A day of apples ♥

Hello Friends!

 

 

As you can see from the picture above I have been enjoying my cozy Saturday October mornings.  After crazy-busy weeks I look forward to the slow pace of the weekends more than you can imagine.

 

 

This past week my mother had to go into the hospital to have surgery. Thank God she is recovering beautifully and came home today! The word home takes on a new meaning when you are away from it.  And suddenly it becomes even better when you get there ♥

 

 

I took both of these photos from my mother's hospital window.

I knew in my heart that she was being taken care of and I felt at peace ♥

 

 

 

She's doing great and very thankful to be home.  It's no fun in there. 

 

 

And now back to your regular scheduled programming.....  

 

 

The first Friday in October we always reserve for our trip to the apple orchid.  John had a half day of school so we met up with some friends and headed to the farm. 

The weather was nice, still warm but not too hot. I would have preferred it a bit cooler, but I'm not complaining : ) 

 Off we go....

John and I know that Rob loves Macon apples so that's what we were hunting for.  

We found them and they were huge!  

Eating them right off the trees. 

This is real life...:)

 

After a while we filled our bag.  I was dreaming of apples pies the whole time! 

Walking back through the orchard to the country store we came upon some friends. 

And some gorgeous mums! I came home with one of these. 

And a pumpkin of course.

John picked out a little one for his desk.  

I'm always curious about these jellies and relishes but I've never bought one.  

Candy apples on the other hand... YUM! 

The Halloween train is our favorite!

We like to linger around the table and look for all the spooky details. 

 

Boo!

 

Halloween is coming! Do you have your costume yet? 

Now with so many apples in the house I have to think up things to do with them all.  I'll be making pies and freezing them for the holidays and I know I want to make my mom's

 

apple swirl cake. 

 

 

It has orange juice in the batter and is absolutely delicious! (click here if you want the recipe)

 

 

Tonight on a whim I decided to make a quick batch of apple sauce.  Have you ever made homemade applesauce?  Its easy-peasy and taste so fresh!

Are you having pork chops for dinner tonight? If so, please make this apple sauce to go with them.  It's a must!

Start with 4 medium size apples. Peel and chop into chunks. 

Put them in a large sauce pan with  1 cup of water.  Heat over med-high until boiling. 

Reduce to simmer and cook for about 10 minutes. 

 

 

Stir in 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, and 1 tbsp. butter.  Simmer for a few more minutes until all the flavors are incorporated.  Remove from heat.  Cool. 

 

 

That's it! 

 

 

Serve ice cold as a side dish to your pork chops or roast chicken, or for an instant tummy warmer stir some into your oatmeal on a chilly morning (that's what we're having tomorrow!) 

 OR you could be like John and put some over vanilla ice cream and top with whip cream : ) 

Either way...yum. 

What do you like to bake with apples? I still have so many and are looking for ideas.

 

Thank you for stopping by today! 

 

There's no place like home ♥

 

One more thing...

Here's a picture of the full Harvest moon over my neighbor's house the other night. 

Isn't she a beauty?! I think she outdid herself this month!


Happy October!


xoxo

Apple Picking ♥

 

 

Hello from rainy Massachusetts!

 

It's pouring buckets

here today but I thought I would share with you some pictures from our day of apple picking on Friday. 

 

The sun was shining and it couldn't have been a nicer day. 

 

 

 

 

John had a half day of school so we met up with some school friends and off we went to CN Smith Farm. 

 

We come here every year : )

Apple, apples, everywhere!

 

 

After filling our bags we headed to the farmers market. 

 

On the short walk over we passed the pumpkin patch and farm animals ♥

 

 

 

 

 I love the white ones!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(that's my creepy shadow : )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I came home with a pumpkin, two big mums for the front steps, and more apples than I know what do with!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I ♥ country stores!

 

 

 

 

Rob would have loved this spicy pickled garlic....

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a lot of fun that day! 

 

I enjoy walking through the orchard just looking around and taking in all of the beautiful nature.

 

After picking we got apple cider slushies and donuts to bring home ♥

 

 

I'm making my first pie tomorrow for my Dad's birthday dinner. 

 

The rest I'll freeze for the holidays. 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by today!

 

I hope you are having yourselves a wonderful weekend. 

 

Happy Columbus Day and for my Canadian friends...

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

See you soon! xoxo

Classic Apple Pie

 

 

On Friday we went apple picking!  It's one of our favorite things to do in the Fall.  I came home with a bag of apples, mums, apple donuts, pumpkins, and a scarecrow.  What do you think? Pretty darn cute, right?!  I am having some trouble uploading my photos from the day, but if you happen to follow me on Instagram then you can see the lovely time we had.  The apple trees were gorgeous! And we went with friends that made the day even better!  ♥ I felt lucky.

 

When I got home I was trying to decide what to make with all of my apples. The answer was obvious.  Apple Pie of course!  Now I'm sure that everyone has their own recipe for apple pie.  Some have caramel in it, some have pecans, some even have a chocolate crust.  All delicious.  But my favorite has got to be this recipe for plain old apple pie.  It's simple, it's classic, it's not fancy, and I promise you it comes out perfect every time.   

 

 

Ingredients:

 

Pie dough (if you are using store bought then you need (2) 9 inch dough rounds.  If you would like my recipe for homemade then click here.  All you need is flour, shortening, salt, and water)

 

6 large apples, cored, peeled, and sliced (my favorite are Empire but any apple will do)

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons butter

 

 

 

 

 

Grease and flour a 9 inch pie plate.  Roll dough out to about 11 inches and fit it into pan, leaving the excess to hang over the edge.  With a fork, poke a few air holes in the bottom of the crust. Add the apples in an even layer.  Add sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg (literally just pour over the top - no need to mix).  Sprinkle with the flour (this will thicken the mixture as it bakes) and dot with dabs of butter.  Roll out your top crust and cover pie.  Crimp the edges to seal. 

 

 

 

  

 

After crimping I go around the edge with a fork, like my Nana did ♥

 

 

 

 

Melt an additional 2 tablespoons of butter and brush it over the top, including the edges. Sprinkle with a dash of sugar and cinnamon. With a fork, make a few air vents in the top crust.

 

 

.

 

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 1 hr.  (tip*put your pie on a cookie sheet, that way if anything bubbles over it won't leak onto the bottom of your oven*)

 

 

 

And here she is!

 

 

 

She looks and tastes homemade! This pie is part of my life. It's been served at every holiday that I can remember.  My first memory of my grandmother was her in the kitchen making apple pie.  The smell of it takes me back to my childhood. It's pure comfort food to me.  Simple and classic.  Just as it should be ♥

 

 

 

Have you been apple picking yet this season? If so what are you making? I still have lots of apples left over : )