We got bumper crop of apples from our orchard this year. We have some late ripening storage or winter apple varieties, which should be stored a month or more before eating. I stored those outside in boxes before it got freezing and then wrapped the best ones with parchment paper or burger pockets and stored them in boxes in our cool garage. The apples have stayed juicy and crispy all this time even the garage has stayed maybe a bit too warm.

I recall the time we had a bumper crop of fresh apples.
It was the same year we had a bumper crop of peaches.
Our house was laid out in a weird old fashioned way were you traveled through a bedroom to get to another bedroom but not a shotgun house.
The fruit was stored in the middle bedroom where the the back door was and where my mom kept her African violets.
There was a small room with a bed in it as well.
It was kept empty of people and my room was in the back off to the side.
The smell was out of this world going to sleep every night with the smell of apples or peaches.

I have a few apples on the counter from the trees at my Mom's. These came from seeds in my compost many years ago, when my favorite household apple was Golden Delicious, and you can see the parentage although most of these also have a pink blush wherever the sun shines on them. But they are still really hard when picked and perhaps some of that 'storage apple' type nature.

I made some apricot squares with dried apricots left over from the fruitcake, but I only had one cup and recipe called for two. So I made up a second cup with the chopped, still hard apples. They are small, I removed the core but kept the nice looking peels on. Cooked up with the soaked apricots to make the filling. It was really good. Can't notice the peels at all, they become perfectly tender. Very apricot taste though, so I must make something apple alone, to really appreciate the flavor.