When I lived in Los Angeles, and later St. Louis, there was never a big to-do about apple season. No one ever called me up to say, “Get down to the farmers’ market! Red Delicious apples are in from Washington State — they’re not quite as bland and predictable as usual!”
Whereas “out our way” (New England), the first crisp Macintosh occasions huzzahs and rejoicing. But to be fair, Red Delicious have their place, and they do keep turning up in the top-10 of favorite apples. Plus they are photogenic crimson paragons — indisputably capital-A “Apples.” But, oh, if the Central Valley had had the cold nights that make for a crisp Macintosh? I might have reconsidered bailing on the Golden State.
Around these parts, orchards are destinations for more than just apples. Whether you go to Hollis Hills Farm in Fitchburg, Leominster’s Sholan Farm, Flat Hill Orchard, Lanni’s in Lunenburg, George Hill Orchard in Lancaster, Bolton Spring Farm, Doe Orchard in Harvard, or Red Apple Farm in Phillipston you’ll come home laden, whether you pick them yourself, or buy a bag, box, or bushel.
But have you noticed how many new varieties there are? And how many revived heirloom varieties? Tinkering with fruit has been an American pastime since Lancaster’s Luther Burbank had his first garden in the 1800s. Time moves quickly when it comes to apples, and I can prove this with the following anecdote.
More than 25 years ago, I had several conversations with the late Dana Sulin, of Sulin’s Orchard, Fitchburg. Dana, an avid orchardman, was following bulletins from the University of Minnesota with great interest. They were developing an apple called the “Honeycrisp.”
The first chance he had, Dana grafted his standing trees with thin branches that would grow the new apple. Once he was successful, in the very late 90s, everyone who visited the orchard was astounded at the sweet taste, crunch and general hardiness of the Honeycrisp. These apples kept for months (I tested them).
Now you can find Honeycrisp apples at every grocery store, and they continue to be a favorite in my family. However, in autumn, it’s not enough just to eat an apple. They have to be transformed — right?
Thinking about Dana and his apples prompted me to pull out the “Sulin Orchard Cookbook — 100 Years of Family Farming.” There, I found a recipe for muffins which has probably been made thousands of times by a very particular group of kids: the middle-schoolers at the former BF Brown School in Fitchburg.
When I posted my query about “BF Brown Apple Spice Muffins” at the Fitchburg Historical Society Facebook side, a veritable cascade of warm and affectionate responses flooded in within the hour.
Eunice Halbedel of Rindge New Hampshire remembers making this recipe in Mrs. Moran’s class in 7th grade.
“She took the time to explain the recipe and instruction, along with helpful hints, such as different substitutes if you were missing ingredients. We had to write each recipe out and get graded on it, then she would monitor but let us read and learn by doing. My mom was very similar in how she taught me at home.”
We used “Shamrock” apples which we found at Bolton Spring Farm. These were a sassy green color and were advertised as a good cooking apple, which they were. We made 15 muffins, because we didn’t overfill the muffin cups. And the sugar is just in the topping; your apples make this sweet enough.
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BF Brown Apple Spice Muffins (c. 1950s)
Preheat oven to 425 degrees, bake for 15 to 20 minutes
Sift together: 2 cups flour, 4 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon salt.
Melt 4 T shortening (we used butter). Beat one egg, add 1 cup milk, and cooled melted shortening. Add sifted ingredients all at once. Mix lightly and fold in 1 cup chopped, peeled apples. Drop into “well-greased” muffin tins. Sprinkle a mix of ½ teaspoon cinnamon and ½ cup sugar over top of each muffin.
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Sally Cragin is an award-winning journalist. Send your recipes and stories to: sallycragin@gmail.com.
