Hello my Foodie Friends!
It’s that time of year for me to share my annual Halloween memories. Yes, I told this story last year. However, I received a lot of fun feedback and I keep telling the store in the store - so I am telling it again this year! Halloween is only a few days away and for the little chefs out there the excitement is building. How many of us remember going apple bobbing during festivals or when attending a Halloween party? Bobbing for apples is no easy task. Bobbing for apples is a classic Halloween game where you are challenged to take a bite out of an apple that is floating in water while your hands are behind your back – with the task of getting as many apples as you can.
Many readers stop into my store and ask how Paula and I met. We typically reply that we both met while working together in a restaurant. However, the real first time we met was at a church Halloween dance a few years prior. My church knew how to throw fun events. Everyone came dressed in costume. I dressed as a gangster and my brothers were dressed as my henchmen. There were many events at the dance and one particular event was bobbing for apples which I was known as a pro. My father always said I had a big mouth, so that is why I was so good at it. I always thought that he was giving me a compliment. Now, hmmm? During the dance, the nuns who spent the better part of their school days trying to keep the boys and girls apart, wanted to pit the boys against the girls in the apple bobbing contest. My brothers convinced all of the other boys that I should go last in case it was close; then I would seal the expected victory. We were all then paired off against our female opponents.
I was paired with a beautiful young lady who was dressed as Pocahontas. She had her hair in what is called a “French braid” (I had to ask my daughter Aubrey, what that hairstyle is called before I wrote this article). The dressed up “Pocahontas” (also had something on the end of her braid called a scrunchie? (Aubrey also had to tell me what that was). As the competition progressed, it finally came down to the last couple to decide who walks away as the victor. There was a lot of cheering from my brothers who knew how good I was at apple bobbing, since we grew up every fall playing this game. When I looked across the bucket of water, Pocahontas had a big, beautiful smile and I felt something strange. When the nun said “go,” we both plunged our heads into the bucket of water for our apple. The first one to get an apple, wins. I found my apple and was coming up out of the water when something struck my eye. I winced in surprise and the apple fell out of my mouth. Pocahontas was up and out with a huge apple, and the girls cheered and the boys groaned. When I looked into the eyes of my opponent, I swear there were sparks and fireworks coming in my direction. I never saw her again and never forgot that look.
A few years later, a beautiful young woman with her hair in a French braid started working at the same restaurant I worked, where I was asked to train her. When we looked at each other I realized it was Pocahontas! Her real name was Paula. Of course, she didn’t recognize me so I said, “Pocahontas do you like apples?” She squinted at me and then smiled and said “it’s you!” That, my Foodie Friends, was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Bobbing for apples is one fun way to get apples. However, I think most of us prefer to either pick them from our favorite apple orchard or get them from an apple stand. There are so many ways to prepare apples during this season. One essential tool is an apple peeling machine. The apple peeling machine is made of metal and not only peels apples but cores and slices them too. Just suction the peeler to your countertop (some models affix to a work surface with a vice), fit the apple on the skewer and crank away.
This season, stop by Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store, located at 33 Railroad Place to pick up the essentials you need to make your apple delights. Share your stories of Halloween or how you met your special someone who is the apple of your eye. Remember my Foodie Friends, “Life Happens in the Kitchen!”
Take Care, John & Paula
