Sunday, October 12, 2008

apples & oranges

So, we finally made it to the apple orchard this weekend. It may have been a 4 hour drive up into the mountains, but it was oh so worth it. Just look at all of those apples!

And, to think I was worried about it being a little too late in the season to have much left to pick from. We ended up with a half bushel of apples. And, in case you don't know what a half bushel is... let's just say it's more apples than I know what to do with. We've given some to a couple of our neighbors, and even managed to pawn off some of our stash on these little guys that lived at the orchard:

Anyway, anyone with any exceptional recipes using apples, please send them my way! I'm already planing on an apple pie in the next couple of days. Perhaps an adventure in apple butter-making. We'll see.

We had so much fun at the orchards. Everyone got in on the picking...




And, Hazel found this littlest of applets...

She promptly declared, "This is my little friend, and I shall call her Lily." She has yet to put it down since. The child is weird... what can I say?

Anyway, after we hauled back our apple treasures, had them counted and bagged, and picked up some fresh-pressed apple cider (YUM!), it was off to the pumpkin patch (here's where the "oranges" part comes in). Look at this perfect selection we had to choose from:

These weird little fellows immediately struck Hazel's fancy...

Luka was drawn to this enormous guy...

Seriously. That was the biggest pumpkin I have ever seen available at a patch. We couldn't even lift the freakin' thing! Of course, Hazel had to have her picture taken with it too...

Apple and pumpkin pickin' is hungry business! After a couple of hours at the orchard, we drove back into the town of Flat Rock, NC. Little did I know, this was one of the towns I had recently read about in an issue of Souther Living. I immediately recognized this store from the article, though...

Inside The Wrinkled Egg, there was a fabulous restaurant. It was a little rustic deli with a brick oven that they fired pizzas in. It was very reminiscent of some of my favorite sandwich and pizza spot in Anchorage. Places like that are nearly impossible to find in this neck of the woods. And, the food was soooo... yummy! Hazel and Luka shared some hearty baked potato soup...

And, Bryan and I shared a delicious BBQ chicken pizza...

It was a fabulous trip... one that I hope to repeat on a yearly basis. I hope everyone else had as wonderful a weekend as we did. Stay tuned tomorrow for some Label Tulip sneaks!

13 comments:

Kristine said...

Hi Holly, seeing as you requested some apple recipes - I came across a cool blog yesterday that has a Sour Cream Apple Pie recipe I am keen to give a go. If you make it - can let me know if it was alright? :)

Here is the link:

http://rosylittlethings.typepad.com/posie_gets_cozy/2008/10/sour-cream-appl.html

I also have a REALLY REALLY sweet (but low fat) Apple Dessert recipe - sort of like Apple Pie crossed with a crumble but no pastry involved. Let me know if you want it and I will type it out for you.

Cheers!
Kristine

dani said...

ohhh I need a little trip like this, how lovely it all sounds!

and the blog design, I'm not sure how I've missed it all this time - but dude, it's awesome!

danijohnston.typepad.com/dj

Mel G said...

Good to hear that you had a great trip!!! Say hi to Lilly for me! hehe

Aimee Ann said...

oh holly, that's so fun! my grandmother made an apple spice cake that is to die for, i'll find the recipe tonight and send it to you. :) i'm so jealous, i live in washington state and you know, i've never been apple picking!

pathetic, i know.

mushroommeadows said...

wow! What an amazing adventure! :) I love Hazel's new friend, Lily. Too cute! All the pictures are just great; thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Sorry, no apple recipes here. Looks like you had a wonderful time though... soo much fun!

Anonymous said...

Hi Holly, this is my first visit to your blog. I'm in the Skully Swap. Saw your sneak peak and had to check out your gallery. I'm so lovin' the Halloween banner. Anyway, after looking at today's blog, I've turned green with envy. The pics are great and I can just imagine smelling the apple orchard. I'm going to look for a recipe to send you. Looking forward to getting your Skully atc. Later. Kimbo @ Sis.

~just me said...

Lily hmm? lol well it looks like everyone had fun. and is that an i <3 hot moms shirt the hubs is wearing? =0)
~k

Sasha Farina said...

Holly... what a fab day for your family!! TFS!

Aimee Ann said...

hey girl, my grandma's recipe is up on my blog, fyi :)

Dana said...

you so gave me a slice of fall on your post! Those pics totally made me feel like i was there.. now if i could just get a cup of that cider :)

Anonymous said...

Sorry, I'm not a blogger so I don't know the proper etiquette. But just wanted to share my apple recipe.

Apple Crisp with Butter Praline Topping


1 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
6 cups peeled, cored and thinly sliced part apples (about 5 large)
½ cup raisins
1½ tbsp fresh lemon juice
¼ cup butter, cut into pieces
1 cup chopped pecans
½ cup all-purpose flour
Vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 11-inch round pie pan. Combine ½ cup sugar and cinnamon in large bowl. Mix in apples, raisins and lemon juice. Transfer to prepared pie pan. Combine flour and remaining ½ cup sugar in medium bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles fine meal. Stir in pecans. Sprinkle over apples in pan. Bake until apples are tender and topping is browned, 50 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I love your pictures! Your kids are sooooooo cute! I'm so glad that you had some really good family time with your man, he looks like a super nice guy.

As a craft, you could take an apple and make some shrunken apple heads! Have you done that one yet? Your kids would love it!