STEW LEONARD'S WELCOMES HARVEST SEASON WITH LOCAL APPLES, PUMPKINS, AND MUMS
NORWALK, CONN., August 26, 2024 – What are the three surefire signs of fall? There’s a slight chill in the air, the leaves start to change, and Stew Leonard’s harvest favorites arrive! Apples, pumpkins, and mums will arrive at the farm fresh food retailer by mid-September from local farmers throughout New York and Connecticut, heralding in the tastes, sights, and sounds of autumn throughout the store.
Customers take a bite out of more than half of a million pounds of Stew Leonard’s apples from September through November! The most popular apple of choice is the Honeycrisp apple followed by the Gala apple. Charles Yeh, Stew Leonard’s Executive Director of Fresh Foods, says that local apples will be in full swing by mid-September.
Available in Early September:
- Zestar: An early maturing apple, these crisp and juicy apples are great for eating.
- McIntosh: These sweet and juicy apples offer a tart tang. White, tender, crisp flesh that’s spicy, highly aromatic and full of juice. A classic eating apple!
Available Mid-September:
- Gala: Sweet and juicy. A sweet, snappy, aromatic apple that is usually red and yellow striped. Great for eating and for slicing into salads.
- Honeycrisp: Just as the name sounds, these are sweet, crisp apples. Great for eating and for slicing into salads.
Available Late-September:
- Macoun: Crisp, bone white flesh, sweet tart flavor – great for eating fresh.
Although tart apples like McIntosh and Macoun add more flavor contrast to this recipe, apples such as Galas and Honeycrisps will create a slightly sweeter sauce for this ultimate cool weather dish.
Serves: 4
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
4 Stew’s Naked Boneless Center Cut Pork Chops, fat trimmed
¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
¼ teaspoon Freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. Stew Leonard’s Unsalted Butter
1 cup Thinly sliced apple (1 medium)
1 Tbsp. Packed brown sugar
½ cup chopped pecans
Directions
Season both sides of the pork chops.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced apple. Cook and stir for about 2 minutes.
Push the apples to the sides of the skillet and add the pork chops. Cook for 4 minutes, browning both sides. Flip the chops and spoon the apple slices over the top. Sprinkle with the brown sugar and pecans.
Cover and continue cooking for 2-4 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center of the pork chops registers 145°F.
Serve the pork chops with the apple slices and drizzle with any cooking juices left in the pan.
PUMPKINS
Pumpkins will start to arrive at Stew Leonard’s Garden Centers in mid-September, sourced from local pumpkin growers, including Geremia Greenhouse in Wallingford, Conn., Dzen Farms in Ellington, Conn. and Hapco Farms on Long Island. Stew Leonard’s will sell more than a half a million pumpkins this fall, including mini-pumpkins, sugar pumpkins, gourds and gourmet pumpkins! Families from all over the region will come to Stew’s Garden Centers to select their pumpkins for carving, displaying, and cooking during the harvest season.
Decorating and Cooking with Pumpkins
Not all pumpkins will be carved into jack-o-lanterns this fall. In fact, more than half of pumpkins sold this season will be of the “gourmet” variety, perfect for baking, cooking, and even decorating everything from the front stoop to a tabletop.
- Magic Lantern pumpkins are great for carving into a classic jack-o-lantern, offering a brilliant orange color and classic sturdy green stem.
- Sugar pumpkins, or “pie” pumpkins, are much smaller in size and are great for kids’ decorating projects or for use in the kitchen. Hollow them out to make festive bowls for squash or pumpkin soup.
- The tear-drop shaped Hubbard Squash weighs around 20-30lbs and has bluish-gray skin. Use Hubbard Squash as a substitute in winter squash recipes.
- The old-fashioned looking Fairytale Pumpkins average around 20-30lbs each. They have a tan outer coloring with deep orange flesh.
- Cinderella Pumpkins are 20lbs each and have bright orange-ish/red skin.
- Ghost pumpkins are all white, making for a chic decorating alternative to the classic orange. They also have an extra-spooky appeal when a candle is placed inside of a carved out one.
- An “heirloom” variety of pumpkin, Long Island Cheese pumpkins are great for making pumpkin pies. They have smooth tan skin and top out around 15lbs.
- With a rich, reddish/orange color, the Red Warty pumpkin has a bumpy exterior but a sweet and string-less flesh, making it great for eating.
Recipe: Harvest Pumpkin Chili
Hearty pumpkin and spicey chili on a cold day is the perfect comfort food to feed a family.
Servings: 6
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons Stew's 100% Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 lb. Stew's Naked Ground Turkey
1 small Yellow Onion, diced
1 heaping Tbsp. Stew's Freshly Chopped Garlic
1 Green Pepper, diced
1 small Sweet Potato, diced
15-ounce can Pumpkin Puree
1 28-ounce can SMT Diced Tomatoes
16 ounces Stew's Simply Italian Marinara Sauce
15-ounce can Stew's Dark Red Kidney Beans, drained and rinsed
15-ounce can Stew's Cannellini Beans or Stew's Organic Black Beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup water or Stew's Organic Vegetable Broth
2 tablespoons Stew's Chili Powder
2 teaspoons Ground Cumin
2 teaspoons Stew's Smoked Paprika
1/2 tablespoon Stew's Garlic Powder
1/2 tablespoon Stew's Onion Powder
1/4 teaspoon Stew's Ground Cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons Stew's Kosher Salt
For serving: Stew's Shredded Cheddar Cheese, Stew's Sour Cream, sliced Green Onions, Stew's Sweet Potato or Multigrain Tortilla Chips
Directions
In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the ground turkey and let brown slightly. Then add the onion, garlic, green pepper, and sweet potato, and cook for 8 - 10 minutes until the onion is translucent and the sweet potatoes are almost tender.
Add the pumpkin puree, diced tomatoes and their juices, tomato sauce, drained and rinsed beans, water or vegetable broth, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cinnamon, and kosher salt.
Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 -20 minutes until the sweet potato is tender.
Taste and add a few pinches of kosher salt if desired. Serve warm, garnished with your favorite chili toppings.
From vibrant pinks and purples to rusty oranges and reds, mums offer a pop of autumnal color to your garden, front porch, and more! Stew Leonard’s mums come directly from our local growers, including DeFrancesco Farms and Geremia Farms in Connecticut as well as Plainview Growers in New Jersey.
Here are just a few of Stew Leonard’s most asked questions about mums:
What color will this mum be?
It’s almost impossible to say what color a mum will be unless you see the fully opened flower. The bud may be a bit deceptive! Look for a mum that has at least one bloom fully opened to get an idea of the color.
When should I plant my mums?
The best time to plant mums is right after you purchase it. When planting mums, do not overcrowd them as they require good air circulation, which will prevent the chance of disease. Mums don’t like to dry out, so make sure to water every day if it is planted in the ground. If the mum is potted, then you may have to water more than once a day as wind can dry the pots out quicker.
When should I trim back the blooms?
Mums will usually have two to three sets of flowers. Planted mums should be trimmed three times during the growing season to keep the plant compact and shaped nicely. Potted mums won’t need much trimming; just clip off flowers that are burnt or brown if you have new buds on the way.
Can mums survive a frost?
Yes, but the flowers that are in bloom may get burnt. If that happens, remove the burnt ones so the next flush can bloom.
AROUND THE STORE…
In addition to fresh apples in Stew’s produce department, bins of pumpkins and potted mums in the Garden Shop, Stew Leonard’s has a variety of seasonal treats available throughout the store. Bethy’s Bakery offers apple cider donuts, Dutch apple pie, apple crumb cake, apple crisp, apple fritters, and apple cider walnut bread. Plus, Stew Leonard’s Apple Cider comes directly from apples grown in the Hudson Valley. Pumpkin flavor can also be found in bagels, donuts, pie, bread, crumb cake and mini-muffins, as well as in frozen yogurt and coffee. (Selection may vary by store.)
Stew Leonard’s, a family-owned and operated fresh food store founded in 1969, has eight stores in Norwalk, Danbury, and Newington, Conn.; in East Meadow, Farmingdale & Yonkers, N.Y.; and in Clifton & Paramus, N.J. Stew’s earned its nickname, the “Disneyland of Dairy Stores” because of its country-fair atmosphere, with costumed characters and animated entertainment throughout the store that keep children entertained while parents shop. Stew Leonard’s legion of loyal shoppers is largely due to the stores’ passionate approach to customer service: “Rule #1 -- The Customer is Always Right”; Rule #2 – If the Customer is Ever Wrong, Re-Read Rule #1.” This principle is so essential to the foundation of the company that it is etched in a three-ton granite rock at each store’s entrance. The company’s culture is built around an acronym for S.T.E.W.: Satisfy the customer; Teamwork gets it done; Excellence makes it better; WOW makes it fun. For more information, visit Stew Leonard’s website at www.stewleonards.com.