November 18, 2017  - The apple corer

        On my trip north I visited Bolton Orchards in Bolton, Massachusetts, which is at the intersection of Route 110 and Route 117 and apples have been grown in the area since the 1700s – how is that for a bit of local history.  My husband and I are fond of McIntosh apples and we hardly ever see them except when we visit New England.

        I strolled around the upscale orchard store where you can actually do your main grocery shopping bypassing a local supermarket – if you choose to, buying  mostly upscale goodies.   Me, I was interested in a couple fresh McIntosh apples and picked out two perfect specimens and headed back to the house-cleaning project at my Mom’s.

        There is nothing like the flavor of a McIntosh apple and I especially like the soft texture because you don’t need horse-teeth to enjoy them.

        The evening before my 975+ mile drive home, a friend delivered a goodie bag of snacks for my trip.  It included a chocolate bar, Maple leaf shaped bottle of local Maple syrup and a wooden box of McIntosh apples.  Beauties those apples were. The next morning I got up at 4:30 a.m. and was on the road by 5:15 a.m. and right after I’d blown off Scranton, Pennsylvania, I had a hankering for an apple.  I pulled off into a rest area, scrounged around in my picnic basket/snack zone, and came up with the little paring knife I’d brought along.

        It was the perfect snack.  I savored every slice. When I got home I carefully spaced out their delight over the next few days and the final two I planned on making baked apples for dessert.  But, low and behold, I could not find my apple corner.  I set that thought aside for another day and later, I searched my kitchen a second time.

        Sometimes I wonder why I clean and straighten up my kitchen cabinets and drawers if I can’t find what I want.  I know I have one – as I’ve made baked apples before.  You core out the center of a washed apple and then dust in cinnamon and dash nutmeg or ground cloves – or both, then add a pat of butter and then spoon a heaping tsp of brown sugar down the center.  Pop it in the microwave – couple minutes – check it – it might need more time depending on the size.  Prick with a fork to see if soft and viola – a nice warm dessert.

        Day two, I finally had to take a sharp knife and try to cut out the core.  It turned out to be a raged square – certainly not suitable for company I must say . . . but just us two – who would notice? [I’ll answer that question – me – that is who – it rankled me that my baked apple wasn’t picture-pretty.]  Sure, I’ll eat the broken cookies when I make cookies for the Church bake sale or an omelet accident – but that is different.  I like pretty – I cook pretty – I prefer to eat - pretty.  I have my own set of personal standards to maintain!

        A few days later, a friend happened to call me who always goes to the Fall Christmas Show in Charlotte.  I asked her to look for an apple corer – because mine disappeared.  I also gave her a price limit because sometimes you don’t find bargains at the Christmas Show. My friend and personal shopper added it to her “quest list”. She does the “hunt-for-something” extremely well.  If she can’t find it, you might need to re-think if you actually need it.  It is built into her DNA - the hunt and getting it at the right price.  Her mom had that special shopper’s DNA as well and I know it must be an inherited trait.    

        Day or so later I got the bad news, she came up empty handed, but she told me the vendor had been asked all day for the apple corer only – not the corer and slicer type gadget.  He asked her naively, “Why that type?”  Of course, she enlightened him, and he said he would be sure to have plenty the next year.  Of course, that wasn’t going to do my personal shopper or me any good. 

I even checked with my husband, as he does much cooking and asked him if he knew where it was. He said he hadn’t seen it in years – you must have tossed it out was his remark. [He even went as far as going out into the shed and rummaged through the items queued up for a yard sale or flea market trip. How sweet of him.]

After a week of both he and looking in every store we normally shop in, I got fed up and quickly found what I wanted on the internet, ordered it and it would be shipped and delivered right to my door in two days for no extra cost.  [Don’t know about you – but living out here in rural America – the best thing that ever happened to us rural dwellers is on-line shopping. I almost think that the days of brick and mortar stores may cease to exist in my lifetime.   Quality, price, convenience, delivery - can you really knock any of that?]

Yesterday, my darling husband is making lunch and he is rummaging around in the two bottom drawers below the silverware – the gadget drawers - and low and behold, he finds that elusive apple corer that I was certain we had and he was certain I’d tossed out. Did a magic pixie hide it on us for some reason?

“Hey, I found the apple corer . . .” he advised cheerfully.

“Perfect timing, the new one should be here today. It might have been delivered while we were gone.” I answered.

There it was, the familiar UPS wrapper tucked up against the front door on the step.  I opened it and we compared the two.  The new one is larger and all stainless steel.

Now I wonder if I can learn to core apples two at a time, with an apple corer in each hand.