Sunday, September 18, 2011

Sunday Salon - Ultimate Autumn

Can't wait to get these into a cake!
This whole weekend has been the ultimate fall weekend for me. Friday was one of the nicest days we've had all year and my husband got to take the day off, so we went apple picking and had a picnic in a beautiful town square. It was wonderful! Now, I love all things apple- baking with them, cooking with them, eating them right off the tree- and we discovered a new variety of apple to love, the Ginger Gold apple. Bright yellow, they look like lemons but taste like a slightly sweet Cortland. Delicious! We got a bunch of Ginger Golds and a bunch of Macintoshes; the Cortlands weren't quite ready but we plan to come back for some of those soon. On Saturday we headed over to a nearby town for a huge multi-family yard sale followed by a great library book sale. We found lots of treasures at each.
Ginger Golds on the tree ready to picked- and eaten!
Today we're sticking to our town and heading into Harvard Square for the third annual Urban Ag-Fair, a festival of locally-grown and made fall food. If you're in the area, check it out!

Reading? I'll be doing some of that. I'm almost done with Alexander Maksik's You Deserve Nothing, first in Europa Editions' new Tonga line of books. It's great! It's engaging and absorbing, a story about a teacher in a Paris high school and the students who love him. But the book is no sentimental Mr. Chips, don't worry! When I'm done I think I have to dive into Michael Ondaatje's new one, The Cat's Table. One of my friends generously sent me her galley; I can't wait. And then after that we'll see.
A Fresh MacIntosh!
I want to thank everyone who helped put together this year's Book Blogger Appreciation Week; it was so fun and I found bunches of new blogs to follow. If you're a new follower here, welcome! I hope you comment often and let me know what you're thinking! And congratulations to all the award winners! How fun to recognize our favorite blogs with these special awards.

Also coming up is Banned Books Week, starting at the end of the week. I'll be participating in ALA's Virtual Read-Out, so this week I'll be preparing a video of myself reading from one of my favorite banned books, Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War. Look for the video next week, or on the special YouTube channel where participants will be uploading. And upload your own video!

What are you up to today? Reading anything good- or not so good? You can find more Sunday Salon here.

11 comments:

Aarti said...

I almost picked Ondaatje's novel from Vine this month, but just HAD to choose Brian Selznick's new novel instead.

I had an apple-filled weekend, too! Yesterday, I hosted an apple-themed potluck and it was delicious.

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

Apples are on the list of very good fruits, so Lucky You! Hope you cook up some delicious food with them.

Harvee said...

I'm curious about that banned book, Chocolate Wars, and will have to look it up. Enjoy the festival.

Anonymous said...

I don't know what's happened to me in recent years, but I'm not a fan of apples anymore. However, your descriptions and photos of them are making me reconsider my disenchantment with them.

Mystica said...

Three hours on the road to return home which was good. In the middle of a good book which is about nutmegs and all spices which is also good.

Anonymous said...

I really need to go apple picking. My family went last year and had a lot of fun, plus I got to bake a lot of yummy apple desserts afterward.

Lynne Perednia said...

Prepping for Banned Books Week is on my schedule during the next five days as well.

Going up to the orchards was always a part of my autumn growing up. The range of apples beyond the two bland Delicious varieties is so much fun to explore.

Alexia561 said...

Have never gone apple picking, but it looks like fun! Love the pictures!

Anonymous said...

Oh maaaaan! I love Atlanta where I've lived for the better part of a decade but I grew up and went to school for 22 years in Boston and I just miss apple picking and a New England fall so much!

JoAnn said...

I've never tried a Ginger Gold, but will make a point of it this fall. Apple picking is one of our favorite fall activities. We try to go when the Cortlands are ready - can usually Empire or Macoun at the same time. Then the baking starts!

Working on The House of the Seven Gables, but it's kind of slow going. Hope to start The Bluest Eye this week, too.

Darlene said...

I love apples and especially macs. They are my favorite. I would love to live close enough to an orchard to go apple picking. What a fun day! I can almost smell that apple pie!