apples!
We went apple-picking with outcastspice and her husband today. It was so awesome! We got about 16 lbs of apples, mostly Spy, some Nova Mac, and some Golden Spy.
We made an apple cake today, using a tweaked version of a recipe my grandmother gave me years ago. I'm still toying with the sugar-substitute content, but it turned out pretty well.
Planning to can some homemade applesauce Wednesday night, and using our newish mandolin to slice some apples for drying. Hooray for uniformity! Should have enough left over for apple pie and possibly canning some apple slices.
We also purchased a 2L jug of raw apple cider. The apples at this particular orchard are more tart than the apples used in the raw cider I'm used to drinking. The taste seemed a little unfinished and lacking in dimension. Maybe it was filtered? *shrugs* Still damned good stuff and far far far better than the crappy apple juice we buy.
Got a jar of sour cherry jam that I haven't tried yet. Spice got FOUR jars of jam; I am envious because they all looked SO good! But we also got three delicata squash (they had a small selection of organic veggies they were selling). If I recall correctly, this variety of squash is so sweet, it tastes like its got the maple syrup already baked in. Fabulously good.
The Smallest fell asleep in the carseat not five minutes from arriving home and was so passed out N carried him inside while still in the carseat. I made pumpkin pie while the boys slept. I'm dissatisfied with my coconut milk-pumpkin pie recipe. I think I'm going to try a dairy-free version with the last two pumpkins we have.
All in all, a damn fine day. Apple picking was such a fabulous way to spend Thanksgiving: out in nature, harvesting amazing-tasting organic produce at a local orchard, and doing it with family and friends.
Also, there were pony rides available for free. MY SON GOT TO RIDE A PONY TODAY!
We made an apple cake today, using a tweaked version of a recipe my grandmother gave me years ago. I'm still toying with the sugar-substitute content, but it turned out pretty well.
Planning to can some homemade applesauce Wednesday night, and using our newish mandolin to slice some apples for drying. Hooray for uniformity! Should have enough left over for apple pie and possibly canning some apple slices.
We also purchased a 2L jug of raw apple cider. The apples at this particular orchard are more tart than the apples used in the raw cider I'm used to drinking. The taste seemed a little unfinished and lacking in dimension. Maybe it was filtered? *shrugs* Still damned good stuff and far far far better than the crappy apple juice we buy.
Got a jar of sour cherry jam that I haven't tried yet. Spice got FOUR jars of jam; I am envious because they all looked SO good! But we also got three delicata squash (they had a small selection of organic veggies they were selling). If I recall correctly, this variety of squash is so sweet, it tastes like its got the maple syrup already baked in. Fabulously good.
The Smallest fell asleep in the carseat not five minutes from arriving home and was so passed out N carried him inside while still in the carseat. I made pumpkin pie while the boys slept. I'm dissatisfied with my coconut milk-pumpkin pie recipe. I think I'm going to try a dairy-free version with the last two pumpkins we have.
All in all, a damn fine day. Apple picking was such a fabulous way to spend Thanksgiving: out in nature, harvesting amazing-tasting organic produce at a local orchard, and doing it with family and friends.
Also, there were pony rides available for free. MY SON GOT TO RIDE A PONY TODAY!