new for us friday: the red apple taste test

This New For Us Friday we’re sharing a simple—but fun!—experiment of sorts.

It’s a little ‘learning-in-the-kitchen’ meets ‘science experiment’ meets ‘problem-solver’, all in the name of those round and juicy (and in this case) red apples.

We all walk by them each week at the grocery store, but how many of us really know the difference between the Gala and the Braeburn?

Why do we habitually reach for the Red Delicious when the Pinata might actually be more delicious?

What about the Jazz? Is it really worth all the hype?

This week, we treated ourselves to an old-fashioned taste test, featuring none other than the red apple.

Which came out on top? Who is our favorite apple—and why?

Here’s the  skinny. . .

The Red Apple Taste Test: 

Really, this New for Us Friday was born a long time ago, a cousin of our very first New For Us Friday evah: The Pear-Off.

That’s right. The end of May 2009 was the debut of our first NFUF, and we taste-tested pears. Love it.

Three years later, we’re finally getting around to apples. In a major way.

We sliced a whole lot of apples. . .

. . . and we voted on every one.

It started with our Grapple New For Us Friday and a conversation I had with my pal Jessica.  She told me that her family had taste-tested apples, and I wondered why we had never done the same.  She spoke highly of the Pinata. I had never. Tried. The Pinata.

(I had never even heard of the Pinata.)

What were we missing? We needed to find out.

 

our taste-test in action

So Cora and I hit the grocery store while Maddy and Owen were at school, and we bought two of every red apple we could find.  We grabbed the Braeburn, the Fuji, the Jazz, and the Gala.  We bought the Red Delicious and the Pinata.

As our after school snack on Friday, I said, Okay, my friends, today is a big day. We are having the taste-test of all taste-tests.  We are going to figure out which of the many red apples reigns as the absolute best red apple. 

We’re going to try six types of apples, and we’re going to vote on each.  Each apple has a card, and you all have stickers to vote for each.  The blue sticker with your initial on it is the one you will use to show you like the apple, and the orange sticker with your initial on it is the one you will use to show you dislike the apple.  I’ll write down what we think, and then we’ll figure out which apple has the most ‘likes’.  Who’s ready?  

They all were, so we got to the rough work of tasting.

We:

• washed all of the apples;
• put the apple name sticker on an index card;
• sliced one apple at a time;
• passed the other apple (same kind) around so we could smell, feel, and hold it;
• each tasted one slice of the apple;
• waited a minute as we chewed and then called out what we thought;
• wrote down descriptions on the index card;
• voted, by putting either the ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ sticker on the card.

And in the end, we decided that overall, the Jazz and Pinata were our favorites for their crisp, sweet, and juicy flavors–which was interesting because we always bought Gala apples!

Move over, Gala. . . hell-O, Jazz and Pinata!

We had a whole lot of feedback and bellies full o’ apples.

But the real fun was had later in the week when the kids asked for apples–unlabeled apples.

We used our index cards to figure out which apples they were actually eating.  We added to our feedback cards and tried to be the first to figure out the apple mystery, using our taste-test memories and voting cards.

Fun.

Maddy figures out which apple she was eating–it was the Jazz!

And that’s that–just a little afternoon of new-for-us taste-testing in the name of learning and fun!

Next up for us: the green apple taste-test! Happy apple tasting!

 

Check out a few other posts that may help you develop strong and healthy habits for your family:

• wait time
• my day, your day
• frozen peas
• kids who rock the kitchen
• kids who rock the laundry
• rest time
• gem jars
• arm circles
• noticing kids
• homework routine

 

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