dsmWeekly - September 18, 2024

Whether you prefer tart, sweet, red or green, there's an apple out there for you. Visit our website to see a handy guide for picking the best. (Photo: Max Böhme)

FOOD & DINING

Crunch time in the orchard
Writer: Barbara Mack

Editor’s note: Every fall when apple season arrives, the dsm staff opens up our cupboard of archived stories and pulls out the following classic by the late Barbara Mack. She taught a generation of journalism students at Iowa State University and knew something about almost everything, including food and how to cook it. This story, which we originally published in 2007, is still as fresh and crisp as anything you could pluck from a tree.

There isn’t a shred of evidence. There’s no proof whatsoever. No one knows who started the nasty rumor. No one knows what fruit it was that poor, benighted Eve offered Adam. Genesis tells us it was the fruit of the tree of knowledge, and some poor blighter, who couldn’t paint a pomegranate or a plum, decided it had to have been an apple.

Alas, we’ve been taking apples for granted ever since.

They aren't curious and new, as are carambola (starfruit) or kiwi. They aren't delicate and perishable, as are raspberries or figs. And because they're available year-round (even if they were harvested last September), we treat them with far too little respect.

But it's time, truly time, to get to know your apples.

Apples have been our companions for millennia. The fruit probably originated in what is now Kazakhstan, and the apple's taste and longevity made it a natural traveling companion. Fruits from seeds in apple cores began to sprout in China, Syria, Turkey, Greece and Rome. Apple fragments have been found in Iron Age settlements in Switzerland.

The Romans loved apples; historian Pliny the Elder described 20 varieties of apples growing in Roman orchards. The Roman army took apples on its conquests, and apples were growing in Britain by the first century.

Colonists brought apples to America in the early 1600s, and Thomas Jefferson was breeding apples at Monticello in the late 1700s.

It's because they're perfect. Truly perfect.

Apples are a fine snack. They should be tucked in every lunch bag, box or bucket. Schools and employers should be giving them to students and employees and charging $5 for a candy bar.
Some thoughtful people do give away apples. The Gateway Hotel and Conference Center in Ames keeps bowls of Granny Smith apples around the premises, inviting guests to have a better nighttime snack than cookies.

Even the apples available in June and July, which were likely harvested the previous fall, still have good nutritional value and fiber. But now ... yes now ...

This year's apple harvest is about to begin.

Read the full story to learn about the origins of the Red Delicious (from Madison County) and the Honeycrisp (from the University of Minnesota), a pork loin recipe with apple brandy, a pound cake recipe with apples and Grand Marnier, the spicy Dutch translation of “Kruidenier,” and so much more.

After grabbing a bite to eat, settle in at the main stage to see performances all weekend. (Photo: Latino Heritage Festival)

BEST BET

Viva la fiesta!

Western Gateway Park transforms into a cultural hotspot full of sights, sounds and flavors of the Latino Heritage Festival. On Saturday and Sunday, watch performances from the Escaramuza equestrian riders, Aztec dancers, mariachi and more, all in a flurry of colorful traditional clothing. You can also find cultural education and civic engagement booths to learn more about the Latino community in Central Iowa, who will represent a total of 22 countries during the festivities. And when you get hungry? Stop by one of two dozen food vendors for south-of-the-border specialties.

If you’re hungry for even more, remember: The inaugural Iowa Latino Restaurant Week runs through Saturday, with 22 participating restaurants offering deals for lunch (two for $25) and dinner (two for $50). See the list of restaurants and menu items online.

The Week Ahead

Beaverdale Fall Festival (5-9 p.m. Friday, 8:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday): The neighborhood goes all out for its annual autumnal shindig with a carnival, parade, food stands and live music.

Winefest’s Grand Tasting (6-9 p.m. Friday): This year’s event at the Hotel Fort Des Moines features wine tastings, gourmet food from local restaurants like 801 Chophouse, Prime & Providence and Django, and live entertainment. Tickets are available online.

Art on the Lake (11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday): View and create art for free at Copper Creek Lake Park in Pleasant Hill. The festival showcases more than 50 artists, plus local musicians, food vendors and activities for kids.

Jazz at Caspe Terrace (2 p.m. Sunday): Two New York City musicians, trombonist Steve Davis and pianist Andrea Domenici, take the next turn in the ongoing jazz series in the intimate recital hall at Caspe Terrace in Waukee. Meet them both during a dessert reception after the show.

Garlic Fest (1-5 p.m. Sunday): Head out to Grade A Gardens in Earlham to celebrate the tasty allium with live music, food, beer, hayrides, a corn maze — and not a vampire in sight.

COMMUNITY

Crowdfunded art: ARTSwork announced another MicroGrant Dinner Sept. 26 at West End Architectural Salvage to raise funds to help accelerate new art projects. During the dinner, catered by Gateway Market, five local creatives will pitch their ideas. Afterward, guests will vote on their favorite project, and the winner will receive the sum of the ticket sales as a startup fund. This year’s participating entrepreneurs are Tina Campbell, Kristy Evans, Jeremiah LaBresh, Aaron Earl Short and Aniekanabasi White. Tickets are available online.

The White Eagle Pow Wow honors the late Ralph Moisa III and celebrates multiculturalism. (Photo: Jerry Rodriguez)

PEOPLE & COMMUNITY

White Eagle Pow Wow returns to Jester Park

The 25th annual White Eagle Multicultural Pow Wow returns this weekend to Jester Park. Although most pow wows are primarily for Native Americans, this one is open to the general public “to mend the sacred hoop of life by bringing the community together and celebrating our differences,” according to the event’s website. A full schedule of performances — music, dance, stories and more — is set for Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the county park in Granger.

Ralph Moisa Jr. and his wife, Carol, of West Des Moines started the annual tradition as a way to memorialize their son, Ralph Moisa III, who died in 1995 and received the name White Eagle from a Meskwaki elder who spoke at his funeral. Shortly after his death, his father, a member of the Yaqui Nation with roots in Arizona, wrote the following story as a tribute.

“Red Tale”
By Ralph Moisa Jr.

His mother and I taught him for over 19 years. Till the day he left to walk his own road. He was always tugging at the strings, wanting to go just a little further than we thought he should. But the day had come, and he left.

I wondered at what kind of man he would become. I saw the things he was doing and was proud for most of them. I accepted what I did not understand as his own way of using the thoughts and tools given to him by his elders.

Even in the face of oppression, he stood tall in his Indian pride and would not be silenced by his teachers or his school. I saw him stand up to two carloads of young men shouting obscenities at our race and family. I saw his anger as someone drove by our home and shot out the window in our car. I thought I should have prepared my young better, to know that being an Indian in the city meant having a strong sense of fortitude. But also that being one of only a handful will make us a target for any idiot.

We hoped that he would grow to understand and be a leader among our people. Perhaps to one day teach the ignorant and, in so doing, protect our very young and very old from unbridled racism.

I do not know what thoughts were going through his head when he made his morning walk. Maybe he remembered his mother nursing young animals found disturbed from their nest, giving them life and returning them to their home in nature. Maybe he remembered our talks on the sacredness of our winged family members — the Hawk, the Eagle.

Whatever the reason, he saw a hawk in need and tried to help his winged brother. So he climbed to the top of the power line to do what he could. Did he know the danger? Yes. He climbed them for a living. He knew the power surging through the transformers and wires. I will never know why he did not ask for help. Perhaps there wasn’t time for that.

December 5, 1995.

The coroner said, “They both died at the same moment.” It looks like he was working the hawk’s foot free when the bird became startled and spread its wings. The tips made contact with the bare lines and thousands of volts went through them both.

I remember the service. We put the hawk on our son’s chest, with his wings spread in an embrace that would keep them in our memories forever. Hundreds came that day, including many we didn’t know.

It seems our hopes were met. He walks in places we cannot yet go. He has taught many.