A serious case of jonesing for apples

Washington has been absolutely blessed with amazing weather this year, and this fall is no exception. I set out towards to our neighbors up north in the Skagit valley searching for heirloom apples, and roadside corn stands (which is another subject altogether). After stopping by a few nice farms with gorgeous stands of apple trees my family and I came upon Jones Creek Farms. As we pulled the car into the parking area, by the barn two handsome dogs and a very polite young lady holding hot apple cider seemed to almost be in a race to greet us. After almost eating the cup that the cider came in we met one of the owners, Talia, who welcomed us as though we were returning home after a long trip. Over a hundred varieties of heirloom apples were listed alongside a number of different pears as well.
With Talia as our guide we grabbed the wheelbarrow named “Hanna” and set out to track down the best ones. Two explicit rules of the farm were described to us; one, you have to taste each variety before you decide to pick it so you know what your getting and two, you were ordered to come back to the house covered in sticky apple juice (which was checked when we got done). Although smaller in size than the apple trees I had growing up their bounty was no smaller. Apples with vibrant shades of red, green, yellow and orange covered every branch. I could not contain myself and probably should have been weighed after leaving. Apples with flavors I have never tasted before ripe honey, hearty herbal tones, subtle earth, stone like a good Riesling, and that classic balance of tart and sweet that fools your palate every single bite. Then you find the Cortland’s and you know where their legend comes from. The firm texture lets you know they can stand up to some cooking, but the almost starchy tartness hides no secrets about how that flavor transforms when cooked.
We ventured back to the house with an overflowing wheelbarrow of fall’s bounty and continued to soak in the beautiful afternoon. With the car a few inches closer to the ground we headed back home to attempt every apple recipe we could find. First things being first I grabbed a large number of the best tasting ones I found, the Tsugara. Their fate was simple fresh pressed cider. After assessing the time restraints apple butter was next. Good apple butter can take upwards of two days to make properly and I had just such time and patience. Apple fritters were among the favorite of all the items made. The list was long; apple sauce with three different flavors, apple curry, apple sausage, apple stuffed pork chop, apple mushroom chowder, apple crepes, apple pancakes, baked stuffed apples, apple chutney, apple butter and plain old apple slices with peanut butter – the perfect control subject for the many different apple flavors.
A far cry from normal apples Jones creek had an incredible variety of apples grown with amazing care. With Less and Talia producing such an amazing product I can only look forward to many more years of absolute perfection in apples. As for the new recipe attempts my votes have been counted but only time will tell as the many friends of the Virginia Inn let us know what they think.

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