This time last year I was out in a pick-your-own apple orchard with my grandchildren and son. It was a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the sunlight and gorgeous blue sky, get a little fresh air, and remind seven-year-old Charlie and five-year-old Lizzie that fruit actually comes from trees, not supermarkets!
The children (and grownups, too) had a wonderful time. The trees in the orchard were all a convenient, made-for-picking dwarf size and were loaded with fruit. Which meant that there were plenty of apples hanging low enough for the children to reach. The kids noticed that not only were the colors and shapes of the varities very different, but that the textures and flavors were distinctive, too
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After picking and trying some shiny red Jonathans, yellow-green Golden Delicious, pretty Pink Lady apples, Galas and an unidentified green kind, they even commented that the outsides didn’t really suggest how sweet or tasty the apples were. Considering that so many adult consumers gravitate to the (in MHO) rather bland Red Delicious just because it’s a looker, I thought this was a great lesson learned. (For my suggestions on the best baking apples click here.)
The good news is that in only an hour we’d harvested a generous quantity. The bad news is that we’d picked so many they had to be crammed into our refrigerators. (Yes, apples should always be kept cold or they will soften and lose flavor.) My supply was so large that the door to my spare refrigerator barely closed, and the apples started to tumble out whenever I opened it! I was making cobblers, crisps, muffins, and apple coffeecakes (like the one pictured) till almost Christmas. If you’re getting hungry for apples, check out my yumny, quickie baked apple recipe shown below here or go to the recipe archives for some other apple recipes.
Yes, I love it–the picking, the snacking, the baked apples, and fancier recipes, too. Somehow fall is especially lovely knowing winter is closing in!
I just love apple time, and I see you do too. (Adorable photos of your grandkids!) Orchards are just bursting this fall in Michigan–guess we've got a bumper crop this year. Well, I'm off now to check your recipe archives for apple possibilities!