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…
Holiday cookie season is upon us, so it’s always nice to have some new cookie recipes in one’s repertoire. For me and my family, cookie is usually synonymous with oatmeal chocolate chip cranberry cookies. But I tend to branch out…
Homemade ice cream in an ice cream maker is just about one of the easiest and most delicious things you can make in a snap. It requires a few steps, but comes together in a matter of minutes. It’s a…
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…
This is an old Polish recipe for stuffed cabbage, courtesy of Ashley’s mom, Andi Wolff. They called them halupkis. Whatever you call them they are scrumptious and quite filling.
This popular, easy-to-make recipe is a great nibble for parties! It uses our recipe for Mrs. Wolff’s Cranberry Sauce, but whole berry cranberry sauce in a can will do in a pinch. Mrs. Wolff’s cranberry sauce recipe makes 3 cups,…
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…
When Thanksgiving rolls around, it seems that your kitchen can just never be big enough for all the meal prep that needs to happen. Every countertop is filled with appetizers or desserts waiting to be eaten. As the hot foods…
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…
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…
Which heirloom pumpkin makes the BEST pumpkin pie? …we decided to find out! On Sunday, October 1st, we held our first-ever pumpkin pie baking contest! All staff members were invited to bake a pie from scratch using one of our…
It has been 11 years since my mom passed away, and I miss her more than I ever imagined I would, not knowing much about grief-stirring loss when I last knew her, shortly before I turned 21. One way I…
This gratin can be assembled up to 2 days in advance of baking. Using a mandolin gives you thin, even slices.
“Vanillekipferl” are traditional Austrian Christmas cookies, usually made with almonds. This version, adapted from a recipe from Saveur Magazine, uses walnuts. They are a little bit time-consuming, but really very simple to make!
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,…
Use a gallon of Weaver’s Apple Cider and whip up a crowd-pleasing batch of our Hot Mulled Apple Cider. It’s a Wolff’s family recipe, and the same one we serve in the store. Great on a crisp fall evening!
This recipe cooks for only 10 minutes…then the rest of the work is just waiting till it cools and thickens!
Yams and sweet potatoes bring extraordinary flavor to the table. This recipe highlights that natural flavor by adding just two simple ingredients.
Keeping the recipes traditional this Thanksgiving? You’ll want this classic recipe for traditional stuffing!
Never cooked a fresh turkey before? Never fear! Here’s our advice.
I’ve been told that men tend to gain a lot of weight in their thirties. I keep hoping that will happen to me. I could stand to gain a pound or two. But all I’ve gotten so far is lactose intolerance, and…
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…
Leeks have come a long way in my life since 2001. It’s been an uphill battle for this once neglected ingredient. Unlike onions and garlic, the leek is more intimidating. It seems almost alien when pulled from a grocery bag…
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,…
Speaking is often something done without words, though we sometimes don’t realize it. The same can be said for the Victorian language of flowers, which lets us communicate to those in our lives through something as simple as flowers we…
Every Black Friday, my husband’s family had the tradition of going Christmas tree shopping. We’d wake up at a reasonable hour (reasonable, that is, for Black Friday), mosey over to the Christmas tree farm together and each pick out that…
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…
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…
Spicy appetizers and herb-savvy drinks for jazzing your way into the New Year are right at your fingertips with a few of Phoebe Canakis’ New Year’s Eve recipes. Canakis is the name behind Phoebe’s Pure Food, where she celebrates local…
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…
Greenery known so well in December is ready to become cozily arranged local decor in your home. Wolff’s Apple House can help with that, especially if you’re looking for Christmas trees with the best quality and Pennsylvania-growing in the history…
The Wolff family has many favorite recipes and most of them they have graciously shared right here on their website. When I began searching for a stuffing recipe for this Thanksgiving, Wolff’s trusted recipe collection was the first place 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…
Pumpkins are wonderfully alluring in autumn, but repurposing makes them interesting on a whole other level aside from how we often look at them as Jack-O-Lantern-bound or warmly baked into pie, bread or pumpkin roll (but we’ll let the anticipation…
The pumpkin supply is bursting from all corners of Wolff’s Apple House. Roswell Henderson, the assistant manager for Frecon Farms in Boyertown, Berks County, has a great affinity for turning pumpkins into the unexpected and amusingly surprising outside of homes.…
As a fitting segue in saying adieu to the heat of August while saying hello to September, a Fresh Indian Summer Salsa crafted from ingredients at Wolff’s Apple House is a great food-geared introduction to this autumn. The recipe, put…
While Fran, Pete and Ashley Wolff work every Labor Day, they’re grateful for the opportunity to help people appreciate their goodbye to summer with great foods and ideas for good spots for picnics. And they like that they close at…
Phoebe Canakis’ Berry Topped-Pavlova is a perfectly red, white and blue dessert to suit July 4th celebrations. Canakis lives in Lancaster County and is the food-mind behind inspiring seasonally chic, seductively wholesome, garden-to-plate eats through her blogs, magazine, catering and…
“I can’t wait for Easter!” My sleepy, 5-year old cousin, Evelyn told me. “Why is that?” I asked her. “Because we get to dye Easter eggs!” She exclaimed with a newfound burst of energy. Holidays, family and tradition seem…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
