An apple a day...

It hit this week. No. I'm not talking about Hurricane Gustov or Ike. I'm talking about my craving for apples...specifically caramel apples. The craving came earlier than usual this year. Normally it hits when the weather turns 'fallish' and there is a nip in the air in the mornings. It's really the only time of the year I eat apples. You see. I'm only a fan of them when they're covered in a thick, sticky, gooey substance that has enough bad ingredients in it to cancel out all the good ones the apple provides.

This fall finds Bullet Hole particularly under the gun. Between work, college courses, writing, family, and home improvement projects run amok, finding the time to unwrap all those plastic covered caramels, stand watch over the pan while they melt to keep them from scorching and burning, washing the apples and spearing them, then dipping them in the melted caramel & placing them on the waxed paper seemed way too much of a time investment. Ready-made seemed infinitely more attractive. The only problem? Since said craving hit early, there were no caramel apples to be found.

I know. I know. You're all thinking, why doesn't she just buy one of those containers of caramel apple dip. Right? Did I mention I'm somewhat picky about the caramel that goes on my apples? The dipping type is...wetter. Drippier. Shinier. It's just not the same as the caramel you find on the apple. A close second to the caramels you melt is the 'wrapple'--premade flat circles of caramel you buy in packages of six and basically wrap around the apple, stab a popsicle stick through the center, and put in the microwave for 35 seconds. Those are pretty darned good.

So the other day I go in search of apples and 'wrapples'. Since I'm also picky about the apple that goes under the caramel--tart, but not too tart & juicy, but not too juicy--I stopped at the grocery store to pick out the apples. The checker at the store smiled at me as she checked out my lone purchase.

"Going healthy, I see," she said.

I smiled back at her.

"An apple a day...!" I replied.

Apples in hand, I headed to the local Walmart. The last time I'd been to the store I'd noticed the caramel apple wraps. The fresh fruit is the first thing you see when you come in the door and the fruit dips are all right there. I'd even noticed the price of the caramel wraps my previous visit: one dollar and twenty-seven cents. A real bargain.

I walk in the store door and my gaze moves to the end cap where the 'wrapples' were previously and my spirits sank. The shelf was empty. Not one wrapple to be found. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

I wanted to weep.

Or swear.

Half a dozen apples and no wrapples.

So, my steps took me--yes--to the dipping kind of caramel.

And the only kind they had was low fat.

I should have known somebody would find a way to make me eat healthy.

Are there any 'treats' you especially look forward to in the fall? If so, do share. (And feel free to provide recipes!)

~Bullet Hole Bacus who thinks pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting are beginning to sound yummy~