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I have been eating lemon ices from court st. pastry for 48 years and while it's nice for them to get the fame they deserve. It bothers me cause the window that I used to walk up to is now a five to ten minute wait. BTW Spumoni Gardens isn't called SPUMONI GARDENS for nothing. It's lemon ice is good but the Spumoni is among the best in the world.

Hey! Such great places you have looked! But you forgot Cange's Homemade Italian Ice in Staten Island! This tiny homemade italian ice stand cannot be overlook as simply a stand!
It has the most amazing flavors: creamlotta, spumoni, strawberry-banana swirl and an array of other flavors. They are located on: 118 Parkinson Ave., Staten Island, NY
You must visit!!

The best is Enrico's on Morris Park Ave. in the Bronx

Another good place for Italian ices is DeRobertis Patry Shop in the East Village on 1st Avenue between 10th and 11th Streets. The chocolate ice is very rich and satisfying.

My mother Fran was a renown pie-maker in Kirkland Washington. My sister and I have tried to replicate her apple pie, the likes of which we have never found since at any gourmet dinner, top restaurant or bakeoff. She piled up chunks of Gravenstein apples in her amazing pies, which oozed with buttery apple syrup created during the baking process. Gravensteins are rare, tart and bursting with flavor. She would be horrified to hear people using mushy Golden Delicious and Macintosh. Her final trick was to paint the bulging pie crust cover with a light layer of egg white. The egg whites cooked into a beautiful, very shiny, golden glow rather than sort of brown and dull crust typical of most pies. With all due respect to the commenters, nobody can beat Fran Stewart on apple pies. Gravensteins rule. If only we had written down her recipe ... and so much other wisdom.

I always use Granny Smith for pie. I find that softer apples, like Macintosh, just turn to mush and get kind of mealy. Granny Smiths will give you a nice combination of gooeyness and soft-but-solid apple slices. (p.s. Did you know Granny Smiths were first bred, by accident, in Australia by an actual grandmother whose last name was Smith?)

Wow, can't believe so many mentioned Onondaga County! I lived there for awhile before I got married, but my parents were there from '68, in Fayetteville. What a beautiful scene in the fall. My mother used Northern Spy and possibly Granny Smith for pies? She also liked Macouns (sp?) and Empire and other local apples.

I look forward to apple cider here in SE PA! Not a fan of apple juice, but love local cider.

I just watched ATK this weekend and they used Golden Delicious for a huge apple tart (gallette...sp?). I have never been fond of that apple, but it seemed to hold up well to cooking.

Oh, my goodness, Savta, do they still have cider stands beside the road in Central New York. It's been more years than I care to count (35-plus) since we lived in Syracuse, but it wasn't October without roadside cider and "fry cakes," cake doughnuts with a crunchy outside and a crumb like...what?...pound cake. It wasn't Halloween without cider and doughnuts. Thanks for the memories with that mention of Onondaga County/Lake.

I guess it depends on what you value in a pie. Do you want your apples to keep their shape? Do you want some tartness?

I personally love MacIntosh for pies and eating. They are just sooo sweet, and I don't mind that they get mushy in a pie.

I just made a pie with Fuji's, i hope it tastes good. . .

I've been using mostly granny smiths with the addition of one macintosh or other sweeter apple. I like the Grannies' firmness. Wow, how often does one get to say THAT?!

ashmead's Kernel! you may or may not find this variety, but its the best pie apple i have ever eaten! it has a brownish/burgundy russet-type skin and is usually slightly misshappen. Its outward apperance is the reason you have never seen one in a store, it looks like a sick potato!lol but its taste is out of this world! tons of pectin, crisp and holds up well to heat so you get a nice piece of apple that is firm yet has no snap. if that makes sense!?......perfect balance of tart/sweet.

Yeah; and I also remember Northern Spys -- they were my father's favorite. In the fall we used to drive to "the apple country" -- apple farms in Onondaga County. Pumpkins, cider, wide variety of just-picked apples --great memories.