My Childhood Autumns in a Nutshell. . . or an Apple :: Essays Papers

My Childhood Autumns in a Nutshell. . . or an Apple As a native Vermonter, I have spent every autumn driving out of Burlington and into the rust and golden mountains of Stowe to admire the foliage and to take advantage of nearby orchards. I have visited probably every orchard, mill, factory and farm over my lifetime. Through these excursions, freshly made apple cider, warm cider doughnuts, cool, crunchy apples picked right off the branch, and the smell of these apples have all become imbedded into my memories of my childhood here in Vermont. Despite all of my experience with Vermont apples and their by-products, I have never taken the time to really get to know the fruit. There are so many varieties of apples, and although I’ve most likely eaten them all, I could only surely identify one: the Granny Smith. I feel that, as a Vermonter, telling one apple from another is something that I should be able to do. As this passing autumn will be my last consecutive one in Vermont before college, I made it my duty to learn about one of my home state’s largest exports, and set of in search of the best Vermont apple. I figured that before I began tasting apples, I should first have a list of ideal apple qualities to measure my candidates against. My criteria for being considered a good apple: not too sweet but also not too tart, juicy, but not so juicy that it’s embarrassing to bite into it in front of others, not yellow on the inside, no brown spots or bitter bit, not so soft that your bite extends down into the seeds and core, but also not so hard that it hurts your gums to bite into it. A good apple is not mushy or bruised, it has a stem, it’s nicely shaped, and it’s not small- it’s a nice big apple, but not so big it makes you sick to eat the whole thing. A good apple must be flavorful, have a nice aroma, and, very importantly, be crunchy enough that it makes a crisp sound when you bite into it. Also, a perfect apple must be very round, not tall and oval shaped with four big humps on the bottom. I don’t like this kind. I figured that the best place to buy the freshest apples would be at a co-op, so I went to the City Market in Burlington and bought a bag of Vermont apples grown at a local orchard.