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Chief Joseph
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Chief Joseph
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PostMon Dec 30, 2019 1:24 pm 
Jake Neiffer wrote:
The best apples in a U pick are the ones that recently fell out of the tree. I cannot stomach grocery store apples unless they are cooked, used for applesauce, etc. Cosmic crisp included. I guess I'm an apple snob.
I am right there with you, I can barely force them down. The same is true of other produce, especially strawberries and tomatoes, they are picked and shipped far to early, in order to obtain storage and shelf life. California strawberries are more akin to plastic fruit....one is much better off purchasing the frozen variety, at least they are sweet.

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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neek
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PostTue Dec 31, 2019 12:37 pm 
I didn't expect this thread to be so interesting. Bummer about the fungicide dependence, and the McDonaldization aspects. Tried yet another new variety today - Rockit. Decent, but nothing special. I guess the advantage is they're very small, for those who don't want a full sized apple in one sitting. Not too expensive either.

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treeswarper
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PostTue Dec 31, 2019 2:13 pm 
Most of our area's apples are stored in Controlled Atmosphere (CA) warehouses. Fungicides? Don't know. There are huge CA warehouses in apple country. I am wondering if the year that Cosmics are supposed to last is in CA or my fridge? Apples in storage do last about a year, as you can tell when they are dumped on the market around harvest time. They aren't the best and some turn out to be brown inside.

What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
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Malachai Constant
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PostTue Dec 31, 2019 6:42 pm 
I did patents on CA systems they vary.

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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BeyondLost
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PostWed Jan 08, 2020 6:40 pm 
2 weeks ago they cost $3-3.50 a lb here in Houston. Now down to $1.50/lb and not moving off the shelves very fast. Which I like since now there are plenty for us. ;-)

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neek
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PostThu Jan 09, 2020 1:10 pm 
Even PCC has hopped aboard the Cosmic train. $4/lb! And there's no organic version of course. Going to be some interesting letters to the editor next month. Shoulda got more when they were $1.5 @ qfc.

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Anne Elk
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PostThu Jan 09, 2020 1:38 pm 
^That's just PCC scalping - they're vying with "Whole Paycheck" and Metropolitan to be the spendiest grocery in town. I bought some at the Ballard Market just after Christmas and they weren't more expensive than several other varieties (although not their cheapest).
Treeswarper wrote:
What I like about the Cosmics is that you don't have to eat the whole apple at once. Slices keep.
That's for sure! The other day I had some slices in a dish with other fruit; got called away and didn't put it in the fridge. Six hours later came home and the apple slices still hadn't begun to turn brown.

"There are yahoos out there. It’s why we can’t have nice things." - Tom Mahood
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neek
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PostThu Jan 09, 2020 3:56 pm 
Well, the goal of any retail business is to lure you in with cheap prices and then trick you into buying the items with a higher markup. Even though PCC is a nonprofit, they have to play the game to stay alive. (Whole Paycheck now exists solely to create profit for Amazon.) After adjusting for quality, I find their produce to be a decent value--often better than farmers markets. (Often not the case for boxed and deli products though.) The member discount just got knocked down to 2% which is a bit of a bummer. The trick to not getting ripped off is not try to find the "cheap" or "expensive" stores, but rather shop around and figure out where the best deals are. Difficult with produce since prices and quality are always jumping around. Of course, also be skeptical of organic and especially non-GMO labels if price is a concern. Not that organic wasn't a good idea at one point, but it means something entirely different now.

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treeswarper
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PostThu Jan 09, 2020 4:59 pm 
I cannot find them around here anymore. Maybe it is time to get a box of Goldens and replenish the applesauce supply.

What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
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Tom
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PostThu Jan 09, 2020 5:16 pm 
If anyone wants $5 of free cosmic crisp at Safeway (or any $5 of produce) just pm me. I have a bunch of $5 of $5 produce promos I can hand out.

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kbatku
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PostThu Jan 09, 2020 6:50 pm 
There is such a wild variation apple to apple, even on the same tree, that I make it a habit to try an apple variety multiple times before I pronounce a verdict. Any apple that survives the rigors of the market is going to be good, it just depends on what flavors, crispness, and degree of sweetness/tartness the consumer wants. I've picked a lot of apples and one of my favorite sounds in the world is when a sling of apples is released into a nearly full apple bin at seven in the morning on October 12th when it's about 35 degrees out. Crispness REVERBERATES through the bin, the jostling of the new apples landing on top of their bin mates echoing though every other apple in the bin in a sweet cacophony of crispness. A perfectly ripe apple fresh off the tree should both pop & ring when you flick it with your fingernail. It's a musical, magical sound. At this point, fresh off the tree, the apple is still alive and this melodic snap with a subtle reverberation is the apple's voice. So that's how I judge an apple to buy - a quick sniff to see if any smell survived processing and then a quick flick with the flat of my fingernail (does not bruise unless you are some kind of superman) and I listen to what the apple has to tell me. The apple should *pop* and, if you use your imagination a bit, reverberate. This is it's voice from the bin, crying out for you to eat it. If the apple goes *thunk* or *thud* it's guaranteed to be a really bad apple. So then I start to comapre pitch, looking for the apples with the clearest pop and highest pitch. I pick through quite a few sometimes, comparing them and looking like some kind of apple lunatic "Mom!! What is that man doing to those apples??!" but it's the surest way to get a good apple.

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Anne Elk
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PostThu Jan 09, 2020 7:14 pm 
^ Wow, that's real culinary poetry there! Makes me want to visit an orchard and taste a just-picked apple.
Neek wrote:
The trick to not getting ripped off is not try to find the "cheap" or "expensive" stores, but rather shop around and figure out where the best deals are.
Yeah, I know...I've turned into my mom - on grocery shopping day she'd hit at least 3 stores to get various sales/best prices. Good thing Ballard has 5 grocery stores less than 1/2 mile from each other. There were 6 until the new New Seasons pulled out, apparently in the wake of a grocery store merger.

"There are yahoos out there. It’s why we can’t have nice things." - Tom Mahood
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neek
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PostThu Jan 09, 2020 8:20 pm 
Anne Elk wrote:
^ Wow, that's real culinary poetry there! Makes me want to visit an orchard and taste a just-picked apple.
No doubt. I will never buy another apple without flicking and smelling it. We were in Portland when Natures became Wild Oats became New Seasons (wife worked there). Now owned (along with Met Market) by some big Korean company called Emart huh. Funny how things change.

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treeswarper
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PostFri Jan 10, 2020 8:02 am 
Do the new, plastic bins deaden the sound? When I was little, we needed extra money so my folks picked on the weekends. We kids had to go along and the empty bins were good to play in. No OSHA then and no problem with kids. We had a stern lecture from my mom about not messing with the apples. We did pick apples when hungry, and sometimes only ate a few bites. Then it was tossed away.

What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
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Chief Joseph
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PostThu Dec 10, 2020 11:40 am 
Ok, I worked in produce for nearly 30 years so I have tried a few apples in my day. I recently purchased some Autumn Glory apples on sale at GFalls IGA for I think $1.28 per pound and it was the best apple I have ever had. Very crisp, sweet, cinnamon notes, and not super big like some. https://www.google.com/search?q=autumn+glory+apples&rlz=1CAEXLB_enUS897&oq=autumn+glory+apples&aqs=chrome..69i57j46i131i433j46i433j0l2j0i433j0j0i271.6276j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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