Apple Love

Happy Friday, all! My "Small Measures with Ashley" post is up over at Design Sponge. For this week's topic, I pay homage to my favorite autumnal fruit, the apple.

While I've almost never met a specimen I didn't like (exact for dry, mealy types; they're the biggest disappointment ever!), I do have my favorites. "Honeycrisp" are especially swoon-worthy. Henderson County, located directly adjacent to Buncombe (where Hubs and I live) is the seventh largest apple producing region in the U.S.. Accordingly, there's some serious apple love and apple options in my area. We trekked out to the Western N.C. Farmer's Market yesterday (I'm on the prowl for heirloom pumpkins and boy, the market DID NOT disappoint; more options than you can shake a stick at, and at prices I've yet to see the likes of around here).

As we were pumpkin (and tomato-we plan to can lots and lots of sauce and whole jars)-shopping, we found an apple variety (the name of which I cannot for the life of me recall, something like "Soonese", although I know that's not quite it...) that was gorgeous! Dusty-red and faint, muted green tones covered it like a foggy mist. And the taste was pure rhapsody. I'm going back to the market next week to load up on pumpkins and gourds and other decorative (and edible! I love edible table scapes) items for our "Nugget Warming" on the 25th. You better believe I'm going to gather up more of those elusively-named beauties found yesterday, and get their name this time!

Speaking of liking them apples, I'm off to my mom's farmhouse tomorrow, up in Burnsville. She and a friend of hers are throwing Nugget his second baby shower. She's making a cake and setting up the soiree on her front porch. I'll do my best to remember to take photos (I'm notoriously bad at remembering to take photos at functions, let alone remember to eat; I always seem to forget to eat...). While there, Mom has given me permission to pilfer from her heavily laden apple tree. Every year that she's been there (over a decade now), that tree gives and gives and gives without fail. Some mornings, Mom looks down the hill from her house to see a few deer munching happily on her tree's fruits. She never turns them away. There's plenty to give.

Also, my favorite baker, Dave Bauer of the swoon-worthy Farm & Sparrow, is up to his elbows making hundreds of local apple tarts for a Slow Food Asheville event tomorrow evening. Dave has assured me that there'll be extra tarts to go around, so Hubs and I will swing by his bakery (he's also in Candler!) tomorrow morning to gorge on some flaky, buttery, apple goodness before heading north to Mom's. It's looking to be a great Saturday!

May your weekends all be filled with your favorite things, including apples!!!

*Image from here.