Well, it was not just an apple a day.  I have been feasting with apples everyday after Travis and I harvested a bag of it from Grandpa and Grandma’s backyard.  All those times I’ve been visiting the Budke’s Bend (that’s the name of their place), I didn’t realize that those trees that I’ve been mowing around last year are apple trees until today.  Now, all of those small trees are adorned with beautiful red apples.

The looks of it somehow reminded me of our Christmas Tree from way back when.  I could still remember when we had our Christmas tree adorned with real apples.  We were home alone then… me and my 3 other elder sisters – Manang Rorie, Manang Rema and Madon.  We were just laying around letting our imaginations roam while staring at the Christmas tree until our hunger strikes in.  We were so hungry (add laziness to that too) that we can’t afford to get up.  So, we just decided to pick the apples in the tree and ate it.

Now, for a little info on the apples that we got, it is actually the Honeycripsâ„¢ Apple.  The Honeycrispâ„¢ apple (Malus pumila cultivar Honeycrisp) was adopted as the state fruit of Minnesota in 2006. The apple was produced from a 1960 cross of Macoun and Honeygold apples, as part of the University of Minnesota apple breeding program to develop a winter-hardy tree with high quality fruit. The original seedling was planted in 1962. Now, millions of honeycrisp apple trees are grown across the U.S. and Canada and as far away as South Africa and New Zealand. Honeycrisp apples are about three inches in diameter. Their skin color is 60 to 90 percent mottled red over a yellow background. The fruit surface has shallow dimples and numerous, small dots with green russeting at the stem end. Honeycrisp apples are characterized by an exceptionally crisp and juicy texture. They are harvested from mid-September to mid-October; the optimum harvest usually occurs the last week of September.

The marketing slogan and proverb addresses the health effects of the fruit: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” though this adage was likely the result of farmers encouraging higher sales of produce in an effort to counteract the belief that it was an apple that was the forbidden fruit which Adam and Eve ate. Research suggests that apples may reduce the risk of colon cancer, prostate cancer and lung cancer. Compared to many other fruits and vegetables, apples contain relatively low amounts of Vitamin C as well as a several of other antioxidant compounds. The fiber content, while less than in most other fruits, helps regulate bowel movements and may thus reduce the risk of colon cancer. They may also help with heart disease, weight loss and controlling cholesterol, as they do not have any cholesterol, have fiber, which reduces cholesterol by preventing reabsorption, and are bulky for their caloric content like most fruits and vegetables.