Local Produce All Winter Long!

By rachelvanduzerJanuary 21, 2021January 28, 2021 Apples, Hardy Vegetables, Leafy Greens, Locally Grown

Thanks to advances in hydroponic farming, cold storage and more, we can now enjoy local produce all winter long here at Wolff’s Apple House! Here’s the latest from our local farmers!! Celery & Fennel! Purple Sweet Potatoes Swiss Chard & Kale Arugula & Salad Mix Orange & PURPLE Carrots! Hakurei Turnips & Radishes Zucchini! Brussels…

Ashley Wolff’s Guide to Choosing Apples

By Ashley WolffSeptember 24, 2019September 24, 2019 Apples, Farm-to-Table, Featured, Locally Grown

You might think I’m crazy, but apples are my favorite fruit. Don’t get me wrong, I love peaches, strawberries, raspberries, watermelon, plums, oranges, and, well, almost all fruit (it’s a very long list.) But I love apples the most for a few reasons. For starters, apples signify the beginning of autumn, the time of year…

Why Eat Local? Ask Fran!

By Jill AhernJuly 23, 2018February 28, 2019 Featured, Locally Grown local, locally grown produce

Why Eat Local? Ask Fran Wolff. As the 4th generation owner of Wolff’s Apple House and someone who grew up in a farming family, Fran is uniquely positioned to talk about this issue in a straightforward, common-sense way. I recently sat down with him to get his take on this question, “Why Eat Local,” and…

Simplified Mexican Street Corn

By rebeccatalbotJuly 12, 2018April 21, 2023 Featured, Locally Grown, Sides, Vegetarian/Vegan corn, locally grown produce, sweet corn

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 and then carefully pluck away the remaining silk. It feels like a throwback to yesteryear…

Vegan Cream of Asparagus Soup WITH the Woody Ends

By rebeccatalbotApril 26, 2018April 21, 2023 Featured, Locally Grown, Recipes, Soup

“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 away. I darn socks. I even darn yoga pants. If there’s still a use for…

Bottomless Corn Pie – Another Way to Love Sweet Corn

By JenniferHetrickAugust 7, 2017April 21, 2023 Locally Grown, Recipes, Seasonal bottomless corn pie, corn pie, sweet corn

I finally began to appreciate some of my Pennsylvania Dutch (technically German) heritage a few years ago through some culinary exploring. My favorite dive into this subculture of food quickly resulted in corn pie made with in-season, locally grown sweet corn, like the ears brought in to Wolff’s Apple House in August and September from nearby…

Skillet Mexican Street Corn

By rebeccatalbotJune 13, 2017April 21, 2023 Locally Grown, Recipes, Sides, Summer Produce

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 unwrap all my kitchenware, so valuable to me both for its utility and the memories…

An Awkwardly Large Yet Delicious Sandwich: Toasted Egg & Tomato

By JenniferHetrickMay 3, 2017October 29, 2019 Featured, Holiday, Locally Grown, Recipes, Sandwiches, Tomatoes

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 love remembering my mom, keeping her in the energy of my heart, is through cooking…

Broccoli Stir-Fry with Chicken & Mushrooms

By recipesSeptember 22, 2016April 21, 2023 Featured, Hardy Vegetables, Locally Grown, Main-Dishes, Recipes

Put our gorgeous fall broccoli to good use with this recipe adapted from cookbook author Mark Bittman’s chicken stir fry recipe—not too complicated, very healthy and super delicious!

Wolff’s vs. Grocery Store: The Big Three

By rebeccatalbotJuly 28, 2016July 28, 2016 Featured, Locally Grown

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 peaches especially odd considering that Paul Friday (of “Flamin’ Fury” fame) lived close enough to Chicago…

Pasta with Peas, Ham and Lettuce

By recipesJune 9, 2016April 21, 2023 Featured, Leafy Greens, Locally Grown, Main-Dishes, Recipes

This was adapted from a Mark Bittman recipe to make use of our fresh spring snap peas and Wolff’s Own sliced ham!

Cultivating Greens and Making An Easy Arugula Salad

By JenniferHetrickMay 12, 2016April 21, 2023 Gardening Advice: Vegetables, Fruits & Herbs, Leafy Greens, Locally Grown, Recipes, Salads, Seasonal, Summer Produce

Despite chilly, rainy days in the recent weeks of early spring, May will soon be showing us the brighter and warmer days which are perfect for planting garden greens. When it comes to cultivating different kinds of leafy greens to join into your meals, Robyn Jasko of Kutztown has the perfect background to give great…

Cucumber Dill Salad

By recipesMay 4, 2016April 21, 2023 Featured, Locally Grown, Recipes, Salads

This recipe is super easy, refreshing, delicious and it does not involve many ingredients. It accompanies many dishes quite well. It’s not necessary, but it is helpful to use a mandolin to slice the cucumbers uniformly very thin.

KITCHEN COPY:FRESH CRANBERRIES

By chucksmithNovember 4, 2015April 21, 2023 Berries, Cooking Methods, Featured, Holiday, Kitchen Copy, Locally Grown, Recipes, Seasonal berries, breakfast, cranberries, gluten-free, local ingredients, locally grown produce, recipes

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 a gluten allergy. I reluctantly confess this. It was only recently that I was a…

KITCHEN COPY:SWISS CHARD

By chucksmithOctober 21, 2015April 21, 2023 Appetizers, Cooking Methods, Featured, Kitchen Copy, Locally Grown, Recipes, Seasonal local ingredients, locally grown produce, peach salsa, recipes, swiss chard, vegetables, vegetarian

Has it ever happened to you that two things enter your life at the same time, and forever after it’s nearly impossible to think of one without also thinking of the other? It happened to me about twelve years ago. It happened to me with Swiss chard, and my wife. I can’t cook Swiss chard without also…

KITCHEN COPY:A PRETTY PUMPKIN

By chucksmithSeptember 24, 2015April 21, 2023 Cooking Methods, Featured, Kitchen Copy, Locally Grown, Recipes, Seasonal local ingredients, locally grown produce, pumpkins, recipes

Right about now the Mums begin rolling into Wolff’s and taking over the place like some kind of bizarre alien invasion. It seems like every day more cloudbursts of color are added to the expanding floral grid. Their arrival coincides with the onset of chilly mornings, corn shocks, and overwhelming swells of heirloom pumpkins. The pumpkin’s…

KITCHEN COPY: HONEYCRISP APPLE LIME GRANITA

By chucksmithSeptember 9, 2015October 18, 2016 Apples, Beverages, Cooking Methods, Featured, Kitchen Copy, Locally Grown, Recipes, Seasonal apples, honeycrisp, local ingredients, locally grown fruit, recipes

Some things take a long time to learn about oneself, while other things take none at all. After scaling, gutting, and prepping fish for a brief stint at a small Greek restaurant in Federal Hill, Baltimore, I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do in the kitchen. And it wasn’t cleaning fish. It only took a…

KITCHEN COPY: WATERMELON-TINI

By chucksmithAugust 26, 2015April 21, 2023 Cooking Methods, Featured, Kitchen Copy, Locally Grown, Recipes, Seasonal, Summer Produce locally grown fruit, locally grown produce, recipes, summer produce, watermelon

The single memory from my childhood of eating watermelon centers more upon the large, black, unpleasant, inedible seeds than it does the deliciously sweet and totally consumable flesh. It is a memory which speaks volumes about the kind of person I am. It’s no secret how I would answer the proverbial glass-half-full or glass-half-empty question. As far as I’m concerned, the glass…

KITCHEN COPY:NOTEWORTHY NECTARINES

By chucksmithAugust 12, 2015April 21, 2023 Cooking Methods, Featured, Locally Grown, Recipes, Seasonal, Summer Produce local ingredients, locally grown fruit, locally grown produce, nectarines, peaches, recipes, summer produce

I’m fully allowed to taste the produce at Wolff’s Apple House. As their resident chef, it’s part of my job. Nevertheless, there is always a moment (right about the time I lift the fruit from the display) when it feels criminal. Like I’m getting away with something. Like I’m stealing something precious from others. Which leads me to a confession. Earlier today,…

KITCHEN COPY: HEAVENLY HEIRLOOMS

By chucksmithJuly 29, 2015April 21, 2023 Cooking Methods, Featured, Locally Grown, Recipes, Seasonal, Summer Produce, Tomatoes local ingredients, locally grown produce, locally grown tomatoes, recipes, tomatoes, vegetables, vegetarian

Some heirloom tomato varieties hardly resemble tomatoes at all. That’s what one might think, anyway. The truth is that only in the last hundred years did tomatoes become so uniformly round, and red, and (Let’s admit it!) often flavorless. That’s all changed, of course. Americans have rediscovered (thanks to hard-working small farmers) how to embrace seasonality, and a desire to experience the…