Picking apples again...

We went apple picking again today. Since it's late in the season, we came home with some enormous Mutsus and the few remaining Cortlands I managed to find. Since I'm a native to New England(hah) I'm very picky about apples. I would never buy an apple at the supermarket. I can't tolerate an apple that's even slightly less than perfectly crisp. So I eat several apples a day for two months and go apple-free for the rest of the year.

My favorite apple is Macoun, but they can be a little inconsistent. This year, a lot of the trees in the orchard we pick at sustained hail damage, and it seems like the Macouns took the brunt of it. I like Cortlands for baking(and Granny Smith in a pinch, but they're a little too one-dimensionally sour). I can't find a good use for Macintosh--they aren't even good off the tree. I hear they make good applesauce, but so do Cortlands. Galas are a little more consistent than Macouns but sometimes I don't want an apple that's all sweet and no sour...

Mutsu and Fuji are pretty damn sweet. When I was in Japan, all the apples I ate tasted like that. After a while, I was like, "Give me back my Macouns!" They had Red Delicious available for picking as well but I wouldn't touch those with a ten-foot pole.