Fall Festivals, Apple Picking and the Harvest Moon

Last night as we were driving home, tired from a long weekend packed with fall activities, a huge orange orb was looking down at us. The harvest moon hung over the fields and lit the way home.

It was a beautiful fall weekend and we managed to squeeze in two hayrides, a pony ride, face painting, pumpkin painting, apple picking, dance class, and even most of the laundry.

Now I just need to figure out what to do with so many apples, get the laundry put away and find time for a nap.

Cider and Roast Corn

This past weekend we braved the crowds and went apple picking again. So different from our previous outing when barely anyone was there and the trees were overflowing with apples.
We had to look hard for apples we could reach and a quiet stretch of orchard where we could enjoy the perfect fall day.

We managed to pick a nice mix of apples and fill our basket, before climbing into a packed hayride. We finished off with cider and roast corn. Cider and doughnuts might be more traditional, but the corn was amazing. Piping hot and buttery with a nice seasoned salt, the corn was a perfect contrast to the sweet cold cider and crisp fall day. Oh and we took home a bottle of cider and a bag of doughnuts for later.

Apple Picking Part 2: Simplest Apple Tart

After recovering from our outing in the orchards, the very full basket of apples that resulted was begging to be made into something. I searched for an apple pie recipe, I had success with a few years ago to no avail and decided if I didn't act soon our harvest would end up as as deer food. (More about that later.)

I opted for this "Simplest Apple Tart" posted on Smitten Kitchen with beautifully photographed instructions. I didn't follow Deb's advice on the sugar and went with the full five table spoons of Alice Water's original recipe calls for. Two would not have satisfied my sweet tooth or our mix of apples which included Granny Smith. The final tart was not overly sweet even with 5 generous tablespoons. We had the tart with ice cream and there was a nice contrast between the still semi-tart apples and the truly sweet ice cream. It was a perfect reward for our apple picking effort.

To make things even simpler I cheated and used pre-made pie crust. I cheated again and made the fold over edge by tearing a second pie crust and adding it on. No rolling pins were involved in the making of our tart and it turned out just fine. I'll take on pâte brisée another day when the tractor is working.

Early Apple Picking

We went apple picking early this year. In fact on the first day our local farm was open to the public for picking. We were looking forward to a hayride but we were so early, they were still fixing the tractor or running to get fuel for the tractor depending on who you spoke to.

So we had to walk out through the orchards ourselves and carry the basket as it filled up. My little one wanted to carry it in the beginning. She told me she was fours years old now and had enough "enjurey" to carry it herself. A few feet later she decided she wasn't strong enough yet and I took over. Without the extra weight she ran ahead of me, when I finally caught up out of breath and took the lead again, I was scolded for going too fast. We ended up going further out than I expected and got quite a work out in. The problem with a good apple picking session is, at least without door to door tractor service, by the time your done there's no "enjurey" left to make the pie.

Apple Picking and Hopefully Apple Pie

We went to the apple orchards early this fall hoping to beat the crowds and also to make sure we didn't miss out this year. It's so easy to think you'll get to something and then suddenly run out of weekends. The one disadvantage, it was hot when we went out and lugging a basket of apples is no fun in hot weather. There are two disadvantage come to think of it. The second is that apples are generally sweeter after a good cold spell and ours are definitely on the tart side.

All the more reason to get to another item on our "Fall To Do List" which is to make an apple pie. Nothing like a lot of sugar and a buttery crust to dress up some less than sweet apples. Now I just need to decide whether to do a thin slice or chunky apple pie.