SweeTango, An Apple Lifelist Challenge and My Hot Dog Lifelist

Had my first SweeTango apple this morning. It was very good -- crisp, bright, and with a clearly identifiable and sweet flavor. It is not, however, a Honeycrisp, which remains a favorite, along with Gala, Pink Lady, Jazz Apple and, to give body to some Very Important Apple Crisps, the Granny Smith.

As someone with more than a quarter of century of concern for The Employment of Lawyers, I must report that SweeTango is the subject of litigation about its commercialization. As Ed Lotterman in the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports, it is also at the center of a public policy controversy that "...has important implications for the way we pay for and perform research and disseminate new technology in an era where taxpayers are less willing to foot the bill."

While waiting for this dispute to be resolved -- which could take a lifetime -- why not take up a Real Apple Challenge? Check out the All About Apples Variety List and set up an Apple Lifelist. Our friends who are serious Birders chart all of the birds that they have identified.

It is a modest and pleasant obsession, which I has taken me to Los Angeles (Pinks), Chicago (too many to report here), New York (Nathan's, Gray's Papaya and many pushcarts), Atlanta (The Varsity), Pennsylvania (A Chili Dog from "The O" in Pittsburgh is at right), Macon (the excellent Nu-Way), Minnesota (Chris & Rob's), and, my personal favorite, for the adventure and for the taste -- to Reindeer Sausage with Mike Anderson at the start of the 2003 Itiderod.