Days with a small child can be unpredictable. Some mornings my 19-month-old daughter will go straight to her shape sorters and forget the rest of the world exists for a while. Other mornings it can take some ingenuity for Mom…
This December, Jerry Sheehan and his co-worker Kayla Remshard are busy baking the German stollen (“shtaw-luhn”) you can find at Wolff’s right now. And of course, this stollen is made with all of the authentic craftsmanship that Jerry is known…
Though the 2020 holiday season is a strange one, holiday traditions can help us get our bearings. I found myself counting the days until the start of Advent this year, a season of waiting in hope. Since March, the whole…
It’s not a butterfly. It’s not a moth. And, despite its name, it’s not even a fly. Liz Magnuson, the Wolff’s Apple House Annuals Manager, describes Spotted Lanternfly as more like a leech that attaches itself to trees and other…
Shopping at a local farm market like Wolff’s makes it easy to become attuned to what’s in season when. This makes it an exciting challenge to find recipes to match the produce you discover from local farms. Here’s a handy…
During times of stress, it is especially crucial to pay attention to the things that sustain us. We renew our appreciation for our daily bread. And while we are socially distancing, we especially appreciate food that is both nutritious and…
Many people say they just don’t have a green thumb when it comes to houseplants, but Liz Magnuson, the Wolff’s Apple House annuals manager, believes otherwise. She says it’s just a matter of finding the right houseplant for their personality and…
Sweet breads are a satisfying accompaniment to any holiday meal. My mother-in-law knows this well. In addition to the usual dinner rolls that are always a must at a big feast, she serves several kinds of sweet bread. Usually that…
As Pennsylvania’s color palette shifts from bright summer greens and pastels to the rich reds, oranges, browns and yellows of fall, many gardeners take time to intentionally bring fall colors into their home gardens. When it comes to fall gardens,…
It is important to pay attention to goodness. Whenever I step into a bakery, I think of this, because a bakery always calls to mind Raymond Carver’s short story “A Small, Good Thing.” In the midst of an unbelievable tragedy,…
This week, I had a small culinary challenge I needed to figure out. I needed to serve food to group of somewhere between seven and fifteen people, and it needed to be not at all messy. I was gathering with…
A few years ago, I worked at a university writing center, and one of the back-to-school team-building moments for the returning writing tutors was always churning homemade custard. Cranking the handle of an old-fashioned ice cream maker was a good…
A few years ago, I would spend summer mornings at a garden in a suburb outside of Chicago. Some city-dwelling friends of mine had leased a suburban plot of land, less than an acre, and grew so much food that…
Burritos are a weekly meal in our house. Mainly because I can make them with only about ten minutes of prep work and still serve a healthy meal. Sometimes when I have more time, I simmer a pot of beans…
July is peak season for peaches, tomatoes, and corn. This time of year, the corn is fresh picked and brought to Wolff’s daily so it’s sweeter. Sweet corn is best right after it’s harvested. Within three days, its sugar/starch ratio can change…
Italy is heaven. At least, it is in Elizabeth von Arnim’s novel The Enchanted April, which I’m reading for a book club this week. The premise is that four women, who are all processing the ways that life has disappointed them,…
Juneteenth is named for June 19, 1865, the date when enslaved Africans in Galveston, Texas learned that they were free. This was two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been enacted, and over two months after the…
My mother’s recipe for this dish calls it “balsamic chicken”, a title that hides what I love most about it. It’s all about the veggies. Asparagus. Red bell peppers. Carrots. Mushrooms. Onions. The wealth of veggies makes the meal a…
Jerome Sheehan of Chester County had spent over twenty years in accounting and finance when he decided that he was ready for something different. “I wanted to work with my hands,” says Jerome, “and produce something tangible that I could be…
It’s a problem. I see a package of gnocchi in a store, and I must buy it. My hand reaches for it and it’s in my shopping basket before I even know what’s happening. I immediately envision a dinner that…
Even when it’s no longer time for apple picking, winter is the prime time to enjoy local apples by eating them… and drinking them. From September to May, Weaver’s Orchard in Morgantown, PA presses the apple cider that you enjoy…
It’s a classic group project in business school: to create a new hypothetical business from the ground up. When Erin Hagarty was in an MBA program at Georgetown, she told her team about the business she had grown up in:…
Nothing against salad. It’s just that when thinking of a veggie side, it’s often the first thing that comes to mind, and sometimes breaking out of the routine is just what you need to get inspired to eat more veggies.…
Have you ever been invited to look through somebody else’s recipe collection? Maybe your grandparents’? Or your mom or dad’s, or your mother-in-laws’? At times like that, the wrinkled, stained and water-spotted ones always catch my eye, because those are…
“What can you do with the carrot tops?” I asked a farmer who was standing behind her farm’s table at a farmers market. I held up a bouquet of carrots with lacy greens attached. This was about nine years ago,…
Unless you’re feeling like a superhero, or getting a little antsy with some extra time off of work, the time for major Thanksgiving DIY projects and menu overhauls has probably passed. But here are three easy upgrades to make your…
Have you ever had this problem? You make a pumpkin pie, but the recipe calls for more filling than will fit inside the pie crust. If only all of life’s problems were so delicious. I decided to freeze the leftover…
During October, most of us are dreaming about apples and pumpkins, but there’s another big crop being harvested locally this month. Cranberries! Even though consumers might not start thinking about cranberries until it’s time to pass them around the table at…
The word “galette” sounds fancy, like something that will require new tools and test a baker’s skills to the max. But actually a galette reminds me of a person whose reputation is so impressive you’re scared to talk with them,…
I can picture it now: the bright yellow box of pancake mix, the tall, translucent pitcher filled with lumpy batter, the squeezable plastic bottle of something vaguely resembling maple syrup (already sticky with congealed sugar). These were the ingredients of a…
One summer about six years ago, I gained a new appreciation for how much work goes into bringing peaches to the market. A friend had invited me to harvest pick-your-own peaches up at Weaver’s Orchard in Morgantown, PA, one of…
When I visit my parents during the summer, no meal is complete without corn on the cob. Preparing it is a chance to sit and catch up with siblings or other relatives as we wrench the husks off the corn…
“Discard the woody ends.” That’s the first rule any cook learns about cooking with asparagus. But, as the many kind people who have helped me move six times in the past eleven years can attest, I hate to throw anything…
This year, to commemorate the victory gardens of World War I, the World War One in Delco organization is partnering with the Penn State Master Gardeners to bring back victory gardens throughout Delaware County. A few months ago, I spoke with…
It’s been a cold, snowy March in southeastern Pennsylvania. For some, this means we’re daydreaming even more about warm, sunny days and the vegetable gardens that come along with that. While you’re waiting to get your garden started, check out…
When you’re looking for honey at Wolff’s, you’ll notice that it comes from several different apiaries. But one thing all our honey has in common: it’s raw. Customers say that their seasonal allergies have gotten better after using raw honey.…
A hundred years ago, Europe was facing a severe food shortage as World War I turned farmers into soldiers and their farmland into battlegrounds. The United States began to encourage civilians to start “Victory Gardens” wherever they could: schools, parks,…
When I visited my parents’ home in rural Berks County last month, all I wanted to do was look out the windows. I was plugging away at various writing projects in the upstairs bedroom that doubled as my office, but a cheerful…
I visited Wolff’s Apple House on New Year’s Eve and came home with four different kinds of citrus. The weather outside was frigid. The ground was covered with layer of snow. But once I had cut open the grapefruit, Cara…
“All right, here’s the bet,” says Bill Haverchuck in a scene from the show Freaks and Geeks, “for 10 bucks I’ll drink this much of anything,” indicating that he’ll try about an inch worth of whatever his friends will concoct…
Throwing a holiday party this year? Check out our favorite recipes for appetizers, drinks and desserts! If you don’t have a party scheduled already, you’ll want to start inviting friends now! Appetizers Buffalo Cauliflower This recipe packs in all the…
This time of year, Wolff’s carries over 2,000 mums and a host of classic orange pumpkins from three pounds up to 40 pounds—not to mention heirloom pumpkins in all kinds of unexpected shapes and colors, and a few prizewinner pumpkins…
A well-crafted autumn display gives you something beautiful to come home to after a long day at work, says Amy Lang, plant manager at Wolff’s Apple House. It brings “solace at the end of your day,” she says. Adding a…
Throughout any given day, I am usually thinking about the cup of coffee I will have at breakfast the next morning. I know that if I make myself a second cup of coffee sometime in the mid-afternoon, it won’t have…
One evening when I was five years old, I straddled the split-rail fence that guarded our yard from the road. As I perched there with all of my five-year-old grace (which is to say, very little grace whatsoever), I suddenly…
After talking with the three main orchards that supply Wolff’s peaches, three things are clear about this year’s peach season: the fruit is tasty, plentiful, and the whole season has been tracking ahead of schedule. Phyllis Shenk works at Cherry Hill…
What do you collect? When I was in middle school, I’d begun a serious collection of horse figurines, equestrian gear, and books about horses (whether Misty of Chincoteague, National Velvet, or practical guides to running a stable). Now I collect…
By the time I’ve finished preparing a meal, my kitchen often looks like a frenzied and ravenous wild animal had been let loose in the house. I use pots. I use skillets. I use at least five different knives, not…
With the exception of one favorite coffee mug, the entire contents of my kitchen have been in storage for the past year while my husband and I have been living with his parents. Soon, I hope, I will get to…
Avid gardeners know this problem well. We can’t leave for summer vacation without making sure we have a dedicated friend, neighbor or family member who will promise to come over every couple of days to water the garden. But, as…
You learn a lot about people when you share a house with them. Since last June, my husband and I have been living with his parents, and I’ve discovered three things they love: Family. They devote their time to babysitting, cooking meals…
Love seeing bees and other pollinators in your garden? Then you’ll want to make sure you know as much as possible about these incredible creatures! We’ve got lots of questions for you about how bees see the world, what their…
Ever since the first time I made this scalloped potatoes with beans recipe, I have loved what a hearty vegetarian dish it is. It’s so hearty, in fact, that when I made this for my in-laws last night, my father-in-law said,…
Mango float. If you’re not familiar with this dessert, no doubt what comes to mind is some form of root beer float. But no, this magical Filipino dessert involves mangoes floating upon a delicate bed of graham crackers and whipped…
One morning, my father stood beside a cutting board, apple-corer poised above a red-and-yellow apple. “Noooooo!” I shouted, saving the apple from its fate. He looked at me in surprise. He had been eating an apple a day for several months…
954. That’s how many farms harvested kale to sell in 2007… across the entire United States. That sounds a little low compared to the current demand, doesn’t it? By 2012, that number more than doubled as 2,500 farms grew the superfood commercially.…
A scene from the British comedy The IT Crowd comes to mind when I consider the importance of eating a balanced diet, rich in fruits and vegetables. Maurice Moss, one of the IT staff members, is asking his friend and fellow…
A boy once saw a gleaming jar of hazelnuts. He loved hazelnuts and, just at the sight of them, he could taste them already. So he stuck his hand in the jar and gathered a huge fistful of the nuts.…
A federal agent is standing in the middle of an apple orchard, giving orders for the trees to be burned to the ground. Is this a scene from a dystopian science fiction movie? No. It’s from the strange world of Prohibition-era America, when the…
Does fall make you sigh with relief for the cooler temperatures? Do you feel more comfortable when it’s cool and breezy? But maybe you feel pretty glad that the ground is still warm beneath your feet? That’s basically how your…
Yesterday I tried something that didn’t work at all. And to make matters worse, I spent about 10 hours on it and roped some family members into the process. I tried making candied watermelon rind. I was pretty excited because…
Summer in Pennsylvania, for me, means swimming in my parents’ pond. Or at least hanging out on the dock with the adults and drinking iced tea while the kids swim. A few of my friends’ and relatives’ kids have waded…
Last summer, I visited a grocery store in Chicago that was selling boatloads of peaches labeled “southern peaches.” They were tiny, mealy, flavorless little waifs. Lack of local produce at supermarkets frustrates me in general, but I found the lack of local…
If you’re gardening this summer, your garden is probably keeping you busy! Take a break from weeding, watering and preserving your harvest and have some fun testing your garden know-how with this quiz fresh-picked from our growing collection of blog articles! True or False: “Hens…
Last summer, I was reminded about how long potato salad can sit out at picnics. I was co-teaching a cooking class at Weaver’s Orchard, one of the orchards that supplies apples and other fruit to Wolff’s, and the co-teacher shared…
Last September, my sister challenged me to look at beloved Wolff’s Apple House items next to similar items at my local big box grocery store and explore the quality and nutrition of each. Trying to find any product that even resembled those Wolff’s…
Ah, the smell of spring. That earthy, sweet smell of ground that has thawed enough to till. The smell of blossoms on the breeze. The smell of the first cold-hardy herbs and vegetables plucked from garden. I am eager to…
What is the “prim” in primrose? Is it prim as in “prim and proper”? That is what I first thought, and I always imagined primroses as old fashioned women in flouncy gowns, sipping tea from delicate tea cups, with their pinky fingers crooked. …
Holidays are a time of feasting. But that doesn’t have to mean we forget about vegetables for the whole month of December. With other holiday meals, there’s much more leeway than with Thanksgiving meals, which, let’s face it, just wouldn’t be complete…
In high school I volunteered at the Hay Creek Valley Fall Festival in Berks County, dressing up in smoky-smelling Colonial garb and tending apple fritters over an open fire. It was early fall, just into apple season, and yet I distinctly remember…
Earlier this month, Fair Food Philly‘s blog featured a detailed preparation timeline to help hosts spare themselves the last-minute scrambling. In the article, Peggy Paul Casella advised hosts to plan out the menu two to three weeks ahead of time. “Oh sure,…
As a Wolff’s Apple House customer, you take care to make healthy, conscientious choices. You know where your food comes from, and that it usually comes from within 50 miles of our store. You know that if you ask, someone at…
It’s only mid-October. Deep breath. It’s not winter yet. But the other night while some friends and I were enjoying the first pumpkin pie of the season, we reminisced about freak October storms. In Chicago last year, October 31 decided…
The honey-locust trees on my street have gone from brilliant green to gold, showering confetti on the sidewalks as surely as if a parade had passed through. Autumn happens all of a sudden. I look up at 7 p.m., and the…
When I moved from Chicago to rural Pennsylvania, shopping in a traditional grocery store became my most depressing and frustrating errand. So many options surrounded me, all of them choices between lesser evils. Organic and local products eluded me. And ethnic or specialty…
“You are a guest at my table.” This is how Karsten Haigis, the West Chester-based baker and fruit spread maker behind Haigis Fine Foods, envisions each of his customers. Like the best dinner party host’s menu, his product line takes…
If you are contemplating planting a fall vegetable crop but find yourself hesitating because you’ve already done so much work in the garden already, let Amy Bullock Loving of the Wolff’s Plant and Garden Center encourage you to keep on…
If you had to grab a piece of scrap paper right now and make a list of the most popular local summer produce, I’ll bet you wouldn’t have any trouble at all coming up with the top three. They’re the…
In your culinary workshop, a galette is a power tool. And pastry power tools come in handy when delicious local fruit is in season. Wikipedia calls the galette a “freeform” pastry, and last summer the New York Times featured an…
Some things make going to the gym totally worth it. This peach flatbread pizza is one of them. Last night, I returned to Women’s Workout World after a long hiatus. It was high time to return because over the course…
“Landfills are full of things that don’t have to be there,” says Beth Finlay, Master Gardener Coordinator at the Penn State Extension in Berks County. The issue of reducing garbage is close to home for Beth. In scenic Berks County, there are…
My heart always lifts when I see a honeybee in my vegetable garden. Like many people, I’ve known for several years that honeybees are in trouble. In 2011, my sister showed me the documentary “Vanishing of the Bees,” which explained…
“There was only one way in which the three sisters were alike,” says the Iroquois legend of the Three Sisters plants. “They loved one another very dearly, and they were never separated. They were sure that they would not be…
Every year, the garden center at Wolff’s Apple House features an abundance of strawberry plants for home gardens, and every year that I hear about this it still sounds magical. Really? You can harvest strawberries from your backyard? And not…
This week, I caught up with Wolff’s Plant Manager Laura Dusenshine to learn more about designing early spring flower boxes to take full advantage of early spring flowers as we add splashes of color to our homes and gardens. Here…
In 2007, my husband and I found ourselves wandering through Boston. We were honeymooning there, and although we had each visited the city before, separately, we didn’t know it well. We wandered between the wharf and Newbury Comics, visited Paul Revere’s Old…
It is snowing in southeastern Pennsylvania as I write this, with three to five inches predicted to fall by evening. But at Wolff’s, tulips, crocuses, pansies, narcissus and daisies brighten the garden center, holding out hope for spring. I don’t…
It’s a Valentine’s Day dilemma: restaurants are packed to the max, and yet not going out for a meal means that somebody is going to have to do a lot of work in the kitchen to prepare a special meal. As city dwellers,…
If you ask Randy Bevan what processes and traditions have stayed the same in the 56 years Bevan’s Own Make has been delighting the Delaware Valley with handmade candies, he will tell you, “Everything.” In a time when the new, shiny…
As a child of the 1980’s, I have been familiar with cabbage from a young age. After all, as a three-year-old, what did I want more than a Cabbage Patch Kid? My great-aunt Lynne, a professional ballet dancer…
I keep a mental map with pins that mark favorite restaurants. The Collegeville, PA deli where I first introduced my husband to Philly-style hoagies. The ice cream stand by Lake Wallenpaupack that churns the creamiest ice cream this side of…
After my parents came for Christmas, they left half a cheesecake in our fridge. This cheesecake was not only delicious, it was made from scratch. Since this is not the sort of thing to waste, my husband and I have…
Have you had some culinary breakthroughs lately? Was there some process you couldn’t bring yourself to abandon, but couldn’t quite perfect, either? Last week I wrote about how I kept toting dried beans home from the grocery store, even though…
Last October, the Onion published an article that began, “Immediately after sitting down on the living room couch and covering herself in a large cotton blanket, area girlfriend Amanda Bettman, 28, announced her intentions Monday to remain in this state for the next…
Good food preserves memories. It pins down moments. It brings comfort and cheer. Several years ago, when I happened to be interviewing an Asian woman who worked at Chicago’s South-East Asia Center, she mentioned that one of the first things…
I don’t remember liking sweet potatoes until one year when I was in middle school. Middle school is all about reinventing yourself, right? It’s about wearing layers of friendship bracelets, trying on your friends’ glasses to see how you look…
Autumn ushers in a time to indulge in pumpkin desserts, pumpkin lattes, pumpkin ale and all things pumpkin. I’m already craving the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies a friend is making for a party this evening. But even as I feast…
Autumn is a time to gather. Summer’s heat lets up but the days remain sunny and energizing. Crisp air calls us outside. The harvest produces some of its tastiest fruits and vegetables. And we know that since winter will soon…
Autumn collects synonyms. It’s already the only season with two interchangeable names, and from there, its monikers multiply. It’s also known as pumpkin season, apple season, cider season and more. But how long has autumn been known as the season…
This past weekend, my husband and I had a few friends over for a couple hours in the evening, so, naturally, I made dessert. I even planned ahead and made this dessert, some toffee bars, the day before and stuck…
Some farmers have farming in their blood. Knowledge of agriculture and of the joys, hardships and value of farming have been passed down through generations, and the family tradition continues. Increasingly, however, people who have not grown up on farms…
Apple season means apple cider season, apple fritter season, and of course apple pie season. For aspiring bakers, apple pie season can be a frustrating time indeed. I’ve been known to put my hands on my hips and glare at…
The Wolff family loves produce of all flavors, shapes and stripes. They not only know the farmers who grew the produce, they also know all you would ever want to know about the local produce itself: how it grows, the…
How wonderful are Labor Day vacations? They snag the last bits of summer, salvaging time with family and friends before the rush of fall schedules pulls us in different directions. They celebrate cooler weather and golden sunlit evenings. They offer…
If you’ve visited the prepared foods section at Wolff’s Apple House and seen delicacies like Apple BBQ Pulled Pork, Roasted Chicken Romaine Salad, Best Broccoli Salad and hummus in all kinds of flavors, then you know that we have an…
I might as well mark my calendar. Every three to six months, the urge to make empanadas hits me. Usually some excuse or inspiration materializes: a friend is visiting from out of town, we’re about to watch a Spanish film…
When my sister mentioned earlier this week that chicken cacciatore means “The Hunter’s Meal,” I knew I had to try making it again. I’d first tried my hand at it when I was 22, a grad student freshly uprooted from…
Knowing that I wanted to make a ginger-watermelon salad later today, I woke up with questions about ginger dancing in my head: When did people first try using ginger as a spice? When did they figure out the knobby…
In elementary school, I had a friend whose mom would make waffles for lunch. Ricotta-cheese-stuffed waffles, topped with strawberries and maple syrup. I loved going to this friend’s house. It was a magical world. Outside, in the corner of their…
This morning, Marie Connell of MyHouse Cookies stood in her kitchen surrounded by tomatoes as she prepared to make quiches. “I know the farmer,” she told me about the tomatoes, “I know she picked them this morning. I know they…
During the summer, refreshing beverages call to us. Whether it’s during a picnic, after yard work or at a sporting event, eventually we start to crave a cold, flavorful beverage. Preferably a fizzy one. But we know how bad sugary…
With Father’s Day just around the corner, many people start to think about treating their dads to meat cooked on the grill. This time of year, the weather is just right for gathering the family for a picnic and grilling…
I am pretty sure the first time I ever ate rice pudding was at camp, as a counselor, at around age 17. That the adults in charge let 17-year-olds be camp counselors is one of the mysteries of my adult…
Back in April, Linda Johnson, Wolff’s Garden Center Manager, told me that even before she began working at Wolff’s, she came here to pick out her herbs. “You could have a field day going through here and thinking about your…
10. Leeks are versatile and can easily swap with onions in any recipe, but their flavor is mild, earthy and unique. Leeks are in the same family as garlic and onions (and, for that matter, lilies!), so they have a…
Whenever I have a chance to teach English courses, I like to talk about cliches. “What are some of your favorite cliches?” I ask. “Or some of the most bewildering?” We write them down. “Now, how can we freshen them…
I have a lot of memories of bringing my mom breakfast in bed on Mother’s Day. Those childhood memories tell me that my siblings and I must have accomplished this every single year, arranging a tray with an orange juice…
I first discovered frittatas a few years ago when I needed to use up some fresh sage. Sage, with its leaves like Lamb’s-Ear, seemed fancy enough for Martha Stewart, so I turned to Martha Stewart’s Healthy Quick Cook, a treasure…
When I moved to Chicago in 2005, long-time Chicagoans warned me that during the winter, gray clouds take over the sky and remain there basically until April, as if a giant lid covers the city. There are a few day-to-day…
Preparing a holiday meal is joyous and generous. With good music playing, spicy aromas filling the room, and friends or family members playing sous-chef and line cooks, the preparations are often as much fun as the meal itself. That fun…
Some people grow up surrounded by fresh herbs. They watch, or help, as their parents grow herbs, chop herbs and garnish dishes with soft handfuls of basil, oregano, parsley or sage. Other people discover the magic of fresh herbs later…
It looks like March will be going out like a lamb after all, although I can’t help but think most of the lambs in the Delaware Valley will be huddled under shelters away from the rain instead of chowing down…
It can be easy to go along in life expecting each day to be similar to the one before. The alarm goes off at the same time each morning, I brew coffee in the French press, simmer some oatmeal, read…
For much of my adult life, I have lived in Chicago, where St. Patrick’s Day lasts basically all March long and we’re so excited about the holiday that we dye the Chicago River green. There’s plenty to get excited about…
Wolff’s is starting to blossom, and pansies are always the first flower we feature. Soon we will plant a row of these flowers along the roadside leading up to Wolff’s, and Linda Johnson, our plant and nursery manager, is planning…
What is it that makes comfort food so comforting? Is it indulging in food that tastes so good it must be bad for you? Is it the warmth of the food itself? (Clearly not, or a bowl of fudge brownie…
Meals that I made when I moved into my first apartment stay in my memory and remain my favorites. Frying up an omelet and adding anything I had on hand– caramelized onions, tomatoes, sometimes even corn or black beans– was…
My house feels chilly when I wake up on winter mornings. The radiators huff and grumble and squeal, but they can’t quite keep up with the frigid temperatures outside. This calls for a good cup of coffee and a hearty,…
In the winter, I make soup. When the winter as is long and relentless as it has been this year, I find comfort wherever I can. In many mugs of peppermint tea or cinnamon tea. In cozying up under a…
I have to admit, it’s been a long while since I’ve felt like sunbathing, and I feel like I’m running low on Vitamin D, that vitamin so renowned for strengthening bones as it helps the body absorb calcium. If you…
Dinnertime and the Olympics were the two main events I looked forward to as a kid. The time between Olympics seemed interminable. Four years?! I’d hardly even lived that long. When the winter Olympics came on TV, my siblings and…
During the Christmas season, we enjoy the presence of people we love. Talking, laughing, listening, enjoying comfortable silences–all of this is what it means to enjoy each others’ presence at Christmastime. It is a time to rest, relax, and linger…
One of the best Christmas presents I have ever received was a cardboard box full of food: maple cured bacon and three different kinds of jam made from apples and berries grown in a backyard garden. My husband and I…
Thanksgiving is a day when many pots are bubbling on the stove, cutting boards are strewn across counter tops, the fragrance of herbs lingers on the cook’s hands, and a tasting spoon always produces delicious samples. This creative chaos itself…
Last night, I dreamed I had a vegetable garden again this year. I did last year, when my husband and I lived with my parents on their 20 acres. Now that we’re on a more independent footing, our lifestyle is…
Imagine your ideal garden. Perhaps it’s lush with lilies, phlox, pansies, trillium, black-eyed-Susans and herbs. Or maybe it’s a vegetable garden with all the tomatoes, zucchini, chard, peppers and cucumbers your family and friends can eat. Now, picture the…
Step into a time when heirloom apples were peeled by hand. Colorful peels swirl onto the counter-top, laughter and conversation rise like flecks of flour in the air, and tender apples get tucked into handmade pastry made with real butter.…
The Stayman-Winesap crosses the Stayman and Winesap apples and has become a local favorite here in the Delaware Valley. It’s an apple with firm roots in the soil of American history. Even though people distinguish the Winesap apple from the…
This week, we had a chance to speak with Ed Weaver, president of Weaver’s Orchard in Morgantown, PA, one of our main suppliers of apples (including Honeycrisp) and apple cider. 1. What is the story of how Weaver’s Orchard…
Never heard of Seckel Pears? Well, you’re not alone. The Seckel Pear is relatively unknown across the country, but it’s one of the Delaware Valley’s hidden treasures. It was developed here in the Southeastern Pennsylvania in the early 1800’s by a farmer named Mr.…
Mid-August is a magical time: a twilight season. Just like twilight is the hour to enjoy the beauty of the day before nightfall, August is the month to enjoy the best of both summer and early fall. In August, all…
Look for this sign around Wolff’s Apple House to see the many varieties of heirloom tomatoes we have during the season! Heirloom tomatoes are a sign of the season here at Wolff’s. We’re well-known for them! Yellow, green, red, purple,…
A few summers ago, I stood face to face with a few vegetables that scared me. I love to eat almost all veggies, but I have met a few I didn’t know how to prepare. As I looked at the…
Looking over past Wolff’s Apple House newsletters and the Wolff’s Facebook page, I’ve noticed that some of our favorite words are “abundant” and “abundance.” Our farm market really does stock pounds upon pounds of fresh produce, and this only increases…
A few summers ago, someone sent me a recipe for a simple cucumber and peach salad. This was a recipe that combined two ingredients I never thought would like each other. Didn’t one belong atop lettuce, and the other beneath…
Fran Wolff calls corn, peaches and tomatoes “the Big Three,” because when it comes to local produce, these are the fruits and vegetables that everyone around loves and looks forward to. And there is just no denying it: local varieties…
Pies, cobblers and crisps are the locavore’s best friend when dessert-making time rolls around. Why? Because all season long, bakers can walk straight from the field or farm market to the kitchen, modify only a few ingredients, and make a…
One of my favorite photos on the Wolff’s Apple House Web site is the picture that tops the “Recipes” page. It depicts Kenneth and Gennie Wolff, the third generation owners of Wolff’s Apple House, in Spring 1955. On a blanket…
Last week, my husband and I stopped into a local sandwich place for a bite to eat. I was hungry for salad, and selected this particular salad because the words “chick-pea” were in its name. When we settled down to…
I was probably about six the first time I can remember my mom baking her own pizza dough. After that, it became a family tradition: Friday nights were pizza nights, and her homemade dough, stretched to the corners of a…
This time of year, I often can’t resist making apple crisps or apple pies, even though the holidays have passed. I surround tender apple slices with layers of flaky pastry or oats, like a fortress of sweetness. Last night…
For me, as a bookish writer whose idea of exercise is a long walk or a slow jog, the big game this weekend isn’t about sports. It isn’t even about the commercials or half-time. I’m not gonna lie. It’s about…
I fell in love rather late in life. We met at The Goddess and Grocer, a Chicago restaurant that was then so small it just had one long, family-style table. I ordered a California Dreaming sandwich and instantly fell headlong…
Winter came early to the east coast this year, painting over October’s vibrant palette and turning everything white. That’s the thing about winter that can really start to get to me: the way that color drains out of the landscape…
I sat across from my cousin’s nine-year-old son this Thanksgiving. A big platter of cranberry sauce gleamed on the table between us. Greedily, we both stared at it. “Well, my friend,” I said. “Looks like there’s half for you and…
In my apartment’s tiny kitchen, the whole room warms up when a pot simmers on the stove top. This is one reason I love to simmer soup and stew this time of year. The other reasons are more universal: the…
Did you ever visit a museum gift shop as a kid? Did you ever beg to have an adult buy you a geode: one of those round sandpapery rocks that look homely on the outside, but reveal crystals inside when…
Have you ever tasted a Wolff family recipe? Maybe you’ve sampled one of the family recipes that our chef, Chuck Smith, crafts for our own prepared foods line: the fresh tomato salsa that fills our fridges all year round, or…
Fireflies. Volleyball. Sandy toes. Lemonade. Grass poking through a picnic blanket. Campfires. Corn on the cob. All of these bring summer vividly to mind, and fresh, locally-grown corn on the cob, with its buttery-sweet crisp crunch, is one of the…
Did you know Pennsylvania produce has its own month? At Wolff’s Apple House every month is a month to celebrate produce, but in August it’s official! This year is the sixth year running that the Commonwealth has designated August as…
It’s peach season right now at Wolff’s Apple House! Beginning in early July, our store manager, Brian Bednarz, begins to hand-select the best New Jersey peaches available from local farms. New Jersey is famous for its peach orchards, and since…
If you’ve visited wolfsapplehouse.com in the past, no doubt you’ve noticed our new look! On July 15, 2011 we launched our new website, which reflects the authentic beauty of our century old store, makes it easy to find quality information…
