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Posts Tagged 'Gala apple'
Posted in New England apple varieties, tagged Akane apple, Atkins Farm, Carlson Orchards, Clarkdale Fruit Farms, Cox's Orange Pippin apple, Empire apple, Fuji apple, Gala apple, Ginger Gold apple, Golden Delicious apple, Jonagold apple, Kidd's Orange Red apple, Nestrovich Fruit Farm, New England Apple Association, New England apples, New England orchards, PaulaRed apple, pick-your-own apples video, pick-your-own orchards, Red Delicious apple on September 17, 2015| Leave a Comment »
A bin of fresh-picked Gala apples at Fairview Orchards in Groton, Massachusetts. (Russell Steven Powell photo)
NO MATTER how you pronounce it, Gala is among the very best sweet apples. It has more character and nuance than most sweet varieties, with outstanding apple and pear flavor. Gala is juicy, and it is good for both fresh eating and cooking.
Gala's skin changes color from harvest to storage, often beginning with streaks of yellow on a red background, gradually intensifying to a deeper red, with hints of orange, as the season wears on.
Gala has complex parentage. It conical shape and some of its sweetness comes from Red Delicious and Golden Delicious. Golden Delicious also supplies some of its early season color. Two other Gala parents have orange in their name: the English heirloom Cox's Orange Pippin, and Kidd's Orange Red, an apple from New Zealand.
Even the name fits the apple, compact, short and sweet. Biting into a Gala is, as Merriam-Webster defines the word, a festive celebration. Both pronunciations, incidentally, with either a long or short first "a," are considered correct.
Gala was discovered in New Zealand in 1934, and introduced commercially in 1970. It was one of seven major commercial apple varieties released in the United States between 1962 and 1970, the others with similarly succinct names: Fuji (1962) and Akane (1970) from Japan, Empire (1966) and Jonagold (1968) from New York, PaulaRed from Michigan (1968), and Ginger Gold from West Virginia (1969).
THIS FRIDAY, September 18, marks the opening of the 2015 Eastern States Exposition ("The Big E"), the region's largest fair, which draws about 1.5 million people during its 17-day run. The New England Apple Association booth, in the rear of the Massachusetts Building, will once again feature a variety of fresh apples, baked goods, fresh cider, and literature about the region's orchards.
The fair runs daily through Sunday, October 4. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
We will have fresh cider from Carlson Orchards in Harvard, cider donuts from Atkins Farm in Amherst, and fresh apples this weekend from Carlson Orchards, Clarkdale Fruit Farms in Deerfield, and Nestrovich Fruit Farm, 561 Main Rd., Granville. We will also have apple crisp and apple pie!
If you are not out visiting an orchard, please stop by!
THIS SHORT VIDEO has tips about how to prepare for your visit to a pick-your-own orchard:
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged America's Apple, Apples of New England, Bar Lois Weeks, Christopher Rob Weeks, Cortland apple, Gala apple, Honeycrisp apple, J. P. Sullivan Co., Jim Bair, John Lebeaux, Lorraine Merrill, Mack's Orchard, Maggie Hassan, New England Apple Association, New England apple orchards, New England apples, Northeast McIntosh Growers Association, Russell Steven Powell on September 2, 2015| 2 Comments »
Introducing the new logo of the New England Apple Association.
TODAY MARKS the official kickoff of the 2015 New England apple harvest.
New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan will bite into an apple at Mack's Orchard in Londonderry Wednesday, September 2, at 3 p.m. Among those attending will be New Hampshire Commissioner of Agriculture Lorraine Merrill, Jim Bair, president of USApple, and Bar Lois Weeks, executive director of the New England Apple Association.
Thursday morning at 9, Massachusetts Commissioner of Agriculture John Lebeaux will join Bair, Weeks, and other officials at J. P. Sullivan Co. in Ayer for a tour of the company's new packing line, followed by a visit to nearby Fairview Orchards. J. P. Sullivan is the largest packer and shipper of apples in the region.
Events celebrating the new season will be held in the other New England states throughout the month. While a number of early season apple varieties were picked in August, September is when many of New England's leading varieties ripen.
McIntosh, New England's most popular apple, is already being picked in some orchards, and should be widely available over the next seven to 10 days. Cortland, Gala, Honeycrisp, and others will soon follow, with late-season apples available for picking through much of October.
As always, call ahead to make sure that the variety you are looking for is available.
TODAY ALSO BEGINS the nonprofit New England Apple Association's 80th year. Founded by a group of growers from New England and New York in 1935, the organization became known as the Northeast McIntosh Growers Association in 1993. The name eventually was shortened to New England Apple Association.
The Association promotes the New England apple industry through educational and promotional events and projects. Its website introduces visitors to the wide variety of New England apples and orchards, the nutritional value of apples, and how apples are grown and prepared.
In recognition of its anniversary year, the Association today introduces a new logo, designed by Christopher Rob Weeks.
Tomorrow we will post photos from today's events and launch the association's new website!
6 outstanding early apples, and an outstanding 2015 forecast
Posted in New England apple varieties, tagged 2015 New England apple crop, Akane apple, America's Apple, Apples of New England, Bar Lois Weeks, Camuzat apple, early apples, early season apples, early season New England apples, Farm Fresh Fest, Gala apple, Ginger Gold apple, New England Apple Association, New England apple orchards, New England apples, New England orchards, Pristine apple, Russell Steven Powell, Sansa apple, State Fair apple, Williams' Pride apple, Worcester Pearmain apple, Zestar! apple on August 26, 2015| Leave a Comment »
EARLY SEASON APPLES have come a long way in the past 50 years. Today, there are a number of excellent choices to satisfy people's palettes as they await the arrival of the traditional fall apples like McIntosh and Cortland.
These newer early season varieties taste better and last longer than many of their predecessors. Here are six of the best:
Akane apple (Bar Lois Weeks photo)
Akane (ah-KAH-neh) was discovered in Japan in 1937, but it was not released commercially until 1970. It has beautiful red color with occasional yellow streaks, and sweet-tart flavor with hints of strawberry. Crisp and juicy, Akane is good for both eating and cooking, as it holds it shape well. Akane is the result of a cross between two heirloom varieties: Jonathan, which supplies Akane's rich red color, and Worcester Pearmain, which contributes its strawberry flavor.
Ginger Gold apple (Bar Lois Weeks photo)
Ginger Gold was discovered as a chance seedling at a Virginia orchard in 1969; based on its characteristics and where it was found, it may be a cross between Golden Delicious and Newtown Pippin. It has yellow-green skin and is crisp and juicy. Ginger Gold's flavor is more sweet than tart. It is good for both cooking and fresh eating, and its flesh browns slowly when sliced, making it especially good in salads.
Pristine apple (Bar Lois Weeks photo)
Pristine was developed at Purdue University in Indiana in 1975, and released commercially in 1994. Yellow with an occasional pink blush, Pristine's sweet-tart flavor has hints of citrus. It is crisper and stores better than many early season varieties. Its parentage is obscure, a cross between an unnamed seedling and Camuzat, a little-known apple from Spain.
Sansa apple (Bar Lois Weeks photo)
Sansa is another red apple with yellow streaking, although it sometimes can be deep pink. It is the product of a 1970 collaboration between researchers in Japan and New Zealand, and it was released commercially in 1988. It is sweet and juicy, with just a little tang, and it is considered best for fresh eating. Sansa is a cross between, Akane, which contributes to its red color, and Gala, which lends it sweetness.
Williams' Pride apple (Bar Lois Weeks photo)
Williams' Pride is another apple developed at Purdue's joint apple-breeding program with Rutgers University in New Jersey and the University of Illinois. It was discovered in 1975 and released commercially in 1988. Maroon red, it is crisp and juicy, with a spicy, sweet-tart taste. It is considered a good all-purpose apple and is especially good for fresh eating. Williams' Pride is the result of a complex cross that includes Jonathan, Melba, Mollie's Delicious, and Rome.
Zestar! apple (Bar Lois Weeks photo)
Zestar! is the newest of this early bunch, developed in 1999 at the University of Minnesota. It is mostly red in color over a yellow base. Crisp and juicy, its flavor is more sweet than tart. A good all-purpose apple, Zestar! is the trademarked name for the variety, which resulted from a cross of an unknown seedling with State Fair, a little-known apple native to Minnesota.
VISITORS to Farm Fresh Fest at Wachusett Mountain in Princeton, Massachusetts, this weekend, will have a chance to taste some of these outstanding early season apples at the New England Apple Association booth. In addition to fresh apples, there will be apple baked goods and other apple treats.
Executive Director Bar Lois Weeks and Senior Writer Russell Steven Powell will be on hand to talk about apples and the upcoming season, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, August 29, and Sunday, August 30.
NEW ENGLAND expects a good apple crop in 2015.
The U. S. Apple Association estimates the 2015 New England apple crop at 4.03 million 42-pound boxes, 18 percent higher than the region's five-year average of 3.42 million-boxes. The crop is expected to be about 14 percent larger than 2014's fresh harvest of 3.55 million boxes.
Growing conditions were outstanding in early spring and summer, with good weather during the pollination period throughout the region, and little or no damage from frost. Parts of New England have been dry for the past month, notably areas of Connecticut and New Hampshire, and there has been scattered hail damage in some areas, but over all the crop is shaping up nicely.
The timing of the New England apple harvest so far is on schedule, with early varieties like Akane, Ginger Gold, Pristine, Sansa, Williams' Pride, and Zestar! already being picked. McIntosh, which accounts for about two-thirds of the crop, is expected to be available by Labor Day Weekend or soon thereafter in most areas.
To find detailed listings of area orchards, visit the home page of the New England Apples website, and click on "Find an Apple Orchard." Be sure to call ahead to see what is ready for picking.
Most of the region's orchards expect to have plenty of apples in a range of varieties and sizes.
Here is USApple's state-by-state forecast for 2015 (in units of 42-pound boxes):
2015 crop estimate 2014 harvest % change from 2014 5-year average % change from 5-year average
Connecticut 631 K 474K +33% 516 K +22%
Maine 1,000 K 905K +11% 738 K +35%
Massachusetts 1,121 K 1,031K +9% 906 K +24%
New Hampshire 495 K 402K +23% 461 K +7%
Rhode Island 55 K 43K +28% 53 K +4%
Vermont 729 K 700K +4% 750 K -3%
The 2015 United States apple crop is predicted to be 234.8 million boxes, about 14 percent smaller than 2014, according to USApple's annual forecast. Leading the way is Washington state, with an estimated crop of 143 million boxes, about 18 percent smaller than a year ago. New York expects to harvest 26.2 million boxes, a 15 percent decrease from 2014, and Michigan will be slightly down from a year ago, at 24,000 million boxes.
The 2015 national apple crop forecast is close to the five-year average of 236,008 million boxes.
My favorite apple
Posted in New England apple varieties, tagged Akane apple, America's Apple, Apples of New England, Atkins Farm, Baldwin apple, Bar Lois Weeks, Black Oxford apple, Cortland apple, Cox's Orange Pippin apple, Gala apple, Ginger Gold apple, Gravenstein apple, Honeycrisp apple, Hudson's Golden Gem apple, Jonagold apple, Jonathan apple, Lanni Orchards, Macoun apple, McIntosh apple, New England Apple Association, New England apple orchards, New England apples, Northern Spy apple, Ricker Hill Orchard, Roxbury Russet apple, Russell Steven Powell, Sansa apple, Shamrock apple, Suncrisp apple, Tougas Family Farm, University of Massachusetts Cold Spring Orchard, Wolf River apple on November 29, 2014| 2 Comments »
Golden Delicious, from Lanni Orchards in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, is an outstanding all-purpose apple. (Bar Lois Weeks photo)
NEXT TO "What is the best pie apple?" the question I am asked the most — and which I frequently ask others — is "What is your favorite apple?" It's not an easy question to answer. It's not something you can even ask about a strawberry or a banana, and there are many ways to slice it.
These are things I consider:
Flavor – sweet to tart
Texture – tender, crisp, or dense
Physical beauty – striking color, distinctive shape
Storage quality
Character – some apples gain complexity and sweetness over time
Early, mid-, or late-season
Availability – some apples for only a few weeks
Quality – according to season and region
Heirlooms or new apples
No other fruit locates us in place and time as apples do, or has the power to remind us of important people in our lives. On a macro scale, apple myths and stories serve as historical milestones across cultures and centuries. From this fruit we glean attitudes toward commerce, cooking, diet, and landscape, as well as religion and science, from Adam and Eve to the Golden Apple, from Sir Isaac Newton to Johnny Appleseed, each with its particular context and meaning.
Apples continue to leave cultural footprints today, in New York City, otherwise known as "The Big Apple" since the 1920s, and in commerce: the Beatles' Apple Record label in 1968, and the Apple computer company in 1976. Apple Computer carries its apple imagery one step further, naming its iconic personal computer after New England's iconic apple: McIntosh, or simply Mac.
On a micro level, many people have strong personal and emotional ties to apples, a grandfather or uncle who owned an orchard, perhaps, or a youthful job sorting, picking, or selling apples at a neighbor's. Apples are uniquely tangible legacies of our mothers and grandmothers through the knowledge of a favorite pie apple and hand-scrawled recipes on ancient index cards stained with egg white threads and traces of cinnamon.
Apples have many associations for us, culturally and as individuals, and my personal experience influences my favorites. I grew up with McIntosh and Cortland, and Northern Spy is my mother's favorite pie apple. My friend uses nothing but Cortland in his pies for 25 years. I'm sure his daughter has taken notice.
These associations help explain why every apple has its fans: an apple may evoke warm memories of places as well as people, adding depth to its eating appeal.
Black Oxford apple (Bar Lois Weeks photo)
Jonathan, a beautiful red heirloom from New York, is a favorite of a friend from the Midwest, where it has long been popular, and much to his chagrin it is not widely grown in New England. Black Oxford, despite its distinctive color and good eating qualities, is rarely found outside of its native Maine.
It may be that a variety has superior flavor only when grown in certain soils and climates. Wolf River is a favorite of many Wisconsin natives, where the apple is also native; in New England it is typically valued more for its exceptionally large size than its mild flavor.
Propagated through grafting, apples are direct descendants of the original tree of the variety, sometimes centuries old; eating one is like ingesting a bit of history, a living reminder of the rural, agrarian roots of now-urban settings like Roxbury, Dedham, and Wilmington, Massachusetts, or Hartford, Connecticut.
With names like Tinmouth, Bethel, and Boxford, apples continue to celebrate small towns in New England's rural countryside, too, or else perpetuate the memory of a farmer, landowner, or statesman, such as the Massachusetts apple Baldwin, named for a distinguished war veteran, public servant, and civil engineer, Col. Loammi Baldwin.
An apple's history, no matter how illustrious, does not make it taste any better. Still, knowing its unusual or local story can influence my choice.
THIS LONG PREAMBLE to my list of favorites is necessary to explain why I can only narrow it down to eight apples.
I could happily survive on dozens of other varieties:
Akane and Sansa are two of the best of the early season apples. I've rarely met a russeted apple I didn't like, such as Roxbury Russet, America's oldest named variety (1635).
It is hard to imagine a better all-purpose apple than Cortland or the sweeter Golden Delicious, or a more interesting apple than the orange russet, Ashmead's Kernel.
Some apples have vintage years, like fine wines. Two years ago, Ginger Gold from Tougas Family Farm in Northborough, Massachusetts, were the best I ever had; last year it was Shamrock from the University of Massachusetts Cold Spring Orchard in Belchertown.
Gravenstein apple (Bar Lois Weeks photo)
This year, two relatively hard-to-find apples were particularly noteworthy: Gravenstein, from Atkins Farms in Amherst, Massachusetts, and Suncrisp, from Ricker Hill Orchards in Turner, Maine.
Suncrisp apple (Bar Lois Weeks photo)
Both were exceptionally crisp and juicy with a tantalizing, lemony tart flavor and looks to match. Gravenstein's red and green blend like a watercolor, Suncrisp's rich yellow has beautiful pink cheeks or stripes.
But none of these fine apples make my list.
Cox's Orange Pippin apple (Bar Lois Weeks photo)
MY THREE FAVORITE heirlooms are Cox's Orange Pippin (England, 1825), Baldwin (Massachusetts, 1740), and Northern Spy (Connecticut, 1840).
Cox's Orange Pippin's complex flavor is the best of any apple I have tasted. Cox's Orange Pippin is hard to find, and orchards sell out by December.
Northern Spy apple (Bar Lois Weeks photo)
After dominating apple production in the Northeast for more than a century, Baldwin and Northern Spy were surpassed in the 1930s by McIntosh and Cortland, which are easier to grow. Fortunately, you can still find these heirlooms at many orchards, and because they store so well, supplies often last through December.
Baldwin apple (Bar Lois Weeks photo)
From an eating standpoint, both Baldwin and Northern Spy are superior apples, and they are especially good in baking: large, firm, and they hold their shape. Northern Spy in particular has been a favorite pie apple for generations of bakers. Baldwin and Northern Spy are good eaten fresh, too, lively, spicy, with some tartness.
In general I like my apple to have a little bite, some tang, a degree of tartness. It goes with being a New Englander, the complex flavors analogous to living with the four seasons. An apple with some spiciness or tartness broadens my experience of flavor.
I like a sweet apple now and then, though, and there are some good choices, like the russeted, pear-flavored Hudson's Golden Gem (Oregon, 1931). But I put Honeycrisp (Minnesota, 1991) at the top of my sweet apple list, followed by Gala (New Zealand, 1934).
Honeycrisp apple (Bar Lois Weeks photo)
Honeycrisp has a distinctive, light-crisp texture that explodes with more juice than any other apple. It is the biggest new variety to hit the apple industry in the past 50 years, and its success has apple breeders around the globe scrambling to develop the next pomological superstar.
Gala is the Golden Retriever of apples, ubiquitous, not the most complex creature but irresistibly sweet, and beautiful to behold. With its pear-like taste, Gala is a more flavorful alternative to the sweet, bland Red Delicious. Both apples have a distinctive conical shape, but Gala's color is more complex than the monochromatic Red Delicious, turning gradually deeper shades of yellow, red, and orange in storage.
Two fresh-eating apples on my favorites list are Macoun (New York, 1923), and Jonagold (New York, 1968). Macoun has some of the pleasing tartness of its McIntosh parent but a crisper texture, and a complex, spicy flavor with hints of strawberry. I love its wine-red color and boxy shape.
Jonagold apple (Bar Lois Weeks photo)
Jonagold has a light-crisp, juicy flesh similar to Honeycrisp but not as sweet, with just enough tartness to give it depth. Jonagold happens to be beautiful as well, a fiery blend of gold and red from its Golden Delicious and Jonathan parents. Popular at orchards and at farm stands — and especially in Europe — Jonagold curiously has not yet caught on in most of New England's supermarkets.
McIntosh apple (Bar Lois Weeks photo)
I must include McIntosh (Canada, 1801), available throughout the year. McIntosh is the standard, the staple, so consistently good and widely available that I sometimes take it for granted. But there are good reasons that this durable heirloom, is New England's most popular apple.
McIntosh has great flavor and aroma, refreshingly crisp and tart when first picked and mellowing over time, a little sweeter and juicier in storage. It's great for fresh eating.
McIntosh adds exceptional flavor to almost any baked good. Some people don't like the fact that its tender flesh tends to break down when baked, but this is not always the case, and it can be ameliorated by mixing in a few firmer varieties. The ingredients for Peg's New England Apple Squares include cornflakes in the filling, which soak up excess juice and contributes to the pastry's firmness.
Those are my choices, a favorite apple for all purposes, and for all seasons.
And you? What is your favorite apple?
APPLES OF NEW ENGLAND (Countryman Press, 2014), a history of apple growing in New England, includes photographs and descriptions of more than 200 apple varieties discovered, grown, or sold in the region. Separate chapters feature the "fathers" of American wild apple, Massachusetts natives John Chapman ("Johnny Appleseed") and Henry David Thorea; the contemporary orchard of the early 21st century; and rare apples, many of them photographed from the preservation orchard at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, Massachusetts.
Powell is senior writer for the nonprofit New England Apple Association after serving as its executive director from 1998 to 2011. Photographer Bar Lois Weeks is the Association's current executive director.
Available in bookstores everywhere.
AMERICA'S APPLE, (Brook Hollow Press, 2012) Powell's and Weeks's first book, provides an in-depth look at how apples are grown, eaten, and marketed in America, with chapter on horticulture, John Chapman (aka Johnny Appleseed), heirloom apples, apples as food, apple drinks, food safety insects and disease, labor, current trends, and apple futures, with nearly 50 photographs from orchards around the country.
The hardcover version lists for $45.95 and includes a photographic index of 120 apple varieties cultivated in the United States. America's Apple is also available in paperback, minus the photograph index, for $19.95, and as an ebook.
Available at numerous bookstores and orchards, and Silver Street Media, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and other online sources. For quantity discounts, email newenglandapples@verizon.net.
How to eat a fresh apple
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged America's Apple, Apples of New England, Ashmead's Kernel apple, Baldwin apple, Bar Lois Weeks, Clarkdale Fruit Farms, Empire apple, Esopus Spitzenburg apple, Fuji apple, Gala apple, Ginger Gold apple, Golden Delicious apple, Honeycrisp apple, Idared apple, Jonagold apple, Macoun apple, McIntosh apple, New England Apple Association, New England apple orchards, New England apples, Northern Spy apple, Rhode Island Greening apple, Ribston Pippin apple, Roxbury Russet apple, Russell Steven Powell, Shamrock apple, Sheep's Nose apple, Silken apple, Suncrisp apple on November 13, 2014| 5 Comments »
Fresh apples for sampling at Clarkdale Fruit Farms, Deerfield, Massachusetts, during Franklin County CiderDays (Bar Lois Weeks photo)
TWICE A DAY at least I reach into a paper bag in my refrigerator and pull out an apple. It could be any color, size, or shape — I like to be surprised. I take an apple on my morning and afternoon walks, where it can be savored in its natural environment, without distraction.
An apple is perfect for walking, clean and compact, fitting neatly in my pocket, giving me a sweet energy boost and fresh juice along the way. Apples work on all the senses, beautiful to behold (especially in contrast with November's muted landscape) and lightly perfuming the air, their smooth, round or conical shape weighing comfortably in my hand.
While the last New England apples have been picked, the bounty of the harvest will last until late spring, at least. During the fresh harvest I was able to amass a wide variety of my favorite apples from around New England, which will supply my walks at least through Thanksgiving.
From my orchard visits in October I picked up small bags of Baldwin, Northern Spy, Rhode Island Greening, plus Honeycrisp, Jonagold, and McIntosh. I had some Gala, Empire, Macoun, and a few Silken left over from our booth at the Eastern States Exposition ("The Big E") in September.
One bag is filled with heirloom varieties like Esopus Spitzenburg, Ribston Pippin, and Roxbury Russet. There are a few loose stragglers on the refrigerator's shelves, a Golden Delicious one day, Suncrisp the next. I never know what I will retrieve when I reach in.
Monday I ate a Jonagold in the morning, and a Macoun in the afternoon — two of my favorite fresh eating apples. There are mixed reports about the storage qualities of Jonagold, a 1968 cross of Golden Delicious and Jonathan, but this one, purchased a month ago, held up beautifully, crisp and loaded with juice, with its characteristic flavor, sweet with a little tartness.
After a similar time in storage, the Macoun, the offspring of McIntosh and Jersey Black parents introduced in 1923, remained crisp, and its flavor was rich and complex, with its spicy, strawberry notes more pronounced than ever.
Tuesday I ate two heirlooms, McIntosh from Canada (1801), and Northern Spy (1840 New York, from seeds from Connecticut).
The Mac was outstanding, early in its flavor "arc" that sees the apple gradually sweeten and soften over several months. It had been two months since this McIntosh was harvested, and much of the apple's tartness remained intact, giving it a rich flavor as beguiling as fresh-picked and spicier, more complex.
The pink Northern Spy was huge, firm, and juicy, its initial tartness gradually transforming into something broader and deeper. It is easy to see why this apple was a favorite for nearly a century despite being somewhat unreliable and difficult to grow, as it stores well, and is equally good for fresh eating and baking.
I began Wednesday with a giant Honeycrisp that had been sitting in the crisper drawer for about two months.
While still juicy, its flavor was unexceptional, certainly nothing like what the apple has become famous for since it hit the marketplace in 1991, from a 1961 cross of Keepsake and an unnamed seedling at the University of Minnesota.
Some Honeycrisp store better than others, depending on where they were grown and when they were picked, but it is an apple that is appreciably better eaten fresh. A good Honeycrisp can also be almost solid pink-red in color, much like Northern Spy.
I ended the day with a Baldwin, one of New England's oldest varieties, dating back to 1740 in Wilmington, Massachusetts. Baldwin was the region's most popular apple for nearly a century before McIntosh's ascendancy in the early 1900s.
The Baldwin I ate was the crispest and tartest of the six apples I tasted during the three days (it may have been the last of these varieties to be picked). Beneath its round, nearly solid vermillion skin, freckled with cream-colored pores, or lenticels, the Baldwin's crisp, juicy flesh was pleasingly tart at first but finished sweeter, ending in sublime flavors of pineapple and melon.
The view from Clarkdale Fruit Farms, Deerfield, Massachusetts, early November (Bar Lois Weeks photo)
HERE ARE A FEW ways to get the most from your fresh apples:
When trying a new variety, always purchase at least four apples. Eat two of the apples a few days apart, within a week of purchase. No two apples are exactly alike. Subtle flavors like vanilla, nuts, or mango can vary in intensity from apple to apple, and sometimes can be hard to detect. By trying two fresh apples, you are more likely to experience the variety's full range of flavors.
Place the other two apples in your refrigerator, and mark the date they were purchased or picked. Ideally, seal the apples in plastic bags and store them in your crisper drawer. As long as they are kept cold, though, most apples keep pretty well in a paper bag. Either bag helps them retain moisture, and keeps them from absorbing odors from foods around them.
Wait a month before tasting the first of these stored apples. Note if there is an appreciable difference in flavor and texture, good or bad. Some apples peak in flavor around this time.
Many varieties follow a similar ripening arc, albeit it at different rates, gradually losing some of their initial tartness and becoming sweeter, more complex, and juicier over time. The same variety can be appreciated in different seasons for different reasons.
From a crisp, tart green apple in late September, Shamrock gets progressively spicier and juicier for about a month before it begins to break down. The flesh of the Connecticut heirloom Sheep's Nose is dry at harvest, but becomes mellower and juicier after a month or more in storage.
Idared's best flavor will not emerge until the new year, when it excels in pies and in cider. The flavor of Suncrisp is said to improve in storage, but I wouldn't know — I enjoy their sweet-tart, citrusy taste so much eaten fresh that I cannot seem to make one last long enough to find out. I have one left in my refrigerator this year, and I am determined to make it last to December, at least.
If your apple has held up well for 30 days, leave the remaining one in the refrigerator for another month (or more) before tasting it. Fuji is famous for its storage qualities. Russeted-covered apples like Ashmead's Kernel and Roxbury Russet are well known for developing richer, more complex flavors in storage, sometimes months after they have been harvested.
Obviously, the apples available now in grocery stores, farmers markets, orchards, and farm stands, were picked weeks ago. But they have been maintained in either regular, or controlled atmosphere (CA) storage, retarding their ripening process.
Stored properly — meaning kept cold — the apples may be slightly less crisp than the day they were picked, but not much. You can test an apple's ripening qualities any time you make your purchase.
Don't reject perfectly good fruit. You can't always judge an apple by its skin. Most surface blemishes on an apple are harmless and easily removed, such as a patch of apple scab, a dent from hail, or spot russeting. An otherwise fine apple can be misshapen because it rested on a branch as it grew. The apple's flavor is in no way impaired.
All apples bruise if treated roughly, and some varieties are more susceptible than others. A thin-skinned apple like Silken or a tender-fleshed one like McIntosh require special care in handling. But a bruise here and there on an apple's surface can easily be ignored, avoided, or removed.
A perfectly good apple often awaits beneath that less-than-perfect exterior. The Galas from The Big E are looking a little wrinkly on the outside, but their flesh remains firm and their flavor is as good as ever. The color of Galas changes in storage, too. It typically has patches of yellow at harvest, and gradually deepens to a rich red-orange.
Rub the apple, eat the skin. While apples leave the orchard and packinghouse clean, like all produce it is best to wash them off before eating, mostly because of the possibility of contamination by human handlers. You never know who may have previously picked up that apple in the bin.
The natural film or "bloom" on an apple, sometimes mistaken for pesticide residue, helps the apple retain moisture. Some of the bloom gets washed off in the packinghouse, and in some cases a drop of wax is applied to replenish it and give the apples a shine. Both the natural bloom and the cosmetic wax are harmless.
The majority of the chemicals used to treat apple pests and disease are applied in the spring and early summer, some before the fruit is even formed. Most residual traces of chemicals are washed off by rain over the summer, and apples entering the packinghouse are first dunked in a tank of water where they float for ten feet or more before entering the packing line, where they will be further buffed and brushed along the way.
But it's always a good idea to clean your fruit before you eat it. The beauty of the apple is that you don't need water to wash it— just rub it on your shirt, especially convenient when outdoors.
The peel and the flesh just beneath it contain much of the apple's nutrients, so there are compelling reasons to eat it. That's automatic for most people eating a fresh apple, but requires some rethinking on the part of many bakers and cooks. Prepared properly, though, apple skins can add color as well as nutrients to any dish.
Make sure your apples are ripe. It's good to know what you are getting. The best way to tell if an apple is ripe is by examining its seeds. The apple should not be picked until the seeds are dark brown, almost black, in color.
If you find that some of your apples were not fully ripe when picked, you can eat them without harm. They are likely to be more tart than usual, though, may not store as well, and may have inferior flavor.
I purchased some Ginger Golds in August, and when I cut several of them open, their seeds were white, not brown. The apples tasted alright, but nowhere near as good as Ginger Golds I have had in the past.
Today, two-and-a-half months later, the apples have slowly ripened in my refrigerator, and the seeds are now medium brown. But the ripening has been uneven; the flavor is not much improved, the flesh is beginning to go soft, and they are not very juicy. Reluctantly, I'll have to throw them out.
For more information about New England apples, including where to find them, visit New England Apples.
Author Russell Steven Powell is senior writer for the nonprofit New England Apple Association after serving as its executive director from 1998 to 2011. Photographer Bar Lois Weeks is the Association's current executive director.
What is the best pie apple?
Posted in New England apple varieties, Recipes, Seasonal, tagged 2014 Great New England Apple Pie Contest, Akane apple, America's Apple, Andrea Darrow, apple pie, Apples of New England, Baldwin apple, Bar Lois Weeks, Burt Gendron, Chris Zito, Clarkdale Fruit Farms, Cold Spring Orchard, Cortland apple, Crispin apple, Dr. Thomas H. Hoskins, Empire apple, Gala apple, Gerri Griswold, Ginny Sears, Gravenstein apple, Green Mountain Orchards, Honeycrisp apple, Julia Grimaldi, Kim Harrison, Macoun apple, McIntosh apple, Mutsu apple, Nestrovich Fruit Farm, New England Apple Association, New England apple orchards, New England apples, Northern Spy apple, Pine Hill Orchards, Pink Lady apple, Red Apple Farm, Russell Steven Powell, Second Chance Farm, Sue Chadwick, Wachusett Mountain AppleFest, White Memorial Conservation Center on November 8, 2014| 8 Comments »
The apple pie evaluators took their job seriously at White Memorial Conservation Center, Litchfield, Connecticut. (Bar Lois Weeks photo)
AFTER TWO MONTHS of intensive research, we are forced to admit failure — once again — in our perennial quest to definitively answer a question that has plagued civilization since the discovery of the cooking fire: what is the best pie apple?
Our failure was not due to a lack of effort, and we had the help of prodigious pie-makers from across the region. We began by baking, inhaling, and serving more than 2,000 five-inch, single-serving apple pies at the Eastern States Exposition ("The Big E") for 17 days in September, and tasted not a few of them.
We talked pies with Kim Harrison, one of a team of volunteers that made the pies to raise funds for The Preservation Society in Granby, Massachusetts. We spoke with dozens of customers about the merits of one variety over another.
The Big E pies have a flaky top crust covering a filling of several varieties lightly spiced. Many people topped off their pie with vanilla ice cream, a few with thin slices of cheddar. The apples were supplied by five Massachusetts orchards: Cold Spring Orchard in Belchertown, Clarkdale Fruit Farms in Deerfield, Nestrovich Fruit Farm in Granville, Pine Hill Orchards in Colrain, and Red Apple Farm in Phillipston.
The apple pies at the Big E featured a mix of varieties. (Bar Lois Weeks photo)
Most of the pies included McIntosh, a perennial contender for the gold standard since its discovery on an Ontario farm more than two centuries ago. (McIntosh was introduced to New England in 1868 by Vermont's Dr. Thomas H. Hoskins.)
Its flavor and aroma are so good that most people forgive McIntosh's tendency to break down when baked, and add at least some to any varietal mix.
Akane, an early season apple developed in Japan in 1937 and introduced in the United States in 1970, was also noteworthy in this year's pies for its lightly tangy flavor and texture.
In our informal survey of visitors, opinions about the best pie apple ran the gamut, from heirlooms like Baldwin (Wilmington, Massachusetts, 1740) to recent entries such as Pink Lady (Australia, 1989). Northern Spy (East Bloomfield, New York, in 1840, from seeds from Salisbury, Connecticut) has a particularly loyal fan base.
The closest we came to discovery, though, was the radiance of a woman purchasing 14 Gravenstein apples, an early season heirloom from Europe that dates back to at least the 1600s. The now hard-to-find Gravs were popular in New England until the bitterly cold winter of 1933-34, when many of the trees perished (along with more than one million Baldwin trees). It has never recovered as a commercial apple, but can still be found at some orchards.
Pie preferences are often passed down from generation to generation. The woman purchasing 14 Gravensteins put six in her bag at first, and as we talked she kept adding to her total until she got to 14. She planned to make two pies with them, just the way her mother did.
It was not the first time during our years at The Big E that the sight of Gravensteins has inspired such passion, and we suspect it will not be the last. I have not made a pie using just Gravenstein, but if it is as good baked as it is eaten fresh, the woman may be on to something. The apples were special, bursting with juice, with a lightly crisp, lemony tart flavor.
The flavor of nearly all of the varieties cited at The Big E, we noted, is more tart than sweet. That's not to say that you can't make a great pie using sweet apples, but a hint of tartness lends a pie complexity and zest.
Bakers pose with their entries prior to judging at the 2014 Great New England Apple Pie Contest. (Bar Lois Weeks photo)
NEXT WE TRIED immersion, serving as judges in the 5th Annual Great New England Apple Pie Contest October 18 at Wachusett Mountain's annual AppleFest in Princeton, Massachusetts. We dutifully sampled 30 pies in less than two hours, using the two-bite method: an introduction to the pie, and a second impression. It is the only way to do justice to this many pies.
There were some incredible-looking pies — entries are judged on appearance and presentation as well as flavor and texture — in two categories, Apple Only and Apple And Other. Several had latticed or elaborately sculpted crusts, including the winner of Apple Only, Theresa Matthews of Gardner, Massachusetts.
Theresa Matthews' winning 2014 Great New England Apple Pie Contest pie is in the foreground. (Russell Steven Powell photo)
The judges, in addition to me, were Bar Lois Weeks, executive director of the New England Apple Association, for the third year; local businessman Burt Gendron, a veteran pie taster; Julia Grimaldi, representing the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources; and radio personalities Chris Zito of WSRS and Ginny Sears of WTAG, both in Worcester.
We did not know the varieties used in any pie, although we were able to identify McIntosh flavor and texture in some, and make good guesses about Cortland, an 1898 cross of McIntosh with Ben David, similar in flavor to McIntosh but larger and firmer.
Most of the entries were good to very good, with several reaching exalted status. The few low-scoring pies suffered more from lackluster crusts than poor apple flavor.
One pie pairing pears with apples tasted mostly of apples — finding a balance that allows the milder pear flavor to come through can be tricky. But apples and pears is a proven combination, well worth the effort to get it right.
Green grapes and apples, on the other hand, may go well together fresh in a fruit salad, but made an undistinguished pie filling. While there are many flavorful ways to serve apples with bacon or peanut butter, the pies that combined them did justice to neither apple nor "other."
Other ingredients in Apple and Other were caramel, cranberries, cream cheese, raisins, walnuts, and Jack Daniels. They all worked well with this versatile fruit.
Apples in a number of pies had been sliced by a mandolin slicer, and generally this did not improve the pie's texture. The thin, uniform slices often stick together in a stack, which can lead to uneven cooking and consistency.
Theresa Matthews used only Cortland apples in her winning Apple Only pie. Both contest winners in 2012 also used just Cortland. Could this make Cortland the undisputed champ?
Chef Gerri Griswold, rear right, looks on as people sample her pies at White Memorial Conservation Center, Litchfield, Connecticut. (Bar Lois Weeks photo)
FROM THERE we conducted another experiment, at the White Memorial Conservation Center in Litchfield, Connecticut. Chef Gerri Griswold baked a dozen pies for our October 25 apple talk and tasting event, two each using single varieties: Cortland; Empire, a 1945 offspring of McIntosh, crossed with Red Delicious, released in 1966; Gala (New Zealand, 1934, 1970), Honeycrisp (Minnesota, 1961, released in 1991), Macoun, a 1909 cross of McIntosh with Jersey Black in New York, released in 1923); and McIntosh.
Gerri scrupulously followed the Joy of Cooking apple pie recipe for all 12 of her creations, using the same prepared Pillsbury crust. We sampled each pie several times, as did the 20 or so people of all ages in attendance. A sheet of paper nearby for our scores and comments went mostly untouched, as most people were content to savor the experience.
There was plenty of excellent pie, but no clear-cut winner. Cortland had the most support in an informal poll, but the Empire, Macoun, and McIntosh pies all had champions. The McIntosh pie had surprisingly firm texture, soft but not mushy, and holding together.
Gerri had tried a similar experiment during our first appearance at White Memorial two years ago, baking four pies using single varieties. On that day, Mutsu, a large yellow apple discovered in Japan in 1930 (also known as Crispin), was the favorite pie apple.
The pies made with the sweet Gala and Honeycrisp apples did not fare as well as the others. For most of us, they were a little too sweet and their flavor lacked character. Gerri acknowledged that were it not for the taste test she would have reduced the sugar in the pies made with these varieties.
WE CONTINUED our study this past Sunday, November 2, during Franklin County CiderDays. Sue Chadwick, who grows a wide range of rare heirloom apples at her Second Chance Farm in Greenfield, Massachusetts, kindly donated a pie for our research, one of just three left from the 20 she baked to sell at the event the day before.
Sue uses a mix of apples in her pies, and the varieties could be different every time. Even if she could tell exactly what went into each pie, it would be hard for most people to find the apples to replicate it. The pie she gave us had rich apple flavor, as good or better than any made with a single variety.
Having made such little progress, we are going back to view Andrea Darrow's three-part video series about apple pie-making, below. Andrea, of Green Mountain Orchards in Putney, Vermont, bakes hundreds of apple pies every fall, peeling every apple by hand. She uses several varieties, including Cortland and McIntosh, and piles them high.
Theresa Matthews with all that was left of her winning 2014 Great New England Apple Pie Contest pie after the judging. The Apple Rose Tarts on top were long gone. (Russell Steven Powell photo)
THERESA MATTHEWS has been working on her apple pies since she was a teenager. "My Mum was the reason behind that. She never measured for her pie crusts and I could never, ever get it right."
Theresa's preference for Cortland goes back at least a generation. "I've tried other apples, but I always go back to Cortland. I got that from my Mum as well."
She did get it right. Here is the recipe for Theresa Matthews' first-place pie.
Mum's Apple Pie
3 c all purpose flour
1 t sea salt
1 T granulated sugar
1-½ sticks unsalted butter (cold)
⅓ c shortening (cold)
½ c ice cold water
one egg white
In a food processor bowl place flour, salt, sugar, butter, and shortening. Cover and pulse until blended about the size of peas. While running the processor, pour cold water in a steady stream until pastry ball forms. Divide into two balls, chilling for at least 30 minutes.
Roll out one crust on lightly floured parchment paper 1" larger than pie tin. Carefully transfer pastry to pie tin, and try not to stretch to avoid shrinking. Take egg white and brush onto entire bottom crust and refrigerate for 15 minutes or until filling is set.
6 thinly sliced Cortland apples
½ c unsalted butter
3 T all purpose flour
¼ c water
½ c granulated sugar
½ c packed light brown sugar
1½ t cinnamon
½ t nutmeg
Preheat oven to 350°.
Melt butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a smooth paste. Add in water, sugars, and spices and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature to a simmer. In a large mixing bowl place sliced apples. Pour sauce over apple slices and mix carefully to keep apple slices whole.
Carefully spoon coated apple slices into bottom crust, mounding slightly. Take care not to pour too much liquid to run out, reserving 2 T sauce. Brush bottom crust edge with egg whites and cover mounded apples with top crust, trim and press to seal. Cut slits for steam to release during cooking and brush glaze onto top of pie.
Cut pie dough scraps into the shapes of leaves and arrange them on the pie where the rose tarts will be placed. Brush glaze over leaves. Save remaining pie dough for Apple Rose Tarts (recipe below).
Place in preheated oven and lay a sheet of aluminum foil over pie to prevent burning. Bake 60-75 minutes or until deep golden brown. Cool. Serve as is or with ice cream. Makes one 9" pie.
Apple Rose Tarts
Inspiration from diy-enthusiasts.com/food-fun/easy-apple-desserts-apple-roses/
2 Cortland apples sliced thinly
3 c water with 1 c sugar dissolved to make a simple syrup
1 T lemon juice (to help prevent browning)
Pie crust dough (left over from Mum's Apple Pie, above)
Add apple slices to a pan of sweet syrup, making sure to cover all apples. Cook over medium-low heat until apples are pliable.
Roll out remaining pie dough in a rectangle about 8 to 10 inches wide and 10-12 inches long. Cut 8-10 one-inch wide strips along dough's length.
Dry off 6 apple slices on a paper towel before arranging on a strip of pie dough. Lay out Overlap slices on strips so when rolled they will form the apple rose petals. Take care to leave about 1/2" of dough to seal the tart once rolled. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar before rolling up tart into a rose. (Photo references available on aforementioned website)
Place tarts on parchment paper about 2 inches apart and bake for 25 minutes or until brown and bubbly. Once tarts are cool, remove from parchment and using toothpicks insert into place on baked and cooled apple pie.
New England apples, early October
Posted in Seasonal, tagged Asian pear, Buell's Orchard, Cortland apple, Crimson Topaz apple, Dame Farm and Orchard, Gala apple, Hill Orchards, James Steere, Jonagold apple, Macoun apple, McIntosh apple, Mutsu apple, New England apples, Phantom Farms, Pippin Orchard, Red Apple Farm, Red Topaz apple, Rubin apple, Steere Orchard, Topaz apple, Tougas Family Farm, Vanda apple on October 7, 2014| 1 Comment »
Jonagold apples are labeled "Better than Honeycrisp" at Tougas Family Farm, Northborough, Massachusetts (Russell Steven Powell photo)
THE 2014 NEW ENGLAND APPLE crop is decidedly uneven. Some orchards have plenty of fruit, some just miles away have been forced to close early after running out of fresh apples.
The region avoided major outbreaks of frost damage in the spring, hail in summer, or a fall hurricane, any of which can shrink the crop. But the 2014 New England harvest is smaller than usual for several reasons, including last year's harsh winter, which damaged or killed trees in some orchards; spotty pollination during spring bloom, impacting whole orchards or certain varieties; and a larger-than-usual outbreak of the bacterial infection fire blight in all of the New England states except Maine.
Some orchards are down as much as 60 percent to 70 percent from a normal year. But many New England orchards have outstanding crops. Region-wide, there are plenty of beautiful, delicious apples of all varieties and sizes, a few of which are shown here.
So if you don't find your favorite apple at your favorite orchard, don't despair. Simply branch out to another New England orchard, or check your supermarket for local apples. Chances are you will not have to look far.
The Massachusetts photographs were taken Sunday, October 5, the Rhode Island orchards Monday, October 6.
Visit our website, New England Apples, for a list of the region's orchards and to learn about New England apple varieties and where they are grown.
A heavy crop of late-season Topaz apples is among the varieties available at Tougas Family Farm, Northborough, Massachusetts (Russell Steven Powell photo)
Tougas Family Farm, Northborough, Massachusetts (Russell Steven Powell photo)
TOPAZ is a disease-resistant variety from the Czech Republic that made its commercial debut in 1990. The small but active Czech Republic apple industry has been in the forefront of developing new disease-resistant varieties, including the scab-resistant Topaz and its parents, Rubin and Vanda.
Topaz is a medium to large apple with a red blush over a yellow skin. Its cream-colored flesh is crisp, and its flavor, initially more tart than sweet, mellows some in storage. There is a redder strain known as Crimson Topaz or Red Topaz.
Red Apple Farm, Phillipston, Massachusetts (Russell Steven Powell photo)
PEOPLE SWARMED to New England's orchards Sunday like bees to nectar after Saturday's rain. Massachusetts orchards Red Apple Farm in Phillipston and Tougas Family Farm in Northborough are among the many orchards that have outstanding crops this fall.
Owner James Steere, Steere Orchard, Greenville, Rhode Island (Russell Steven Powell photo)
Macoun apples are just coming in at Steere Orchard, Greenville, Rhode Island (Russell Steven Powell photo)
Macoun apples, Steere Orchard, Greenville, Rhode Island (Russell Steven Powell photo)
STEERE ORCHARD in Greenville, Rhode Island, is just now harvesting Macouns, more than a week later than usual.
Steere Orchard will celebrate its 10th annual "Applefest" this weekend, Sunday, October 12, and Columbus Day, Monday, October 13, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. In addition to sampling and picking apples, there will be hayrides, a farmers market, live music, and baked goods.
Macoun apples, Hill Orchards, Johnston, Rhode Island (Russell Steven Powell photo)
Asian pears, Hill Orchards, Johnston, Rhode Island (Russell Steven Powell photo)
THERE ARE MORE apples remaining on the trees at Hill Orchards than neighboring Dame Farm and Orchard, both of Johnston, Rhode Island. The Macouns are nearly gone at Dame Farm and Orchard, which expects to be all picked out of all varieties by this weekend (there are plenty of fresh apples and other produce for sale in their farm store).
Macoun apple, Dame Farm and Orchard, Johnston, Rhode Island (Russell Steven Powell photo)
McIntosh apples, Dame Farm and Orchard, Johnston, Rhode Island (Russell Steven Powell photo)
Cortland apples, Dame Farm and Orchard, Johnston, Rhode Island (Russell Steven Powell photo)
Gala apples, Dame Farm and Orchard, Johnston, Rhode Island (Russell Steven Powell photo)
Mutsu apples, Pippin Orchard, Cranston, Rhode Island (Russell Steven Powell photo)
PIPPIN ORCHARD in Cranston, Rhode Island, still has some pick-your-own as well as fresh apples in its roadside store, but it is close to being picked out. Its cold storage room, usually full by now, is half full; even the orchard floor is unusually clean.
Phantom Farms apple tree, Cumberland, Rhode Island (Russell Steven Powell photo)
Pick-your-own apples are already gone at Phantom Farms in Cumberland, Rhode Island, but there are fresh apples and other goods for sale in their farm store and bakery.
Stripped of fruit, the orchard is still beautiful, fragrant, and peaceful, as Phantom Farms gradually transitions from standard-sized to dwarf and semi-dwarf trees.
Apple tree, Phantom Farms, Cumberland, Rhode Island (Russell Steven Powell photo)
A standard-sized apple tree towers over dwarf saplings at Phantom Farms, Cumberland, Rhode Island (Russell Steven Powell photo)
Buell's Orchard
Eastford, Connecticut
Moon rising over Buell's Orchard, Eastford, Connecticut (Russell Steven Powell photo)
Buell's Orchard in Eastford, Connecticut, has a good supply of apples.
RUSSELL STEVEN POWELL will discuss apples and read from his new book, Apples of New England (Countryman Press), at several sites over the Columbus Day Weekend.
Photographer Bar Lois Weeks will make a joint appearance with him at Boothby's Orchard and Farm Monday, October 13:
Historic Deerfield
80 Old Main St., Deerfield, Massachusetts
Monday, October 13, 11 a.m.
Boothby's Orchard and Farm
366 Boothby Rd., Livermore, Maine
Tuesday, October 14, 7:30 p.m.
Williamsburg Historical Society
4 North Main St., Williamsburg, Massachusetts


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Barbara Ewa Bubula (Cracóvia, 4 de Março de 1963) é uma política da Polónia. Ela foi eleita para a Sejm em 25 de Setembro de 2005 com 2832 votos em 13 no distrito de Cracóvia, candidato pelas listas do partido Prawo i Sprawiedliwość.

Ver também
Membros da Sejm 2005-2009

Ligações externas

Bubula, Barbara
Bubula, Barbara

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We aim to provide an exciting coffee experience for the residents of Wotton and those visiting the town.
We specialise in fresh, good quality home cooked food for breakfast and lunches. And, of course, we have great cakes. Take-away or eat in.
Tables can be booked for business meetings or lunch with friends.
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A new generation of solar panels incorporated into facades
After years of research, experimentation and testing, a new generation of solar panels comes onto the market that can be discretely incorporated into large surfaces. The solar-powered facade panels were installed in the facade of BAM's head office in Bunnik, in June 2020. They can be fabricated in any size and colour pattern, and will help to make the built environment energy-neutral in an attractive way.
Wiep Folkerts and Lenneke Slooff (TNO) discuss the importance of this project from the perspective of the climate targets.
Together with a research team of innovative small and large companies, and a 1.1 million euro subsidy from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), TNO has developed aesthetically compatible facade modules that can be incorporated in facades of offices or apartment buildings. The facade still looks the same but now generates energy. It also offers companies the opportunity to present themselves with an artistically composed facade, a work of art or logo.
Mimic design
A glimpse at the solar panels were installed in the facade of BAM's head office in Bunnik.
Mimic, or imitate, is a new generation of energy-generating facade modules that fit seamlessly into the built environment. By using this material, unimaginative side facades of apartment buildings can undergo a sustainable and aesthetic metamorphosis. It also offers housing corporations the opportunity to make their housing stock more sustainable by installing this new generation of PV modules during major maintenance and renovation.
The 'mimic design' facade solar panels are marketed by the start-up Solar Visuals, which originated from TNO and works closely with the architectural firm UNStudio and TS Visuals, a company specialising in the design and printing of large surfaces, such as in the Rotterdam Market Hall. Other partners are Solar Electricity and Design Innovation Group. For BAM Energy Systems, the product is an innovative addition to its range of sustainable energy systems for homes and offices.
Solar panels in facades: an Attractive alternative
Colored solar panels for facade application have been on the market for several years and have already been installed in the Netherlands. This mainly concerns panels with a homogeneous appearance. There are also suppliers that offer panels with images, but applications in the environment have so far only been realized on a very limited scale.
The application at BAM is one of the first larger facades in which panels with an image have been used. In this facade, a brick motif has been chosen that beautifully matches the existing facade in appearance, but also illustrates how versatile the possibilities are.
Compared to a classic solar panel, the yield here is about a quarter less. On the other hand, the format and colour can be adapted to any facade situation. In the case of facade modules that are optimised for colour and yield, the efficiency is about 85% compared to non-printed panels. The facade panels in the BAM facade have a capacity of 220 watts peak (Wp) per panel.
Installers attaching the solar panels to the facade of the BAM office in Bunnik.
The facade solar panels with self-selected design are an attractive alternative to the traditional panels on roofs. This development provides a positive boost to the private market for producing renewable energy. In this way, large facade surfaces can contribute to the energy production and thus to the achievement of climate targets. Architects gain the opportunity to design energy-neutral buildings with facade materials that have endless possibilities for colour and pattern variation, and property owners are offered an attractive alternative to comply with future legislation on making buildings energy efficient.
Less weight, higher yield
TNO will carry out extensive measurements in the coming period to determine the yield under various conditions and to further improve the product. For example, work is being done to reduce the weight of the modules by replacing the glass that is currently used with plastic. At the same time, the experts are finding ways to further increase the energy yield. Within the foreseeable future, facade solar panels should be able to compete in terms of cost price with the most common materials in the building industry in order to make homes and buildings more energy-neutral.
Curious to learn more about solar panels in facades?
Please contact Lenneke Slooff-Hoek ›
Solar energy plays a decisive role in the energy transition. By 2050, solar power could cover at least a quarter of our energy needs. This requires a great deal of effort in a large number of areas. TNO... Read more
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The College of Humanities and Social Sciences is built upon a foundation of excellence. Our faculty members are recognized for world-class teaching and leadership, and our students engage in research and service learning that will help change the world. However, without the generosity of others we simply would not be who we are today.
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Fright Fest: Dead & Buried (1981)
The Art of Death in Dead and Buried
What if someone's arrogance took the act of dying to the extreme for artistic purposes? This is the cornerstone of Gary Sherman's Dead and Buried, written by the team of Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett (though apparently O'Bannon's writing efforts had been edited out) based upon the Chelsea Quinn Yarbro novel.
The story takes place in mythical Potters Bluff, Rhode Island – one of those out-of-the-way seaside communities where everything appears to be quaint, but what happens at night or behind closed doors is a different kind "The Twilight Zone" story. Daniel Gillis (James Forentino) happens to be the local sheriff investigating bizarre murders that seemingly spring out of nowhere, and William G. Dobbs (Jack Albertson), the town's old-time undertaker who can't even speak until a Big Band tune ends, helps in providing clues left behind by the bodies of the recently departed. But Sheriff Gillis is having a hard time navigating the evidence that may prove the involvement of his neighbors as well as his wife, Janet (Melody Anderson).
Dead and Buried has an atmosphere that makes it a great companion to John Carpenter's The Fog, thanks to the cinematographic prowess of Steven Poster who eventually brought us Donnie Darko, Southland Tales, and more. Besides another solid script from Alien scribes O'Bannon and Shusett (regardless of who wrote what), the stellar Stan Winston delivers the special effects carnage that may leave one cringing in more than one scene.
And it's the gruesome deaths that are at the heart of Dead and Buried: body's set ablaze, head's crushed, stabbed torsos, acid injections – one long needle – that leave the living to suffer in their final moments before something even worse happens after their departure. To make the nightmare last forever, every death's captured on video like a birth in reverse. But this isn't your crazed serial killer on the loose with a bizarre agenda, and Hannibal the Cannibal would surely go hungry. There is a method to the madness, and even a philosophy to the matter, that only makes the carnage that much more disconcerting.
Then again, we should expect nothing less from a place called Potters Bluff, clearly taken from Potters Field: The place where the nameless are laid to rest. The only problem is that wayward tourists and transients didn't know they were headed to the "quiet town" for their own demise. The worst thing is that Dobbs seems to get off on the destruction. After all, he must make the bludgeoned and the burned look good again for burial, and he takes his post-mortem craftsmanship to heart like Michelangelo would a piece of marble.
While a frustrated Sheriff Gillis copes with Dobb's eccentricities, he has an investigation that makes little sense, and seems to expand in scope and mystery with each body. But he's no fool. Even with his criminal justice education, which a young Robert Englund points out in the role of Harry, Gillis knows this is far too much for him to handle. Yet, he won't call in the state police any time soon since his beloved Janet's acting strange. She's a teacher who suddenly has an interest in film and photography and the occult, and she may have encountered the first victim, a photographer nicknamed "Freddie" who sets off the current town crisis. Gillis found him burned up in his van, and in real life, the actor, Christopher Allport, died in the opposite manner: buried by an avalanche in 2008 while skiing in the San Gabriel mountains.
Besides Gillis's confusion and suspicion, his emotions keep him from taking a step back to see the big picture, to see the truth amidst the mayhem.
Dead and Buried is "Murder She Wrote" without the cups of tea and cutesy music, without that neat little ending and a giggle or two. Supposedly a comedy at its inception, the story took a darker turn due to the production company that wanted gore in lieu of laughs. The gore's there, as well as a mystery that falls into place like a pick-axe to the brain. But Sherman's film gives horror fans that "something extra."
*** SPOILER ALERT ***
This was Albertson's last feature film before his passing, and to say he owned Dead and Buried would be an under-statement. He gave his Dobb's character the panache to pull off something macabre, manic, and malevolent. And to prove his point, Dobb tells Gillis: "Call it black magic. Call it a medical breakthrough. I'll take my secret to the grave." And that's the funny part: There will be no grave for Dobbs because once he's dead, he'll live on as The Other, and he will haunt you – as he creates new masterpieces to surround himself as if a dollmaker extraordinaire.
We can see Dobbs' holier-than-though attitude, ego, and a sense for the dramatic early in the film, but by Dead and Buried's end, it's clear that he's on top of the heap and not willing to share the spotlight. Think of the former dead around him as minions without the banana craving who set out to create more minions exponentially.
Dobbs may think he has flair, and his arrogance certainly fits as a well-proportioned mask, but in the end, he's not an artist as he may think, or some sort of post-mortem savior. Instead, he's just a kid who wants to see what he can do with a wrecked body and make it dance. Instead of using whatever power he possesses to save lives, he treats the dead like playthings, and in time, the entire town of Potters Bluff will be made up of his toys: The dead he has resurrected in his perception of beauty. And the dead to him are everything. They are love and sexual satisfaction rolled into one morgue freezer.
With that, he will make time stand still. He may not have had his special power over the deceased during the Big Band era as he may have wished, but by God – or the Devil – he will stop the world from moving further away into something he can't grasp, comprehend, or appreciate. And that's the true awful terror behind Dead and Buried. Dobbs doesn't want to have power over the dead for some grand scheme to gain riches or rewards, or to make them do his bidding, he wants to stop time. But he's only a small fish in an extremely large pond, and Potters Bluff will be the only place where he'll reign.
In a sense, Dead and Buried is the story of a mad scientist who pulled it off – for now. He's foiled death by raising the dead, but only at his personal whim. He wants no fame or glory, no throne or empire, he simply wants to use the art of death to stop the future from cutting into what's left of the past he holds dear by freeze framing the present. And that means every horrid death comes far too late, and his resurrection of the dead is true blasphemy for they serve no purpose other than to entertain an old man who has his head stuck in a bygone era.
One can imagine at some point that the living dead he's manufactured from the slab will come calling and tear him asunder as they realize the world's moving forward and they don't belong. But if that day happens, Dobbs will smile and only hear Glenn Miller's "Moonlight Serenade" as the Potters Bluff throng, his "children," his "masterpieces" ask, "Why hast thou forsaken me?" only to realize that Dobbs was never a god on earth, just a lonely man who abused power. And like Dobb's old 78 records, they'll be a relic to a time long gone. Only then will Potters Bluff live up to its name: a high cliff from which to fall from grace, a reflection of Dobbs' ego-maniacal nature, and a place of pretend.
William D. Prystauk (aka Billy Crash) co-hosts THE LAST KNOCK horror podcast on iTunes and at Crash Palace Productions. One of this year's screenplay judges for Shriekfest, he's in pre-production of a dramatic science fiction feature film, about to pitch a new horror cable series to Hollywood, and his award-winning novel, Bloodletting, will be re-printed by PageCurl Publishing later this fall. When Prystauk's not headbanging to punk and metal, and leaving no sushi behind, he indulges in the food group better known as chocolate. Follow him on Twitter as @crashpalace, and look for him under his real name at: LinkedIn, IMDb, Amazon, Behance, and at http://williamdprystauk.com.
Tune in to THE LAST KNOCK.
The best source for horror reviews and discussions on the macabre!
This entry was posted on October 20, 2017 by Thomas S Flowers. It was filed under Horror, Movies, Reviews and was tagged with 1981, blogging, Dead & Buried, Fright Fest, Fright Fest 2017, guest contributor, Horror, horror movies, movie reivews, Reviews, undead, William D. Prystauk, zombies.


Be it leisure or business, with our Chaperone Service you'll get to spend your time in Hungary just the way you want to. Even if there's a thousand things you want to see and do, don't worry: we're here to make sure you check all those boxes.
We know that travelling to a place you've never been to can be risky business. It's not easy to get around and find what you're looking for in a city you're visiting for the first time. This is why we came up with an idea that will make your stay in Budapest carefree and relaxed. Our Chaperone Service has been designed for those who'd prefer to have a local friend at their side – someone to look out for them on their vacation or business trip, someone to help them avoid tourist traps, show them how our public transportation works, provide them with useful tips and keep them company while they run their errands.


text:
Q: Should mapreduce map a line of a text file and then reduce or process a whole text file? I'm running a Mapreduce job on 50k text docs 1-100 "pages" long. I don't perform much on the doc, just a few regex processes. It takes like 7 hours to MapReduce.
The mapper function runs on a line of text, basically the map function is called for every line of text in every document, that's a lot of processes. Then the reducer runs and combines the data.
public class TextMetricsMapper extends Mapper<LongWritable, Text, Text, Text> {
      @Override
      public void map(LongWritable key, Text value, Context context) throws IOException, InterruptedException {
            StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
            String line = value.toString();
…

Since I'm reading small text files, it seems like most of my processing time is probably spent in calling mappers. I mean if 1 of the 50,000 files has 5,000 lines that's 5,000 map process just for that one file.
How would I change a mapper to just read in the whole file? I really want to see the whole doc in the mapper at once to create the statistics I need.
*I have to use Hadoop due to business requirements.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


On this website we will focus (pun intended) on these items: smartphone monocular lenses, telephoto lens for smartphone, cell phone telephoto lens, cell phone telescope, mobile phone telescope, cell phone zoom lens or even a mobile camera lens.
Let me tell you that I have been a photographer for more than 20 years and have used many brands of cameras from an old Kodak Brownie Box (as a kid) and an equally old Kodak Retina and a Pentax to many Nikon models and Hasselblads, but then the iPhone arrived.
At first I could not believe the quality of pictures from such a small device and such a small lens. I have seen reports that the Hasselblad lens designers were employed to create the built in lenses for many of the cell phones in use today, brilliant!
There are two drawbacks though that I have found, and there could be more, close-ups are a problem and telephoto shots.
Clip-on lenses are now available that range from a microscope and close-up lenses and fish-eye to medium telephoto and long lens telephoto as well as zoom lenses.
Here is my first kit given to me by my daughter for my birthday. This is a set of two, a Fish-eye and a macro close-up lens with a mounting clip and also comes with a handy carry pouch.
Getting close to subjects that are far away has not been possible - until now. I know that on a smartphone screen you can "blow-up" the image to get a "closer-up" shot but this is at the cost of grain and sharpness of your picture and is not that great.
With the correct "clip-on" telephoto or zoom lens you can get close-up and personal with your subject without compromising your picture or image quality.
These lenses should be standard kit with anyone with a half decent cell phone.
Please have a browse around our website and find what you want.
I know that we state on the site intro that we focus on zoom, telephoto phone lenses but the Moment lenses are so good that we just have to give them a mention here.
Using the Moment Lenses with an iPhone as it is a sure-fire way to getting really great pictures. The Moment lens and iPhone 7 are a perfect match but does not exclude the Moment lens on a iPhone 8. I have been using professional cameras, lenses, lights, and accessories for many years as part of my job. The learning curve when using these high end cameras is quite steep. Now things have changed a lot, using an iPhone is simple. And attaching a Moment lens to your phone is even simpler and is the best option for attaching a lens to your phone. Even though the Moment lenses are attached with a stainless steel mounting plate that is glued - not permanent - to the back of your iPhone with a strong 3M adhesive. The plate can easily be removed by applying a bit of heat from say a hair blow dryer as this will loosen up the bond without any damage to your phone. The mounting plate is quite thin and moulds into the phone's body shape very well. It also has a bayonet mounting system, similar to most DSLR cameras, that lets you easily and quickly put the lens on and take off as you might do with any DSLR camera.
The Moment Camera App is available and recommended to be used when you have your lens up and running and will help you get the best out of your Moment lenses. Any photographer looking for high-quality, print-ready results, Moment lenses are really worth the investment. Moment's lenses may cost more than most, but you can be sure you will get some of the best photos we've seen from any add-on smartphone lens. The build quality of the Moment lenses is excellent and stands out from the other clip on lenses around.
The 18mm wide angle lens will have pro photographers wondering what kind of DSLR the image was shot on. Those in the know might guess that the image was actually shot on an iPhone with the use of the Moment Lens.
Whereas the longer lens (2x telephoto), that does not really fit our focus (pun) on zoom lenses on this site, is one of the best quality lenses that we have seen and will satisfy most pro and casual photographers.
Moment also have a "Superfish" lens.
How Many Mega-Pixels Does My Mobile Phone Need?


Let's try this here since support is not working this week.
1. Node is currently in SW with working WMI credentials.
2. I went through and manually ran the powershell commands on the server.
3. When I go to test the connection for AppInsights it fails.
4. If I go through and 'rediscover' the node a handful of parts of the AppInsights for IIS will load but nothing else will.
5. I installed the Solarwinds Agent on the server thinking that would help no go.
6. These servers have their own SSL's from GoDaddy on them.
1.Where are the logs for when this fails? I am trying to figure out why but I can't find where the logs are located for installation failures.
2. Besides this one server I am having the same issue on 2 other ones - I know I am missing something stupid easy but can't figure out what.
Oh yes I went over that list and a few others. Then I opened a ticket and support sent me the same list. I then escalated the ticket and spoke to someone that knew what they were talking about and we got the issue fixed.
The problem was when WinRM was enabled for the IP address the thumprint of the SSL cert has spaces in it. Those spaces caused the issues so we ran some PS scripts and it fixed the issue.


Skydiving is the absolute end!
Due to its adventurous nature, skydiving has become quite popular in recent years.
Y'all have got to try this awesome sport; skydiving is like nothing I've ever done!
If you've skydived, you've done it all.
The correct answer is: Due to its adventurous nature, skydiving has become quite popular in recent years.


Cell phones are a major problem on school campuses across the country. Ringing cell phones are disruptive during class time. Camera phones and text messaging are used to cheat on quizzes and tests. Phones may be stolen, loaned to other students, may be lost or broken and may exacerbate crisis situations. The use of cell phones at school is detrimental to the academic climate because it takes valuable time away from instruction and creates disciplinary problems.
1st offense—the student will surrender the cell phone or other electronic device to the teacher who will give it to the principal. The student may request the principal return the device to him/her at the end of the school day.
2nd offense—the student will surrender the cell phone or other electronic device to the teacher who will give it to the principal. The parent/guardian may request the principal return the device to him/her coming to the principal's office for a conference.
3rd offense—when students are observed by teachers violating the provisions of this policy for a third time, they shall surrender the device to the teacher who will give the device to the principal. The principal shall provide the student with a receipt for the device and s/he shall notify the parent/guardian that the device has been surrendered. The parent/guardian will be informed at this time that the device must be left at home for the remainder of the school term.
A subsequent offense will result in the confiscation of the device and other penalties the school administrators deem appropriate.


The AGM took place on Wednesday 8th November 2017 at the West London Synagogue with guest speakers Paula Kitching and Louise Scott who spoke about the role of London's Jews during the First World War.
(l-r) Laura Marks and Deborah Nathan (new co-chairs), Paula Kitching, Anne Lyons (retiring chair), and Louise Scott.
Click here to read the full event report.
AJWO's first Sixth Form Conference for Girls was attended by 145 students from Hasmonean, JFS, Immanuel and Yavneh High Schools. The event was designed to enable young women to be inspired by other women in the community who have found different ways to use their 'girl power' to make a difference. Representatives from a wide range of organisations attended to share their own experiences about how they have made their own mark.
(l to r) Anne Lyons, Vivien Freeman, David Assersohn & Helen Reisman.
Kate Newhouse, CEO of Doctor Care Anywhere is a strategy consultant, specialising in digital transformation in local government and the Health Service. She spoke about the opportunities for patients with similar medical problems to be put in touch online with others in a similar situation, and the benefits of social media in disseminating reports and information among professionals.
Gerry Temple, is a management consultant, and was at PA Consulting Group, implementing high profile IT Projects with multi-million pound budgets. After retirement he became a mentor to Jewish people seeking to return to work or to embark on new careers. He gave an overview of the different types of social media now in use, their benefits and disadvantages.
Tony Blake, Senior Fraud Prevention Officer at the City of London Police, gave a power point presentation showing how vulnerable we all are to having our credit card details stolen and our identity taken by criminals.
There were many questions from the audience of 65 guests, who were most interested in the discussion. Lunch was then served. A vote of thanks was given by Vivien Freeman, Vice Chairman.
(l-r) Helen Reisman, Laura Marks, Julie Siddiqi, and Anne Lyons.
50 YEARS IN JUST A MINUTE!
Asking Jewish women to limit themselves to speaking for just one minute is always a challenge. At the 50th Anniversary Dinner of the Association of Jewish Women's Organisations, representatives of 10 women's groups accepted that challenge. Each one brought an object that represented the work of their organisation, including an egg whisk, a wine glass and a padlock, and explained its symbolism in 60 seconds or less. Participants heard brief presentations from the League of Jewish Women, the Movement for Reform Judaism, B'nai B'rith, Jewish Women's Aid, Liberal Judaism, Paperweight, United Synagogue Women, WIZOuk, the Agunot Campaign and Women in Jewish Leadership.
The guest speaker, Mrs Zehava Taub, wife of the Israeli Ambassador, also followed the theme of the evening, bringing objects from the Embassy to illustrate elements of her diplomatic life representing Israel in the UK.
Over 110 women attended the celebratory dinner at the Central Synagogue to mark the 50th anniversary of the Association of Jewish Women's Organisations and received a booklet about the organization's history. The event was chaired by Anne Lyons, the current chairman, and six past AJWO chairmen were in attendance. They were joined by Gwenda Nicholas, president of the National Council of Women, and Elizabeth Harris Sawczenko, Deputy Director of the Council of Christians and Jews.
Shown here (l-r): Louise Freedman, Linda Carr, Anne Lyons, Zehava Taub, Penny Conway, Sandra Harris, Valerie Bello.
Our November 2014 Seminar at St Johns Wood Synagogue featured a lively discussion on the topical subject of Gender Stereotyping of Children.
A panel of three speakers covered different aspects of the subject. Angela Ferreira from the Children's Media Foundation, had been a producer of children's television programmes and spoke about the link these days between merchandising, toys and television.
Pat Spungin, who is a child psychologist, stated that there is evidence that boys and girls have different brain connections and thought this could be explained by the way they are socially programmed..
Becky Francis, Professor of Education at Kings College, London, spoke about her research project into the link between the favourite toys chosen by boys and girls and how these toys could train them to think in different ways. All three speakers gave differing views on the Nature versus Nurture debate.
Representatives of the 16 associate organisations that make up AJWO were present, as well as two vice presidents from the National Council of Women. Five sixth-form girls from JFS were among those asking searching questions at the end of the Seminar.
Click here to download (in PDF format) the Chairman's Reports from past AGMs of AJWO.


text:
Q: Cortex M - Atomicity of IRQ disabling I've spent hours trying to answer my question, but could not find any satisfying answer.
Since ARM Cortex-M cores does not have any instruction to read the state of global interupt mask (PRIMASK register) and immediately disabling it, all frameworks are using the following sequence of two instructions:
mrs r0, PRIMASK ; Read current state
cpsid i         ; Mask IRQs

But there is no explanation, why this piece of code is considered atomic... What happens when the IRQ comes in between the execution of this two instructions and the IRQ handler changes the state of PRIMASK? Like
mrs r0, PRIMASK ; Read current state
; Some weird IRQ handling happens here and changes PRIMASK
cpsid i         ; Mask IRQs

Since this code is widely used, I suspect that this situation should never happen by (architecture?) design. Could somebody please explain to me why? :-) Thanks!

A:
What happens when the IRQ comes in between the execution of this two instructions and the IRQ handler changes the state of PRIMASK?

The program will randomly lock up, as this would also break most other "wait for interrupt" methods (like volatile variables).
Remember that an interrupt can only occur if it is not masked, so the interrupt handler could only ever disable interrupts. But disabling interrupts globally will also prevent other interrupts from fireing - and the code waiting for some hardware interaction usually does not re-enable interrups randomly.
That is why an interrupt handler is considered br0ken when it modifies PRIMASK or FAULTMASKwithout restoring it on exception return.


Let the cute cupcake liners do all the work with these mini Easter baskets!
These papery thin liners have a secret to their strength. It's that there is strength in numbers. Eight to be exact. That's right, stack them together to build a mini Easter basket for your dolls!
Cute cupcake liners seem to be popping up everywhere. I picked these up at the dollar store. With 50 in a pack I am sure to share this craft with some friends!
With a ruler measure a line 3/8" wide and 11" long on a piece of paper.
Cut out the strip. Take 3 cupcake liners and flatten them out. Spread glue on one side of the paper strip. Glue the cupcake liners onto the strip.
Flip it over and put glue on the other side of the paper strip. Fold the cupcake liners over the strip so both sides of the strip are now covered. Trim off the extra cupcake liners.
Take a cupcake liner and trace the bottom onto a piece of cardstock. Cut out the circle.
Put glue on the circle. Use the left over pieces of cupcake liner to cover the circle on both sides. If the scraps of liner are not big enough then use a new cupcake liner. Trim off the extra cupcake liner.
Curve the paper strip in half to form a basket handle. Bend each end of the paper strip in 3/4" inch to form a tab. Put glue on both tabs. Place the circle on the tabs connecting the handle to the base of the basket.
Stack 8 cupcake liners to make the basket. You can use fewer liners but I found that using this many made a sturdier basket. Set the basket handle and bottom into the bottom of the cupcake liner basket. Now things are really taking shape! While holding the circle on the bottom of the basket, staple the handle to each side of the basket. Add an embellishment to cover up the staple. I used a flower I cut out of felt. Anything cute and little would work here. Maybe you have cute little buttons, sequins, or stickers to use instead!
Don't forget a little Easter grass, and a few candy eggs!
Hmm, where are those malted eggs?
Yummy, yum, yum! An Easter candy favorite!
Outfit: T-shirt is from American Girl. Leggings are from American Girl Soft-as-Snow outfit. Skirt is an unknown brand. The scarf is made by Anna (http://www.doll-it-up.com/2013/02/25/make-a-scarf-from-a-t-shirt/).
Scene: Chick is a glass figurine. Table cloth and felt flowers made by Anna.
Make one and make more to share!
No school today! So cute! I have been wanting to make an Easter basket for my dolls for ages and now I finally know how!
Amazing! Need to make some!
These are great! I picked up model magic and glitter to make fake peeps for my daughter's AG & now we can make a cute basket to put them in! Another great tutorial — thanks Anna & Char.
so go'in to make these. to cute!!!!!
This craft is super cute!
Megan, lol! And these are so cute! My family has this family thing for Easter where one part holds the Easter Egg Hunt at their house and this year it is at ours and this would make for B-Easter-ful handout!!!
A dollable! I bought some of the same cupcake liners. Maybe I'll use them for this. But I need them to make Easter cupcakes!
Snow day!! Unfortunately, we now have to find a way not to have school in July.
That is so cute and clever! Thank you, Anna!
This is way cute! I will definitely have to make them! Thanks Anna!
Gail- A doll afikomen hunt would be a funny photo story! My house is filled with matzah. Happy Passover!
No, the Reader Photo Contest for this month is now closed. You can send in photos for the Sunday Showcase though.
Adorable! I'm going to make these!
Adorable! I love this idea! I might just make it!
When will doll of the day be posted?
Good idea! I am making this!
Do you have a craft on how to make bunny ears? If not, could you make one or help me find one? Also, my mom found mini baskets in the dollar section of target.
🙂 <3 I cant wait to try these!
I love seasonal/holiday crafts! I think as soon as I drop by the $1 Section of Target, I'll be ready to work!
What a cute craft! Thank you, Anna. I will make these for my dolls and send them on an Easter egg hunt. Now the big question is whether I have them hunt for replica eggs or real chocolate mini eggs Mini eggs would work well as large ones for them, but I wouldn't want the chocolate to melt on their hands or clothing. I suppose I'd have fo force myself to help them out and eat the chocolate quickly myself!
Can you do ideas on how to make stuff for the inside?
Super cute Anna!!! I don't know if there still doing it,but last year if you purchased fifty dollars or more of build a bear stuff you got a cute little woven Easter basket for you and your build a bear that is perfect doll sized. They even gave you some Easter grass to put in your basket.
They also gave you a duffel bag for you and your build a bear.
These were so cute that I just had to make some!


FORM: Ionantha Victoriana is a hybrid air plant of the Velutina Brachycaulos and the common Ionantha species. The Velutina parent brings sturdiness and height while the Ionantha enhances blooming and vivid coloration.
COLOR: When in bloom, they blush pink with dark purple flowers to attract hummingbirds and other pollinators.


Emilie de Ravin (born 27 December 1981) is an Australie actress. She haes played Tess Harding on Roswell an Claire Littleton on the ABC drama Lost. In 2012 she guest-starned as Belle on the ABC drama Once Upon a Time an acame a series regular beginnin in the shaw's seicont season.
↑ "Emilie de Ravin". Lost Cast. Channel 4. Retrieved 2006-09-23.
This page wis last eeditit on 20 September 2015, at 18:22.


text:
Thank you for the advanced copy of HOLD MY BREATH by Ginger Scott. All opinions are my own.
Fractions of seconds can do lots of damage. One decision can ruin lives. A blink can be tragic. And loving a Hollister…can hurt like hell.
I would know.
They say the average person can hold their breath under water for two full minutes when pushed to the extremes. Will Hollister has been holding his for years. The oldest of two elite swimming brothers, Will was always a dominant force in the water. But in life, he preferred to let his younger brother Evan be the one to shine.
Evan got the girl, and Will…he got to bury all of the secrets. A brother's burden, the weight of it all nearly left him to drown.
The daughter of two Olympians, my path was set the day my fingertips first touched water. My future was as crystal clear as the lane I dominated in the pool—swim hard, win big, love a Hollister.
My life with Evan burned bright. He gave me arms to come home to, and a smile that fooled the world into believing everything was perfect. But it was Will who pushed me. Will…who really knew me.
And when all of the pieces fell, it was Will who started to pick them up.
In the end, the only thing that matters are those few precious seconds—and what we decide to do while we still have them in our grasp.
Hold My Breath
by Ginger Scott
From the prologue, reading Hold My Breath had me doing just that. I held my breath through the reveal of each heartbreaking secret and the pain of each of the characters experienced.
It's a story of survival, of reframing your history, and ultimately, a story of love conquering all.
Maddy and Will have been friends since childhood, swimming together every day at her family's club. Will's brother, Evan, ends up being the boy who steals her heart—until he is taken by tragedy.
Four years later, Will and Maddy reunite in the pool to train for the Olympics. Things aren't just tense in the pool and history didn't happen the way Maddy wants to believe it did.
Will is an amazing hero in this story. There are so many secrets, responsibilities, and guilt that he is juggling, it seems like he is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. I wanted to give him a great big hug though most of the revelations that just keep coming, one after another.
Maddy is a fantastic heroine. She is so strong, understanding, and caring–exactly what Will needed to deal with the heartbreaking agony he was in. This story is emotional and heavy, but there are so many wonderful moments, too.
While it the blurb sounds like a typical sports romance, the athletics seem to take a backseat to the drama and the healing that happens in the story.
The writing is beautiful, the characters are realistic, and the story is so multi-dimensional. Scott sprinkles so many inspirational gems throughout the story and I highlighted a ton of quotes.
This was my first book by Ginger Scott, but I will definitely be reading more by her in the future!
100 of the Best Slow Burn Romance Books
The Risk by Elle Kennedy – A Slow-Burning and Sassy Sports Romance
Moonlighter by Sarina Bowen – More Than Just a Hockey Romance!
About Ginger Scott
Ginger Scott is an Amazon-bestselling and Goodreads Choice Award-nominated author of several young and new adult romances, including Waiting on the Sidelines, Going Long, Blindness, How We Deal With Gravity, This Is Falling, You and Everything After, The Girl I Was Before, Wild Reckless, Wicked Restless, In Your Dreams and The Hard Count.
A sucker for a good romance, Ginger's other passion is sports, and she often blends the two in her stories. (She's also a sucker for a hot quarterback, catcher, pitcher, point guard…the list goes on.) Ginger has been writing and editing for newspapers, magazines and blogs for more than 15 years. She has told the stories of Olympians, politicians, actors, scientists, cowboys, criminals and towns. For more on her and her work, visit her website at http://www.littlemisswrite.com.
When she's not writing, the odds are high that she's somewhere near a baseball diamond, either watching her son field pop flies like Bryce Harper or cheering on her favorite baseball team, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Ginger lives in Arizona and is married to her college sweetheart whom she met at ASU (fork 'em, Devils).


Killarney, also known as Beauty's Home, is a very scenic and popular town in County Kerry. It is famous for it's hospitality as well as the beautiful setting it is located in with some of the attractions including Muckross Gardens and the National Park, MacGillycuddy's Reeks, Purple Mountain, Mangerton Mountain, the Gap of Dunloe and Torc Waterfall.
Here are our top 3 cycling routes from Killarney ranging from a 27 Kilometer family friendly cycle around Muckross and the National Park to the 170 Kilometer Ring of Kerry, which is one of the most famous cycles in the island of Ireland.
This is the go to cycling route for anyone wanting to explore the sights of Killarney including Ross Castle, Muckross House & Gardens, Brickeen Bridge, Dinis Cottage and Torc Waterfall. It contains a total of 27km of a cycle that you can cycle all together or you can take parts of it if you wish to shorten the journey. Much of this cycle is away from motor traffic and in amongst the labyrinth and network of trails that scatter around the Killarney National Park. Be sure to stop and enjoy the view on this one, and don't forget to take loads of photographs, this route will be staying with you for quite some time.