So I made a special trek out to the apple farm (nameless because I'm going to whine...) to buy my beloved Jonathan apples this past weekend. I always go the second Saturday of September and buy enough to get me through November.

Got them home and eagerly tried one. Awful! Hard, tart and generally impossible to eat.

Okay--maybe one of those other yucky apples got mixed in. I'll wait and try another before I get nervous.

Nope. Sitting on my desk is another inedible apple.

I called the farm to ask if it was possible the apples had been mislabeled. Unlikely. They only had Jonathan and Galas this past weekend and there is no way on earth this was a Gala. Most likely it's the dry season.

So what is a broken-hearted midwestern gal supposed to do with a peck of inedible apples?

I see lots of applesauce in my future.

Sigh...

Jennifer

Slowly bake them with alot of sugar and spices?

Make a chutney?

That's why you bring children with you. They eat their weight in fruit while at the farm, so you know instantly if the produce is worth taking home.

While we're on apples, download this PDF cookbook on apples from the chef at Lampreia in Seattle. Very cool stuff. I made the Balzano Apple Cake a couple times last year and it's really, really good.