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Apples

Golden or Winesap, Macintosh or Fuji, Granny Smith or Delicious ... Oh they go with so many dishes. There is nothing sweeter than tasting a fresh apple right off the tree on a crisp fall day.

Gala is one favorite for fresh eating. It is heart-shaped with distinctive yellow-orange skin with red striping. Gala is just the right size for snacking and is great in salads, good for baking and very good in applesauce.

Braeburn has high impact flavor. The crisp, aromatic Braeburn blends sweetness and tartness just right for snacks and salads. It's also good in baking, applesauce and for freezing. Braeburn color varies from greenish-gold with red sections to nearly solid red. Braeburn was discovered as a chance seedling near Nelson, New Zealand in 1952. Its probable parents are Lady Hamilton and Granny Smith.

Jonagold is a blend of Jonathan and Golden Delicious apples, offering a unique tangy-sweet flavor with firm flesh. Jonagold is excellent both for eating fresh and for cooking.

Mutsu, also called Crispin, is sweet, firm and crisp. It is good for sauce, pies and fresh eating.

Rome is the baker's buddy. Its mild flavor grows richer when baked or sautéed. Rome has smooth, blazingly red skin with sweet, slightly juicy flesh.

Granny Smith has crisp mouth-watering tartness. Bright green Granny Smith has a pink blush. Its tartness really comes through when baked and sautéed.

Fuji's spicy, crisp sweetness and firm flesh make it an excellent fresh eating apple. It's also good in baking or applesauce and stores well. Fuji flavor improves in storage like fine wine. Fuji skin color varies from yellow-green with red highlights to very red. It was bred from a cross between Red Delicious and Ralls Janet varieties in Japan.

Golden Delicious has firm, white flesh and sweet crisp flavor. It is the preferred "all purpose" cooking apple since it retains its shape and rich, mellow flavor when baked or cooked. Its skin is so tender and thin that it doesn't require peeling for most recipes. Golden Delicious is very good in fresh salads and freezes well.

Winesap is the apple with old-fashioned flavor. Winesap has a spicy almost wine-like flavor that makes it the cider maker's first choice. Violet red in color, it's great as a snack and in salads.

7500 varieties of apples are grown throughout the world.

In 2001 United States consumers ate an average of 45.2 pounds of fresh apples and processed apple products. That's a lot of applesauce!

The top apple producing states are Washington, New York, Michigan, California, Pennsylvania and Virginia, which produced over 83 percent of the nation’s 2001-crop apple supply.

Apples were the favorite fruit of ancient Greeks and Romans.

Apples are fat, sodium, and cholesterol free.

Apples are a great source of the fiber pectin. One apple has five grams of fiber.

In 2001 there were 8,000 apple growers with orchards covering 430,200 acres.

Apples are a member of the rose family.

Americans eat 19.6 pounds or about 65 fresh apples every year.

7500 varieties of apples are grown throughout the world.

In 2001 United States consumers ate an average of 45.2 pounds of fresh apples and processed apple products. That's a lot of applesauce!

The top apple producing states are Washington, New York, Michigan, California, Pennsylvania and Virginia, which produced over 83 percent of the nation’s 2001-crop apple supply.

Apples are fat, sodium, and cholesterol free.

Apples are a great source of the fiber pectin. One apple has five grams of fiber.

In 2001 there were 8,000 apple growers with orchards covering 430,200 acres.

America's longest-lived apple tree was reportedly planted in 1647 by Peter Stuyvesant in his Manhattan orchard and was still bearing fruit when a derailed train struck it in 1866.

Oranges

Valencia or Jaffa, Hamlin or Navel all are a great tasting sweet treat.They can be added to various cooked or cold dishes, eaten as snacks, or squeezed for their delicious juice.

Hamlins are one of the earliest-maturing oranges, Hamlins are grown primarily in Florida. Although they are practically seedless, their flesh is rather pulpy so they are better for juicing than for eating. Small in size, Hamlins have a very thin skin.

Ambersweet Tastes like a mild tangerine; easy to peel and section. Excellent source of Vitamin C and fiber, containing more fiber than an English muffin.

Jaffas are imported from Israel. They are similar to Valencias, but have a sweeter flavor.

Temple Orange Medium size, oval shape, deep orange color, sometimes pebbly peel. Few seeds; peels and sections easily. Has a rich flavor and fragrance all its own. Generally regarded as Florida's finest eating orange.

Red Navel Very sweet; easy to peel and section. Flesh is red-orange and usually seedless. Has more fiber than a serving of raisins.

Navels are large, thick-skinned oranges are easily identified by the "belly-button" found at their blossom end. Navels are seedless, almost effortlessly peeled, and easily segmented--qualities that, along with their sweet flavor, make them excellent eating oranges. California navels are somewhat more flavorful than those grown in Florida. They can be used for juice, but should be squeezed as needed because the juice turns bitter over time, even when refrigerated.

Pineapple oranges are similar to Hamlins in appearance, these oranges--named for their aromatic quality--are seedy but very flavorful and juicy; though best for juicing, they are good for eating if you don't mind the seeds.

Valencias are the most widely grown oranges; they account for about half the crop produced each year. Medium- to large-sized, Valencias have a smooth, thin skin and an oval or round shape. They are dual purpose oranges, because they can either be eaten whole or squeezed for juice. Florida Valencias, which are available in the middle of the orange season, are considered the best juice oranges.

Blood Oranges are less common variety, usually found in gourmet shops. The ruby-red color of their flesh and juice (not their skin, which is orange) gives these sweet, juicy oranges their name. Imported from Mediterranean countries and grown in California, blood oranges are small- to medium-sized fruits.

More than any other fruit, the orange is associated with--and valued for--being a primary source of vitamin C for the majority of Americans. A small orange (about five ounces) contains generous levels of folate (folic acid), potassium, and thiamin, as well as some calcium and magnesium.

Americans consume most of their oranges in the form of juice, which provides 140% of the current suggested daily intake of vitamin C. However, if you choose to eat a whole orange instead of drinking a glass of juice, you'll get about the same amount of vitamin C with the added benefit of more than 3 grams of dietary fiber.

Orange trees are semitropical non-deciduous trees and, like other citrus fruits, they probably originated in Southeast Asia. We take oranges for granted now (they are the third most popular fruit in the U.S., right behind bananas and apples), but at one time they were expensive and only rarely available in cooler climates. Columbus brought orange seeds and seedlings with him to the New World, and by the 1820s, when Florida became a U.S. territory, there were thriving orange groves in St. Augustine. By 1910, Florida was on its way to its current status as the number-one citrus-growing state.

In the Forties, scientists developed frozen orange-juice concentrate which led to oranges becoming the main fruit crop in the United States. Today, Florida produces about 70% of the country's oranges, and about 90% of the crop is processed into juice. California and Arizona are the other two states where oranges are extensively cultivated. Their oranges, however, have thicker skins than Florida fruits, a characteristic that helps to protect them against the drier climates of the West.

Sources for the info: Sandra Mason, Horticulture & Environment, University of Illinois Extension;
http://www.ultimatecitrus.com/varieties.html
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu

Compare Apples and Oranges

or so ... I heard it thru the grapevine!