe that it didn’t quite happen the way the stories put it.) Common legend says that Sir Isaac Newton was sitting under a tree one day when an apple fell out of the tree and hit him on the head. He began to ponder why that happened and formed his theory of gravity and laws of motion. 

Apples also appear in literature - some of my favorite pieces of literature feature characters who love apples. Anne Shirley shows a deep preference for apples, and Jo March was known to disappear into the attic with half a dozen russet apples and a good book. Almanzo Wilder in Farmer Boy delights in apples and popcorn by the fireside.

​Apples played a big part in my favorite author - Louisa May Alcott’s life. Her family was constantly moving, they never stayed in one place for a very long time. Eventually, with the help of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Amos Bronson Alcott (Louisa’s father) purchased a home for the family. It was an old house in not very good condition, but Bronson bought the land  because of the extensive apple orchards behind the house. These apple orchards are the reason that to this day, Louisa’s house is called Orchard House. The Alcott girls’s favorite dessert was an apple dessert called apple slump (similar to an apple cobbler.) They nicknamed their house Apple Slump or Orchard Slump because the house literally slumped into the ground.

In pop culture, specifically in Snow White and The Seven Dwarves the witch poisons an apple which causes Snow White’s death. 

Apples are so prominent in our culture, that I would dare say you carry an image of an apple with you at all times. Just pull back your phone case or turn around your computer and you will see that classic silhouette of an apple with a bite taken out of it.

Apple tech products have become an American tradition, and with it, the symbol of the humble fruit. I think the choice of an apple fits the company well, apples are common fruits, we all eat them often, but despite their regularity, they are still impressive. In the same way, almost everyone has an iPhone, iPad, or Macbook, but nevertheless, we are still impressed by them.

​As a society we definitely prize apples (both the fruit and the electronics), it’s common to gift a teacher an apple, we say that people are the “apple of our eye”, and many of us have said before “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

For me, apples aren’t only something delicious to snack on, they bring back memories from my childhood.
​
I’m reminded of homeschool group trips to apple orchards, hay rides across the farm, and being taught how you must twist the apple to pick it, not just pull it.

I remember Columbus Day weekend, going to an apple orchard with my grandparents, aunts, and uncles, picking the last remaining apples from over-picked trees, selecting pumpkins, and eating small hot donuts. I remember eating hot apple fritters at a local festival and passing out free hot apple cider at a parade in December.

I remember the year that the apple tree in front of my church was heavy with apples, I remember picking them and filling the fruit drawer of our fridge up with them, and laughing silently when my friends said it was a crab apple tree.

I remember last autumn, jumping around with my brother and sister, trying to grab the small apples that laid just beyond our reach. We threw rocks at the apples, and climbed on each other’s shoulders in order to reach them.

Apples aren’t just fruit, they are memories, and they are pieces of history. 

Consider the apple. Think about the beautiful fruit that God has created. Admire the craftsmanship and artistry in every bite, food prepared for us by the finest of all chefs. Consider the apple, in the way it has changed the world and humanity. 
  
​Consider the apple.

“I know the look of an apple that is roasting and sizzling on the hearth on a winter's evening, and I know the comfort that comes of eating it hot, along with some sugar and a drench of cream... I know how the nuts taken in conjunction with winter apples, cider, and doughnuts, make old people's tales and old jokes sound fresh and crisp and enchanting.” - Mark Twain

Baked Apples
 (note, this recipe is made to taste, measurements aren’t exact.)

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Prep a baking sheet by covering it with tin foil, and pouring a small amount of water into the pan. Just enough to cover the entire sheet. 

Wash, cut, and halve a large apple (one apple per person you want to serve.) Place the apples on the sheet pan, then dot the apples with butter (about three pea-sized dollops per apple half.)

Then sprinkle the apples with a blend of cinnamon and sugar, just a dusting on top. Drizzle each half with a small amount of maple syrup, then bake the apples for 20-30 minutes, until softened. The skin should have lost its original color and be a bit wrinkled.

Serve with a dollop of yogurt, ice cream, toasted pecans, or an extra sprinkling of cinnamon sugar. (if you want to be like Mark Twain, put a drench of cream whipped or not, over top of your apples.)

click here to download recipe PDF

Sources:
vermontapples.org  "A Brief History of Apples"
education.nationalgeographic.org  "Isaac Newton: Who He Was, Why Apples Are Falling"
Wikipedia page on Macoun Apple

Belle Thomas

​​Belle is the writer behind An Old Fashioned Girl. She is passionate about Jesus, good books, and living a beautiful life.