My radio debut!

So I had an apple party a few weeks ago--everything apple. Made some pulled pork barbecue sandwiches, smoked with apple wood (of course), and misted with apple cider throughout the cooking process. Smoked for over eight hours--it was very tasty! I went to an orchard that has over 200 varieties of apples, and brought some of those for sampling, things like Thomas Jefferson's favorite, Esopus Spitzenberg, which we decided was absolutely fantastic. There was Grimes Golden, another favorite from our sampling, which supposedly was found outside of "Johnny Appleseed's" cider mill--who knows if that was the apple he was famous for spreading across the country? It was really delicious. There was Ashmead's Kernel, and Orange's Cox Pippin, the English granddad of American apples, the one which is the ancestor to most of our favorites here in America.

I also found 18 different hard ciders to try and sample. I enlisted my friends to pick these up, and along with the ciders, I had apple cider ice wine, Apple Jack and Calvados, both distilled hard ciders, the former from America, the latter from France. Someone brought some apple vodka too, so we certainly had a recipe for a good time!

I fixed an apple tart using a French apple from the orchard I mentioned, called Caville Blanc d'hiver. Apparently this is the premier tart making apple in France, and I can see why--it was very tasty. I made mom's apple pie recipe which was the hit of the evening in the dessert department. You know, you can fly all the way across the country, study pastry with the world's leading culinary school, but still, there's no doubt who makes the best pie in Amierca. It was very good.

Some other people brought some food too. One brought an apple pizza, using puff pastry, apple slices, red onions and cheddar cheese. Another woman brought four different kinds of cole slaw, all featuring apples. A friend of mine brought apple strudels, and a sour cream apple spice pie that was quite good too.

I had dried apples and fried apple chips (these are excellent, btw), and had apple butter, apple jelly, crabapple jelly and apple blossom honey to try on bread I made using a sourdough starter that began with apple cider. I also put some boiled cider into the bread.

I'm obviously a little obsessed.

Prior to the party, I called into one of my favorite NPR shows, the Splendid Table. It's an hour long show every week about cooking, and they feature a segment where listeners can call in with questions. I've been thinking for quite some time of a good question to ask the host, Lynn Rosetta Casper. I felt that this party, and everything I'm doing with apples, seemed like a great theme for a question to ask her.

They say on the show to call anytime. The show isn't done in real time, since it airs at various times all across the country. So I called in the middle of the week about a month and a half ago, and never heard back...until three weeks later. I received a call at home, with an invitation to call in the following day, when they would be recording the segment.

I called in, and sure enough, I had a chance to ask the host my question, after describing the party I was planning. My question was looking for ideas for food using apples that was more savory than sweet.

The show aired this past Sunday, and now has been archived online. An interesting thing to note: they edited both her comments, and my comments, making us both sound better.

It was fun.

Next year, I'm calling back, since I'm already planning a pumpkin party for next fall. All of my friends at the party are looking forward to next year too.

Anyway, if you want to listen to my radio debut, you can go here.

You can fast forward to 46:00 minutes on Real Player, and that's where you start hearing me gab away.