"apple" news and stories

Photo: whitneyinchicago, Flickr.

Ever the apex of comfort, we love how this darling apple pie truly wears its heart on its sleeve. The rustic imperfections of a home-baked pie only add to the appeal, especially with efforts made so lovingly -- and rightfully so, to blogger/baker Whitney in Chicago, who put this together for her boyfriend on their anniversary. Because really, what could possibly be more comforting than gooey apple pie?

Although everyone enjoys a white-tablecloth dinner celebration now and then, we'd like to know what you prefer: a relaxed, home-cooked meal or dinner at the nearest fancy restaurant? Argue your case in the comments. We might be tempted to kick off our shoes and indulge in a night in, if presented with options as visually appealing as this one.

Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot at having your photos featured in Feast Your Eyes.

Bratwurst. Photo: Keaggy.com.

A few of the best stories spied elsewhere on the Web this week:

Grillwalkers are the newest street-food trend in Germany. Vendors with propane canisters strapped to their backs and grills suspended from their necks sell freshly grilled sausages to passersby.

U.K. man finds an apple that's perfectly split, half green and half red. Experts say that the odds of finding an apple with such perfect symmetry are more than 1 million to one.

Nationwide, restaurants participate in Share Our Strength's Great American Dine Out to benefit child hunger through Sep. 27.

Someone left a bacon bookmark in a U.K. library book; it was found by a librarian/artist who added it to his collection of quirky items left in returned books.

Coming to an office near you: Del Monte has a new line of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables specifically designed to work in vending machines.

Photo: www.houstonhotsauce.com

September might be halfway over and autumn imminent, but that doesn't mean the fall food fun has to end. Here's a selection of September food fests across the country.

Nappanee Apple Festival, Nappanee, Ind., Sept. 17-20: Apple season is upon us. Many are headed to pick-your-own orchards. This festival includes an apple-peeling contest, apple bake-off, pie-eating contest and the world's largest baked apple pie, weighing in at 600 pounds and a whopping 7 feet across. There's a daily lumberjack show, too.

The Houston Hot Sauce Festival, Houston, Sept. 19-20: Hot sauce festivals are on fire! Nationwide, they're popular, chilehead blow-outs. Attendees can sample and purchase a plethora of sauces, chiles and dry rubs. Don't forget to vote in the People's Choice for the Hottest Hot Sauce at this ninth annual festival.

Over the weekend, I ate the best pancakes of my life. I headed to CT with friends, and we had pancakes BOTH mornings. Sunday morning, I tasted the most delicious blueberry pancakes that you can imagine -- the taste and fluffiness were beyond what I thought a pancake could achieve. So I was already on a pancake high when I returned to the internet Sunday night to find TWO WHOLE blog posts on fruit pancakes. It made me even more excited to start experimenting with these types of recipes at home. Here are some from around the web that look particularly tasty:

1. Apple Pancakes from Smitten Kitchen

2. How to add fruit to pancakes post from Baking Bites

3. Whole-wheat pumpkin pancakes from Pinch My Salt (not a fruit, but so mouth-watering!)

4. Pineapple orange pancakes from All Recipes

5. Oven pear pancake from Real Simple

6. Vegan blueberry pancakes from Epicurious

7. Oatmeal raspberry pancakes with berry coulis from My Recipes

8. Spiced banana pancakes from Post Punk Kitchen

It's a common question: How can I turn my iPhone into a virtual glass of beer that I can fake drink to impress my slightly moronic, non-iPhone owning friends?

Until recently, there were two answers. Last year, magician Steve Sheraton began selling just such an application called iBeer from his own website. So imagine his rage when, after the launch of official iPhone App Store in July of this year, he discovered that Coors was offering a similar simulated beer drinking experience to iPhone users for free to promote their Carling brand.

Looks like the Coors app, called iPint, is being called an iKnock-Off, as Hottrix (who owns the rights to Sheraton's program) is suing Coors for a whopping $12.5 million dollars... or approximately 2.5 million "real" beers.

If that figure seems excessive, keep in mind the accusers say that iPint has been downloaded over 6 million times since its launch and both programs ranked in the top 10 of their respective categories of either free or paid app downloads.

I have an idea, guys. Why don't we all just sit down and settle this like men over a real beer?

[via The Age]

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