Pre-Dinner Snack

My worst time for noshing is while I'm making dinner.  I'm usually hungry and I have food shouting out my name.  With apple season upon us, I've been slicing an apple and munching on that while I cook.  It keeps me from grabbing chips, or pretzels, or rice cakes, or whatever else I can muster up in a hurry.  It also helps me eat less at dinner.  Hopefully the old saying, "You are what you eat" won't come true.  If that's the case, I'll have to switch to pears.

Dancing With a Star

When I think of autumn, I think of apples, especially living in West Michigan.  Over the years my favorite apple has gone from Granny Smith, to Mutsu, to Honey Crisp, to my new favorite---SweeTango.  One of my coworkers brought them in to work last week and I was immediately addicted.  (They must have something in them that is illegal.)

This past weekend, my daughter and I  drove about 40 miles north to an orchard that sells them.  At their market, they had samples for tasting.  So I did a taste test between a Honeycrisp, a Zestar, and a SweeTango.  There is no comparison.   The SweeTango is crisp, juicy, sweet, and tangy.  They make a Honeycrisp taste bland.

They were developed by the University of Minnesota and first came out 2 years ago.  They are a cross between a Honeycrisp and a Zestar.  The orchards that are allowed to grow it are tightly controlled and so they are not easy to come by.

I hope you can find them where you live.  The only caveat--once you have tasted this apple, you will never want another variety.  If only they could help me dance better.