Apple ABCs By Jennifer Halsey

When it comes to apple season, one might think of fall instead of spring. But at the Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton last Wednesday, the weather outside did not deter Jennifer Halsey, owner of the Milk Pail in Water Mill, from bringing in a bushel of ripe and ready-to-eat apples for “An Everyday Guide To Apples” discussion, complete with taste tests and demonstrations, for the library’s monthly “Memorable Meals” program.

To begin the program, Ms. Halsey explained the many facets of apple farming.

“We harvest from August through November and then put apples into cold storage units to keep them fresh for later in the season,” she said. “Though farming is an old tradition, we keep up with all of the latest technology that allows us to grow a more economically viable product and we’re also green—nothing, and I mean nothing, goes to waste. Even our donuts, the apple cider donuts too, when they’re a day old, even those go to the birds. It keeps them off our crop,” she laughed.

Keeping up with what’s new is important to the family farmer, she said. Between this year and last, Ms. Halsey noted, 25 different hybrid apples were pumped into the agricultural market. This year, she noted, there was a particularly bountiful harvest.

“We had an absolutely beautiful harvest last year, the weather cooperated and everything came out tasting great,” she said. “Interestingly enough, when you go from spring to fall, that also changes the flavor of the apples.”

At the Wednesday afternoon lecture, Ms. Halsey set up quite the spread: a smattering of hybrid apples sliced thick for taste tests, gallons of apple cider, wedges of Vermont cheddar cheese to cut the sweetness of some varieties and hearty wedges of succulent apple cake to bring it right back around again. In between brief questions by the audience, mouths were full and mumbled sounds of satisfaction were common, especially when the apple cake was passed around.

Making the most use of her audience, Ms. Halsey also passed out questionnaires, which asked participants to rate the appearance, texture and flavor quality of the hybrid apples she was considering growing for the next upcoming harvest. Most of the apples were blends of untitled origins—names such as No. 186, No. 805, No. 169—with well-known varieties like honeycrisp and gala. The apples provided for the taste tests ranged from tart and firm to soft and sweet and some were heavy with the flavors of honey.

“When I saw the honeycrisp/No. 169 blend,” Ms. Halsey said, holding up a giant red apple speckled with green and yellow tones, “I thought, ‘gosh, no one will want to eat this because it’s just an ugly-looking apple.’ But let me tell you, it is one of my favorites and it is sweeter than you’d think at first glance. Programs like this are important because it gives people a chance to try something they might not otherwise.”

Questions posed by the audience also gave Ms. Halsey an opportunity to provide tips and tricks for cooking with apples, how to best preserve apples brought home from the market, or from The Milk Pail’s U-Pick and she even offered an insider’s glance into the world of crop protection.

She also dispelled some notions on cooking with apples, at least according to her preferences.

“There’s a common misconception that only some apples are good for baking or making applesauce with and so forth. But really, I’ve found that throwing all different types of apples together, into any recipe that calls for them, makes the result all the more delicious.”

The applesauce that she brought along to the “Memorable Meals” program—dark in color thanks to keeping the skins on and dousing with cinnamon—requires zero sugar, as the apples Ms. Halsey blends for her homemade applesauce are sweet enough on their own, she said. Processed and mashed using a Foley Food Mill, the texture was smooth.

The recipe for the apple cake, which was passed around to program participants, originated after a customer came into The Milk Pail looking for “seconds,” or discarded apples from the orchard. Ms. Halsey said. She struck up a conversation with the woman and soon learned that the seconds would be used in an apple cake. Not long thereafter, the customer returned with a wedge of her baking and the rest was history.

“This cake is to die for,” said Ms. Halsey.

With a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University, and a specialization in pomology—the study of apples—Ms. Halsey has spent many an hour dedicating herself to the scientific side of protecting her crops. For example, she explained at the program, thanks to internet technology, she is able to monitor weather patterns (too much or too little rain is troublesome) and the possible threat of incoming infection.

“I can actually go online and see the exact arrival of apple scab, a fungus infection, and if and when insects might swarm and possibly destroy the crop. I can even determine the optimal growing days based on temperature,” she said.

In addition to her educational background, Ms. Halsey credited her family farming lineage, which dates back to the early settlement days on the East End, circa 1640, for her apple acumen. She said that 11 generations of Halsey farmers (most recently her parents, John and Evelyn) have tilled the land here. The first family farms were based around Water Mill, Bridgehampton and nearby Mecox Bay long before Ms. Halsey took over the reins of her family’s farm and apple orchard.

Upon their parents’ retirement, Jennifer and her sister, Amy Halsey, who also owns and operates Amy’s Flowers, decided to take over from their parents and bought The Milk Pail outright. Though the sisters work in tandem to ready their crops and prepare accoutrements—including cheeses, jams and honey, pancake mixes, fudge and maple sugar candy, pies and their serially popular donuts (which Ms. Halsey said rival East Hampton’s Dreesen’s Famous Donuts), originated from a recipe by their great-grandmother—it’s the 26 varieties of apples that keep East End residents flocking to the farm.

Rogers Memorial Library Publicity Programs Assistant Laura Moore was busy passing out samples during the lecture and helping to keep the event coordinated, but she said she greatly enjoys the library’s “Memorable Meals” series.

“It really makes you aware of what’s out there in our community,” she said. “We support local businesses by attending functions like this and we bring the information home, maybe prepare a meal for our family because of it. And when you have someone like Jennifer, who is a true connoisseur of apples, really, you’re just adding pages to your own cookbook.”

According to Rogers Memorial Library Department of Adult Programs Director Penny Wright, the “Memorable Meals” program has remained a popular one since its inception approximately a year ago.

“We see such a diverse audience of participants ... Many people love to cook, and cooks love to eat, so we’re able to provide participants with an opportunity to learn something more about the foods that interest them and of course, take home recipes and learn a new skill or two,” she said. “It’s a nice community builder.”