Everyone of a certain age is familiar with the phrase, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Do you know where that came from? Did your mother permit you to eat all the apples you wanted? Did you go around and steal apples from neighbors trees, as I did? 
Oh, probably, even if you don't admit it. We never had snacks growing up. Maybe if we were visiting someone who treated us now and then, but regularly, snacking was not in our vocabulary. We were expected to be at every meal, and we ate whatever my mother served, mostly because we were hungry little peeps. In between meals in the fall, we foraged for apples from trees easily assessable by short children.

"An apple a day" probably came from a phrase coined in 1913 based on a Pembrokeshire proverb that originated in 1866. Notes and Queries magazine was the first to publish the original quote: "Eat an apple on going to bed, and you'll keep the doctor from earning his bread."

So, the burning question, "is it true?" Well, maybe and maybe not, like most medical news you hear. One day it's good for you, the next day it isn't.

Apples are good for you, eaten right off the tree. They contain vitamins and fiber and fulfill one of the five servings of daily fruits and vegetables. 

I love crabapples and the oldest varieties you can find. There's something about that wild taste that I find very appealing (pardon the pun).
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There are many different varieties of apples on the market. Some are better for eating, some are better for baking, and some are better left in the store. Red Delicious, you know who I am talking about.
Baking apples should be tart to offset the amount of sugar in a pie or crisp. They also hold up to baking and don't become mush in the oven. 
Suitable apples for baking include:
•          Cameo
•          Cortland
•          Granny Smith
•          Jazz
Some apples can be eaten fresh, and they hold up to baking. I love a crisp tart apple to eat and, at one time, made a point of running to the supermarket every noon and eating an apple. I have since become lax in my healthy habit. 
•          Braeburn
•          Empire
•          Fuji
•          Golden Delicious
•          Honeycrisp
•          Pink Lady
Of course, everyone loves Honeycrisp. Developed in Minnesota, Honeycrisp is a cultivated variety of apple developed at the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station's Horticultural Research Center at the  University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Designated in 1974 with the MN 1711 test designation, patented in 1988, and released in 1991, the Honeycrisp, once slated to be discarded, has rapidly become a prized commercial commodity, as its sweetness, firmness, and tartness make it an ideal apple for eating raw."...The apple wasn't bred to grow, store or ship well. It was bred for taste: crisp, with balanced sweetness and acidity. (SOURCE: Wikipedia).
 
A little pricey out of season, Apple Crisp are the best eating apples on the market. Okay, in my opinion.

This is the apple season. Be sure and get out there and eat a few, bake a  pie or freeze some for winter. Fall is apple season. While my friend, Diane, maintains it hasn't frosted hard enough yet to pick them off the trees, they are still readily available at your farmers market and in the supermarket. So, enjoy an apple or two today.
 
 
 

​It's pepper season at the farmers market. Peppers for pickles, salsa, stuffed peppers and jalapeno poppers are abundant at your local farmer's market this year.
 
There are 50,000 varieties of peppers ranging from the typical green pepper on grocery shelves year-round to Carolina Reapers. What set's peppers apart? The Scoville Heat Index, of course.
 
Some people don't like peppers, and some people especially don't like hot peppers, and then there are the brave souls that dare to explore the high end of the Scoville Scale.
 
First off, the Scoville Scale and Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) were named for scientist Wilbur Scoville in 1912 for measuring a chili pepper's pungency and heat. SHU represents the amount of capsaicin present. The higher the rating, the hotter the pepper.
To determine the SHU, they mix an alcohol extract of capsaicin oil from a dried pepper. Then, they mix it with a solution of water and sugar.
Nowadays, they determine the hotness of peppers by high-performance liquid chromatography. This test measures the chemical capsaicin in chili peppers. However, due to nostalgia, scientists still convert their results back into Scoville units.
 
Green pepper score 0 on the scale and Reapers range from 1,500,000-2,200,000 SHU. What a difference that would make in your chili recipe. Whew. 
 
Some people can't even tolerate green peppers at 0, but usually it’s because of their stomach or the fact they do not like the sometimes-bitter taste of green pepper. That taste can be removed simply by peeling your pepper. How? Might you ask? Roasting. You can roast peppers on the grill, on your gas stove burners or under a broiler. Just heat at a high temperature until they are blackened all around. Place them in a paper bag and let them steam for a bit until cool enough to handle. Remove the core, seeds and stem, and you have a delightful pepper strip that can be used on a sandwich or chopped with some onion and tossed with olive oil and vinegar for a quick side dish. If you use the tri-color pepper packs you find at the store, and you will add some beautiful color to your plate.
 
And peppers are good for you. Peppers have a lot going for them. They're low in calories and loaded with nutrition. All varieties are excellent sources of vitamins A and C, potassium, folic acid, and fiber. 
 
Peppers from the farmers market are fantastic. Cutting into a fresh-picked pepper means a potential squirt in the eye cutting through the crisp exterior to the juicy flesh. They also last a long time in your refrigerator. You can also freeze pepper for use during the winter months.
 
I love jalapenos and leave most of my peppers on the vine until they turn a lovely red. Jalapeno jelly from red peppers is beautiful over cream cheese. And, who doesn't like poppers? If you can't stand the heat, there are jalapeno varieties with all the flavor and none of the heat.
 
Another new favorite way to eat the abundant peppers is stuffed. Wait, don't like to make stuffed peppers, well make soup. Stuffed pepper soup is lovely and a one-pot meal on a busy evening. Just brown your hamburger with onions, and maybe celery, add chopped peppers, a jar of home-canned tomatoes, chicken stock and simmer away. Serve in bowls over rice. Your family will love it.