Vegetables are delicious pickled, but so are fruits. Think sweet fruit in a spicy and tart marinade.

This recipe for pickled apples, to celebrate National Apple Week, came to us from U.S. Apple.

According to A Healthier Michigan, the first full week in August is National Apple Week.

We can’t find other references for this holiday; but we didn’t want to wait for October to share this recipe (National Apple Month is October and National Apple Day is October 21st).

While a year-round relish, it goes well with grilled foods and other summer fare.

Never heard of pickled apples?

Jim Bair, president and CEO of U.S. Apple, the trade association of the apple industry, had mentioned that his grandmother’s pickled apples were a childhood favorite. They “were on the table at every meal,” he said.

Alas, Jim didn’t have a copy of the recipe, but Chef Dave Martin made a fairly good copycat, and Bair gave it his seal of approval.

 
 
RECIPE: SWEET & SASSY PICKED APPLES

Ingredients For 8-12 Servings

 
Preparation

1. BRING to a boil in a medium saucepan, the vinegar, sugars, salt, cinnamon sticks, star anise, vanilla and peppercorns. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the apples and return to a boil.

2. TURN the heat to low and simmer for 6-8 minutes, until a paring knife inserted in center of apple meets a slight resistance. Stir in the dried cherries. Transfer to bowl and let cool.

3. COVER and refrigerate for at least 8 hours. Serve or at room temperature. Stored for up to one month in fridge.
 
 
WAYS TO SERVE PICKLED APPLES

Tangy pickled apples are a counterpoint to rich dishes, and:

 
 
> The History Of Apples

[1] Spiced apples, a great everyday relish or condiment (photo © U.S. Apple).

[2] Use apple cider vinegar to pickle fruits (photo © Heinz).

[3] Star anise, a great pickling spice, is harvested from an evergreen tree that is native to northeast Vietnam and southwest China (photo © Mareefe | Pexels).

[4] Cinnamon sticks—and a vanilla bean (photo © Daria Shevtsova | Pexels).

[1] S’mores Ice Cream Pie (photos #1 and #2 © Completely Delicious).

[2] A slice of the pie.

[3] S’mores popcorn and and 16 more S’mores recipes are a the right (photo © Valerie’s Home Cooking Book).

[4] How about S’mores Waffles? The recipe and 16 more are to the right (photo © Posie Harwood | King Arthur Flour).

National S’mores Day is August 10th. Take advantage of the weekend to make a scrumptious S’mores Ice Cream Pie.

This recipe, from Annalise of Completely Delicious, was sent to us by Go Bold With Butter.

There are 17 more variations on S’mores below.
 
 
RECIPE: S’MORES ICE CREAM PIE

Ingredients For The Crust

 
Ingredients For The Filling

 
Ingredients For The Topping

 
Preparation

1. MAKE the crust. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, salt and butter and press into a 9-inch pie dish. Put in the freezer while you prepare the filling. (For a frozen pie, this is a better option than baking and cooling the crust.)

2. MAKE the filling. Whisk together the sweetened condensed milk and marshmallow cream until smooth. With an electric mixer, beat the heavy whipping cream to medium peaks. Gently fold into the marshmallow mixture.

3. SPOON the filling into the pie dish. Depending on how deep your dish is, you may not need all of the filling. Freeze for at least 2 hours.

4. SPREAD the fudge sauce over the top of the pie and freeze until the pie is completely firm, at least 4 hours or overnight. When ready to serve…

5. TOP with the mini marshmallows and graham cracker pieces. For easier slicing, dip a sharp knife into hot water and wipe dry with a towel in between cuts.
 
 
MORE S’MORES RECIPES

Here are some s’mores recipes with twists that we’ve published, just a smattering of the thousands of s’mores recipes out there.

Of course, the classic graham cracker sandwich with toasted marshmallows and a piece of chocolate is perfect as is.

 
 
PLUS

*By far, Trader Joe’s graham crackers are the best. They come in a plastic box, not in a sleeve.

[1] Add your favorite ingredients to a summer panzanella. Here’s a recipe from The Wanderlust Kitchen (photo © The Wanderlust Kitchen).

[2] Panzanella is a way to turn lush summer tomatoes into a bread-and-tomato salad (photo © Baldor Specialty Foods).

Panzanella, a traditional Tuscan salad of bread and tomatoes, is delicious way to use summer’s best produce and one- or two-day-old bread, which is softened by the vinaigrette.

Panzanella originated as peasant food, but can be found at fine modern Italian restaurants and at other stylish restaurants.

But you don’t need a restaurant. You need four main ingredient types, plus whatever extras you like:

 
To turn panzanella into a main dinner dish, add a burrata, slices of prosciutto or other Italian charcuterie, cubed grilled meats or poultry, shellfish, even jammy boiled eggs.
 
> The History Of Panzanella
 

MORE PANZANELLA RECIPES

Whether or not you’ve had elote, grilled Mexican street corn, you may want to try this Italianized version.

Instead of the Mexican toppings—there are numerous options* but a popular combination is Tajin seasoning chili powder and lime juice in Mexico,

In the following recipe, the Mexican seasonings are replaced by basil pesto and sweet balsamic vinegar.
 
 
RECIPE: ITALIAN-STYLE STREET CORN

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. HEAT the grill. Place the corn on the grill, turning every few minutes until steaming, hot and tender, about 12 minutes. Meanwhile…

2. COMBINE all the ingredients except the garnish in a small bowl.

3. TRANSFER the corn to a serving plate. Brush the corn with the pesto mixture. Serve sprinkled with cheese.
 
 
> More About Pesto
 
 
> Homemade Pesto Recipe

[1] Street corn, Italian-style

[2] Keep a jar of pesto on hand. It’s a condiment, garnish and sauce (both photos © DeLallo).

*Elote topping options include butter, cotija cheese, chili powder or Tajin seasoning, lemon or lime juice, mayonnaise, sour cream and salt. You can also add seeds, especially unshelled pumpkin seeds (pepitas).

†When golden balsamic vinegar is required, you could substitute dark balsamic; but it will darken the color of the corn. White balsamic vinegar was created to use on lighter-colored food, but it could alter the appearance of the final dish (here’s more about it). If you don’t want to darken the dish or purchase white balsamic, you can substitute white wine vinegar or rice wine vinegar.

When wine in cans and boxes were first broadly available in the mid-1990s, we tried a couple and turned up our nose. At that time, we were writing about fine wine, and just didn’t find canned wines worth our focus.

But American consumers flocked to canned wines. And, when “better” winemakers realized consumers liked them, they began to can some of their own wines.

The result: Sales of canned wine have been meteoric. In 2016 alone, there was a 125% annual increase in canned wine sales over the previous year.

While the category’s sales of $14.5 million in that period is small compared to total wine sales, it was a seven-fold bump over 2012, when canned wines were less than $2 million in sales.

Two years later, in 2018, canned wine sales had doubled to $28 million. Some winemakers have since found that more than 50% of their sales can be in canned wines.
 
 
HOW MUCH IS IN A CAN?

Depending on producer, canned wine is sold in three sizes:

 
You can find wines in your favorite still wine grape varietals, in sparkling wines, and in wine coolers, depending on producer.
 
 
THE BENEFITS OF WINE IN CANS

First, let’s observe that you can pour the wine from a can into a glass (photo #1). Or you can drink from the can—with or without a straw (photo #2).

1. Non-Breakable: No glass bottle to break if you accidentally whack it (and what a mess to clean up). If you drink from the can, there’s no glass to break or wash.

2. Convenient: Easier and more lightweight to transport, and there’s no corkscrew required. Take cans to the beach, the barbecue, camping or just hanging out outdoors.

3. Portion Control: Limit yourself to one can. There’s no open bottle for refills. In another vein, when we just want a small amount of wine and don’t have an open bottle, we grab a can to drink indoors; or open a can when we need to add a couple of tablespoons to recipes, drinking the rest.

4. Environmentally Friendly: Aluminum is more likely to be recycled than glass. According to the EPA, only 26.4% of glass containers are recycled, whereas 54.9% of beer and soft drink cans get recycled. Aluminum weighs less to transport, which cuts down on carbon emissions and reduces the overall carbon footprint.
 
 
BRANDS OF CANNED WINE

Most of the canned wines are marketed under different names from the winery—or are wines canned by producers who just sell canned wine.

As exists with wine in bottles, the company that cans/bottles and sells the wine, doesn’t make necessarily make it. They may buy ready-made wine from those who do.

There are “straight” names like Brick & Mortar, Bridge Lane, Eufloria, Nomadica, omikai, Una Lou; and cheeky names that bring a smile, like Dear Mom, House Wine, The Infinite Monkey Theorem* and No Fine Print.

The designs are nice, too: from charming to quirky to fun.
 
 
Bonterra Organic Canned Wines

One acclaimed vintner that’s proud to put its name on its canned wines is Bonterra, the number-one organic winery in the U.S.

They grow the grapes, make the wine, bottle it, or alternatively, can it.

The cans are a recent development for this Mendocino County winery, which has been making organic wines for more than 30 years.

Most of the grapes they vinify are estate-grown on the vineyard’s 1,000 acres; the rest are sourced from nearby organic vineyards.

We liked their canned Rosé so much that we gave the pink cans with pretty floral illustrations as Valentine gifts.

In addition to the Rosé are cans of:

 
The 250-milliliter cans are sold in four packs for $17.99, which amounts to $6 per can.

You can easily buy them online.

For those who care about sustainability, Bonterra vineyards have been farmed organically since 1987—long before organic products were widely available in the U.S.

The name means “good earth.” The company is committed to organic farming and regenerative practices that enrich the biodiversity in their vineyards.

Here’s more about Bonterra.

Let’s hear it for canned wines.
 
 
HAVE A CANNED WINE TASTING PARTY

One of the reasons we didn’t list individual brands is that each store will have its own selection of canned wine brands.

For fun, pick up different brands and do a tasting to see which you like best.

Time for a party!

[1] Bonterra organic canned wines are sold in four-packs (photos #1 to #4 © Bonterra).

[2] You can drink canned wine from the can, with a straw, or more elegantly, from a glass.

[3] Bonterra’s trio of organic wines: Rosé, Sauvignon Blanc and Young Red.

[4] You can add fruit and make wine popsicles. How about Rosé with blood orange, or Sauvignon Blanc with grapes?

[5] When you want to monkey around: a can of The Infinite Monkey Theorem* (photo © The Infinite Monkey Theorem).

[6] When you just want the house wine (photo © The Original House Wine).

*The infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type any given text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare. Here’s more about it.