Applevent, Dec 6: Haralson (sweetlandorchard.com/haralson), one of the OG UMN outputs. We loved its child Honeygold, Haralson itself is 5/10. Flesh is mid btwn crunch and soft, flavor mid btwn sweet and tang, and overall the apple is mid. Proof our apple game is improving over time!

Applevent, Dec 5: Connell Red.
7-8/10. I was really worried about this one, I despise Red Delicious. This is so juicy it should be on a Matt's Bar menu (IYKYK). Not as crisp as Frostbite, but still good. There's a vanilla note over the sweetness. I wouldn't seek this out but would buy it on sale.

Applevent, Dec 4: Honeygold (sweetlandorchard.com/honeygold). Another 8/10. Sweet, crisp (Frostbite was better), very slightly spicy. WAY better than its parent Golden Delicious and another fine example of Minnesota apple engineering. The kids loved it.

Applevent, Day 3: Northern Spy (sweetlandorchard.com/northernspy). Solid 5/10. Firm, not as crisp as Frostbite, decently juicy, nothing special on flavor, just middle-of-the-road sweet fresh apple. A good "if you use one apple for eating and cooking" kind of apple.

Applevent, Dec 2 (late): Frostbite (mnhardy.umn.edu/frostbite). Invented by my University! 8-9/10. Interesting creamy, spicy, sort of tropical flavor. Good crunch, slightly thick skin. Kinda small and was sad it was gone! Would get this one again.

Applevent, Dec 1: Bonnie Best

3/10, maybe 4/10. Neither sweet, nor crunchy, nor refreshingly tart, nor unique flavor. On a par with every conference box lunch Red Delicious I've had. You can eat it, but you shouldn't, just cook/bake with it.

Hopefully just a slow start.

All right, @shrewshrew.bsky.social , I see your jam and raise you the Minnesota apple advent calendar from @sweetlandorchard.bsky.social . Let the advent commence!

The first rule of Stroop club is that you do not read the words

Cool image from www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... . X-axis, economic adversity. Y-axis, 20 years later, propensity of that state towards "D", for personality traits associated with being generally jerkish towards others.

You kinda assume that it's high D in red states, low D in blue, but that's wrong!

Courtesy of a 13yo on spring break

When my 13yo is seeing this meme before I am,
a) I have raised that kid right
b) needs more sharing

Of course most of us are currently focused on 'please stop breaking the engine of American greatness' but let's not forget they are trying to erase our trans students, kids, and colleagues.

I find it hilarious that these are the top 10 checked out kids' books in my city. And this isn't even counting Captain Underpants.
Forget crypto, I wanna buy stock in Dav Pilkey.

I have outstanding graduate students.

TIL about running a lab in the Midwest: culinary inventions like this one, "apple pie Chex Mix". It's got fruit in it, so it's healthy! (Right in between the caramel coated grains, cinnamon pretzels, and white chocolate...)