It’s time to start thinking about planting pansies, and we now have flats of them in our garden center! They are locally grown in Hatfield Pa, just 35 miles away! Conventional wisdom says that you can plant pansies as soon as the…
Our latest development from our chef, Chuck Smith is a DELICIOUS fire-roasted tomato bisque. The main feature that makes it unique and so very tasty are the fire roasted tomatoes themselves! Their smoky roasted flavor gets infused throughout the creamy…
Are you trying to eat healthier and incorporate more fresh fruits and vegetables into your diet? Well, then we have some really good news for you! We just launched our brand new Recipe of the Week program, where we’ll feature…
During the fall, we asked you to send in your photos of your shopping experience at Wolff’s. We selected three winners from the dozen entries we received, which you can still view on our Facebook page. Each of winners wrote to…
As the new year is almost upon us, it’s important to focus on the highlights of the previous year and hope that a new year will bring. While I take time to reflect on the past year, I can’t…
Gifts from the kitchen are almost always my favorite gifts to give and to receive. Last year my extended family exchanged only “edible” gifts, so there were many delicious gifts and recipes passed around! Somehow, dried cranberries seemed to make it…
Fran Wolff likes to say, “the soup season begins when people go inside of their homes to escape the cold. That is when people really want to buy soup.” I agree with him. It’s just around the time when the…
Do you have your Christmas tree yet? Do you know how you’ll decorate it? If you’re like me, then you probably like to change up your Christmas ornaments every few years as long as it fits within your budget. This year…
Caring for Your FRESH Tree YOUR TREE HAS RECEIVED A FRESH CUT, unless you requested otherwise. (If you are making your own fresh cut: Use a saw to cut through the base of the trunk, an inch or so from…
Even more than the Thanksgiving feast, my family and I look forward to Black Friday. But not for the door buster sales or jump-starting our holiday shopping: we look forward to the leftover turkey sandwiches. One thing I’ve learned over…
Picture the perfect Christmas tree. What does it look like? Or better yet, what does it smell like? I’ve learned over the years that the saying “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” couldn’t be more true when it…
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.…
For the past two weeks I’ve been thinking about the best way to eat a turkey. And to be honest, I much prefer eating leftover breast meat, cranberry sauce, and stuffing positioned between two pieces of bread. I mean, I…
Picking out pumpkins, mums or Christmas trees at Wolff’s this season? Then bring your camera and take some photos, and submit them to our photo contest! Prizes: First Prize – $50 gift card Second Prize – $25 gift card Third…
For weeks Steve Rosazza has been delivering some very delicious acorn squash. This variety, along with Butternut, Spaghetti, and Festival, are just some of the winter squash available locally at Wolff’s. Years ago, while working on a small farm in…
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…
If you’ve spent much time with the Wolff family, one thing is pretty clear: they intimately know the products they sell, and they put a lot of effort into making sure their customers know as much about their products as…
I remember heading to class one crisp September day. The sky was a deep shade of blue with puffs of big white clouds passing overhead. As I breathed in that clear autumn air, I realized one thing: I wouldn’t make…
If you told me to find the most popular apple we sell just by looks, I would probably search for an apple that had all the right features – bright red or green in color, uniform shape, shiny skin, etc.…
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…
During my summer in Provence, France, I’ve been learning to make use of the many abundant herbs, some that grow wild, and some that grow well in our gardens. It’s very hot and dry here, so not everything grows easily…
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…
As America celebrates its Independence Day, I find myself in another county where hamburgers, hot dogs and barbecue sauce are not too easy to come by. I can’t say that I can complain though, because this country has some pretty…
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…
When it comes to produce, I’m kind of a snob. Produce items – like corn and peaches – that I eat in the summer as if they were the only food that existed pretty much have no place in my…
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…
Since the summer of 2010, our chef Chuck Smith has been creating delectable new recipes for Wolff’s Apple House. He studied at Baltimore International College and apprenticed at Jeannier’s, a classic French restaurant in Baltimore. No stranger to the benefits…
I’ve always wanted to be a farmer, or at least a gardener. My parents were raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia and New Jersey and always dreamed of having a place to raise their kids where they could actually see the…
For the second time this year, I’m meeting with one of the Wolff clan in the living room of Ken and Gennie Wolff. Their house sits right across from the recently cultivated Sunny Brae Farm. I have spent a fair…
Since the summer of 2010, our chef Chuck Smith has been creating delectable new recipes for Wolff’s Apple House. He studied at Baltimore International College and apprenticed at Jeannier’s, a classic French restaurant in Baltimore. No stranger to the benefits…
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…
When you walk into Wolff’s this time of year, a sea of vibrantly colored flowers greets you. Some of these plants are ready to go in the ground, like Pansies and cold-tolerant annuals like Alyssum, Diascia, Dusty Miller, Lobelia, Nemesia…
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…
If you have dreams of planting a garden this year, you can start now by planting seeds indoors and getting started on planting onion sets (partially sprouted onions in a paper bag.) In order to get the best results for your…
There is a narrow dirt road that runs along the edge of the Wolff’s modest Sunny Brae farm. Mostly inactive now, this road used to be heavily traversed by tractors and various farming implements. Currently, three generations of Wolffs live…
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…
Over the nearly 5 years my husband and I have been married, we’ve learned to fit things we enjoy into our budget and find ways to make “home dates” special. Here are a few ideas of some of our favorite meals.…
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 know this girl that hates mushrooms. It doesn’t surprise me. She hates a lot of the foods that I love. But as I add the finishing touches to latest batch of Cream of Mushroom Soup, I can’t believe what…
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…
Down the road from here, a shop selling Christmas trees presents a sign to the passers-by announcing, “Have a real Christmas. Buy a real tree.” This concerns me. If a true Christmas means having a real tree, then every Christmas…
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…
At this time of day, the palest shade of yellow becomes white. It is a white like ivory or the cooked white of an egg. It is the glorious flesh or white curd of the aborted floral meristems. It is…
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…
Any way you look at it, a farm is a business–a livelihood for those interested in growing large quantities of food to sell. But the business of farming varies greatly. In many cases food is grown because it is profitable.…
Think of your favorite soup… What does it smell like? What does it taste like? What texture does it have? Is it uniform and velvety on the tongue? There is no correct answer to these questions. Actually, I would venture…
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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…
As I walk across the Wolff’s parking lot, it occurs to me that it has been raining for days. It makes the atmosphere of the market a little damp, but that doesn’t stop the crowds from visiting the store in…
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…
There’s this sandwich my grandmother makes. It’s easy to build and very delicious. It starts with perfectly ripe tomatoes. When the summer heat first yields vine ripe tomatoes in earnest, you simply slice them, lightly salt them, and stuff them…
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…
In one attempt to remove refined sugar from my family’s diet, I decided to make my own frozen desserts instead of purchasing pre-made ice pops. Many frozen ice pops in the supermarket include corn syrup and high-fructose corn syrup in…
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…
Edward Behr, author of The Artful Eater, believes that the best apple you will ever eat is a stolen one. In my case, the best peach I have ever eaten was stolen from a neighbor’s fruit tree on a hot July evening in 1992.…
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…
