Apple and Sharp Cheddar Paninis

Something about living somewhere where actual seasons happen, after spending your whole life in a place where the only two settings are sunny and sunnier, makes you realize how much you’ve missed in life.

Up until I lived in Philadelphia I had never owned a proper winter coat. I had never experienced what it was like to have your whole body be uncomfortably warm from the extensive scarf-hoodie-boots bundling and yet have your face still completely frozen off from the wind.

I never knew what real fall was. Or real spring. I didn’t know how different each season could smell. I didn’t know how much one person could grow to hate that stupid awful horrible month of February where you can’t understand why winter was ever invented and why in the heck it JUST KEEPS GOING ON AND ON AND ON.

Among all these things I never knew or did, there was apple picking.

Now, some people may think that apple picking is for children. Well… Okay, it is.

BUT. It can also be for adults. I swear. A totally acceptable activity for a 20 something year old to do with their parents.  

When my parent’s came to visit me one fall weekend Senior year, I made this very argument. They gave in without too much of a fight—the power of being an only child I suppose—and we drove about an hour outside of Philly until we found ourselves surrounded by orchards and fields of oranges and reds and yellows.

The apple orchard we finally stopped in was filled with people, mostly children. 

I chose to ignore this.

We have a vegetable garden at home, this was nothing like that. It was enormous and foreign. Rows and rows of trees, all marked with the different apple varieties. In my little California world there were ever only two kinds—the red ones and the green ones. So this was news to me.

There was just something amazing about picking one right off the tree, wiping it off with the hem of my dress, and hearing that crisp crunch as I bit into it. There’s nothing like standing in an endless row of green with apples trampled into the ground, fermenting into the grass all around you. 

And yes, kids like it too. Mostly because they could climb the trees, which, fair play kids, I would too if I wasn’t clearly way past the age where apple picking is still socially acceptable, let alone tree climbing.

There is also nothing like coming home to an apartment warmed by a slightly busted radiator, standing in the kitchen in your fall sweater and socks peeling apples for a pie or slicing them for a Panini like this.

I’m not standing next to a slightly busted radiator. Nor am I wrapped up in a fall sweater. I did not pick these apples—not this time anyway. I’m in my sun-warmed kitchen in the middle of a warm California October wearing my torn off denim shorts.

But, it’s okay folks. It doesn’t matter where you are. This Panini will still taste darn delicious. 

Apple and Sharp Cheddar Paninis

Serves 2

1 apple (I used a granny smith green apple), cored and sliced

3-4 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded

4 thick-cut slices of good bread

butter

Butter the outsides of each slice of bread. Assemble sandwiches—lay shredded cheddar on the unbuttered side, then layer the apple on top. Close sandwich so that both buttered sides face out.

Place in a Panini maker or in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side or until cheese is melted and bread is golden in color. Serve immediately.