Apple edens - best apple regions of the west - includes apple recipes

A seasonal celebration of the West's best apple regions - plus a bushel of apple recipes and a grower's guide to the antique apples best suited to your garden

No fruit is more fundamental, more mythical, or more maligned than the apple. It is the source of all knowledge and the cause of our banishment from Eden. It has been credited with giving Isaac Newton the idea for gravity and Steve Jobs the idea for the home computer. And it is the obligatory staple of school lunch boxes the year round, usually in the form of a tasteless, mushy orb that children would rather deposit on their teacher's desk than munch.

But a fresh apple in season transcends all that. Bite into an impossibly sweet Golden Delicious or a mouth-puckering Newtown Pippin in September and you will never take apples for granted again.

If you are on the road this fall, consider a drive into Oregon's Hood River Valley and California's Apple Hill, two of the West's finest apple-growing regions, or any of 18 other apple countries. No time to make a trip? No problem: we bring the regions to you with apple-country recipes for pie, cake, butter, and chutney. And if all this talk about apples makes you long for an orchard in your backyard, turn to page 90 for advice on the antique apple varieties that grow best in your area.

Hood River Valley, Oregon

Driving along Interstate 84 an hour east of Portland, you could zip right past the rich volcanic valley to the south and notice nothing more than a river tumbling out of the hills and into the Columbia. But about a mile up the Hood River Valley, the vista opens to reveal the vast orchards that make this Oregon's largest fruit-growing district.

Most of the trees in the valley produce winter pears, accounting for almost a third of the U.S. crop. But the Hood River area has been in the commercial apple business for 121 years, and its growers currently harvest about 33 million pounds of apples annually, including the best Newtown Pippins on the planet.

Much of the fruit from the Hood is destined for commercial markets at home and abroad, so most of the apples are picked on the green side (important for long-term cold storage). But a few stands harvest fruit a little closer to ripe since they know they'll sell it immediately. Ask when you buy, or better yet, try it. Fruit that's too green will taste a little starchy, but fruit that's been picked at its peak will make you glad you turned off the interstate.

OUTSTANDING STANDS

All the stands listed here let you sample different kinds of apples free - some sell cider and pie, too. To reach the area from Portland, take 1-84 east to State Highway 35, turn south, and follow the directions on the map at right. For a free guide to the Hood River Valley's many farms, call (800) 366-3530. To preview the valley on-line, go to http://www.gorge.net/hrccc.

1. Wicklund Orchards. Pearl Wicklund has been selling Hood River Valley fruit since 1955, first in Portland, then direct from her orchard. Her packing shed, about 3 miles south of I-84, is loaded with bins of apples and pears, and is absolutely mouse-free - her many cats see to that. 1860 Highway 35; (541) 386-3888.

2. Rasmussen Farms. U-pick pumpkins, a corn maze, and sunflowers supplement Dollie and Lynn Rasmussen's fruit business. They buy from neighbors in the valley, and offer a few special events through the season. Stop at their Pear Party September 20 and 21, and choose from more than 12 kinds of apples and 18 varieties of pears. 3020 Thomsen Rd.; (541) 386-4622.

3. McCurdy Farms. Selling from a quaint, shake-roofed picker's cabin, Heather Blaine-McCurdy and Craig McCurdy, both of whom grew up in the Hood River apple business, raise 98 percent of what they sell. McCurdy's offers 25 varieties of apples, and its apple-cider slushies are the hottest ice-cold drink in the valley. 2080 Tucker Rd.; (541) 386-1628.

4. River Bend Farm & Country Store. Part country store, part canning kitchen, part fruit stand, and part organic vegetable and flower farm, River Bend's weathered old store is named for its location on a bend in Hood River. Neighbors grow the apples, but River Bend makes its own 3-pound apple pies and preserves (everything from sweet huckleberry to tangy raspberry-rhubarb). Stop for a picnic under the trees. If you hurry, you might still catch Apple Days on August 23 and 24. 2363 Tucker; (541) 386-8766.

5. Draper's Farm. When Roman Braun left his California aerospace job behind in 1962, he and his wife, Ann, decided to buy an orchard in Hood River Valley. That put them immediately into the fruit-stand business, and they've been there ever since. Now their daughter, Theresa, with her family, runs the operation, which is about a mile north of the town of Mount Hood. Because Draper's is 1,000 feet higher than the town of Hood River, its season starts September 1. (In general, varieties in the upper valley mature about two weeks later than those in the lower valley.) Draper's also does a booming business in homemade cider, honey from its own bees, and fall prunes, plums, peaches, and pears. 6200 Highway 35; (541) 352-6625.