Set the Table for Spring with Cucumber Dill Salad & Black Bean Wraps

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 up?  Make them more unexpected?” Cliches got their start because someone came up with a…

Frittata Time

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 my  aunt had given me for Christmas years earlier, and discovered a lovely sage-mushroom frittata. …

Gabbing in Garden-Speak

Nan Reinert of Chubby Pickle Farm in Robeson Township, Berks County, is always happy to help others learn about smarter and more efficient ways to garden, knowing quite well just how stressful this therapeutic effort can become if you take on too much. “I am passionate about growing and getting people to grow,” she says…

Oatmeal with Fruit Compot

Comforting Winter Breakfasts

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, comforting breakfast.  I want something warm and soothing but healthy.  Oatmeal answers to this description,…

Farm Film of Media Premieres January 16 and 17—Watermelon Magic

With much respect given to what farms are to us, director and producer Richard Power Hoffmann is proud to bring the premiere of his film Watermelon Magic to the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, N.J. this week. The Hoffmann Family resides in Media, Delaware County and is known to frequent Wolff’s Apple House for…

Deck Those Halls: The Charm of Great Local Décor

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 of their trunks and needles. Christmas trees at Wolff’s are sourced from Hill Farms in…

Soups and Prepared Foods: Go-To Grabs that Go Great around the Holidays

Soups and other prepared foods are something you can easily pick up at Wolff’s Apple House to suit colder-season temperatures as they make their way into chillier months. And these are also great around holidays, thankfully. Wolff’s own chef, Chuck Smith, reflects thoughtfully on the value of soups before and into winter. “Soups in general…

Splendid Thanksgiving Sides: New Twists and Old Traditions

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 is an occasion for gratitude.  As we boil, chop, grate, and mash, we partake in…

Repurposing Pumpkins and Delighting in Slices of Pumpkin Roll

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 of palate-worthy bites of pumpkin roll simmer for a little while.) For those who have…

Unique Ideas for Carving and Decorating Pumpkins

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. “Pretty much every other customer is coming in to buy pumpkins or ask questions about…

Stayman-Winesap Apples in Apple Crisp

Stayman-Winesap apples are now ready for the charming delight of chomping at Wolff’s Apple House. In its historical context, the Stayman-Winesap apple is usually deemed a seedling of the heirloom Winesap apple, taking its introduction from Dr. Joseph Stayman in Leavenworth, Kansas in 1866. Dr. Stayman grew up in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania and practiced medicine…

Neck Pumpkins and Their Persuasion

The great lure of neck pumpkins is under way at Wolff’s Apple House. Their curiously elongated shapes and lighter hues compared to traditional pumpkins make them an easy game of I Spy for the eyes. Neck pumpkins are an ancestor of butternut squash, which is known for so many cooking and baking recipes today. When…

Getting into Fall Gardening and Decorating

The possibilities of fall gardening and decorating are now under way; the colors of autumn so iconic to the outside of homes as the weather cools down after summer beckon easily for the eyes at Wolff’s Apple House. Bloom-boasting hardy mums, asters, Montauk daisies, brightly cheerful pansies, cabbage, kale, hay bales, decorative corn stalks, gourds…

Fresh Indian Summer Salsa is Savvy in September

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 together by Wolff’s marketing consultant, Rachel VanDuzer, incorporates not only tomatoes but peaches, corn and…

Labor Day Picnic Possibilities and Some Feisty Guacamole

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 4 p.m., too, so they can get together with the rest of their family as…

Peach Smarts and a Cobbler, Too

Wolff’s Apple House sells some of its selection of peaches from Weaver’s Orchard in Morgantown, Berks County. And its owner, Ed Weaver, has plenty of peach smarts regularly on the mind from growing them each year. He raises 15 acres of peach trees, primarily freestone varieties. Weaver notes that one unique attribute of peaches is…