Autumn Bucket List: Update!

It's that time of year when I'm completely obsessed with apples. But to be honest, I'm always obsessed. That's why I have 30 pounds of apples in my freezer right now. Yep. In case you've been following, the apples won the freezer battle and will reside there for the next however long. The venison will be taking up space elsewhere. It may involve buying another new freezer. 

I've crossed four things off my list and they all involve apples. I'm betting the next one to get checked off involves apples too. Although the pumpkin cookies might get made first. And that's just because I have an open can of pumpkin in my fridge right now. Here's how it's looking so far:

I just realized that it's technically autumn now (eeee!). While yesterday was unseasonably warm, the weather has been cooling off and fall has settled nicely in the Capital District. I'm bursting with excitement to see what the next few weeks has in store. For once in a really long time, I'm excited about my birthday and can't wait for it to come. For now, I'll leave you with the heavenly donuts from Kaneb's.

What's going on with you? What are you excited about?

Sometimes I "SMH" at Myself

This week is incredibly busy and I have a ton of stuff I want to do before my mother-in-law, sister-in-laws, and nephews come.

One of the things I need to do is process (and freeze) the 35 pounds of apples we bought the other weekend. Unfortunately, over the weekend I was peeling and slicing apples and just happened to bent the crap out of my apple corer. Sad face. But that means that I get to upgrade to one of those peel/slice/core jobbies that might make my life 1,000 times easier if it works. 

When we were heading out to the store to buy it, I helped Ryan pack the car with bags of clothes we're donating. I figured we'd multitask and drop them off on the way. Now, for some background, we live in a city and don't have off-street parking. As I walked around the car to get on the passenger side, I asked, "Will you pull out for me?" His response? A big 'ol smile and a "sure can!" 

That smile of his gets him out of A LOT of trouble. It's just too cute. That, and the fact that I walked into it got him out of this one. I can't fault him for thinking it. I went there too. 

Wouldn't anyone?

Autumn Bucket List: Apple Picking

One of my favorite fall activities is apple picking. There's like a 0.01% chance that it's NOT my favorite. And each year, I go a little overboard. I mean, last year we spent about $120 on the trip...but that's not overkill. Right? I mean, I have applesauce and apple pie filling ready to go for months afterwards. That cannot be a bad thing.

This year, Ryan put his foot down. We would go in, pick just enough, and we get out. He didn't say it out loud, but there was a "before you get crazy and spend $100 on apples again" in there. 

The orchard by us grows about thirty different types of apples. Our plan? Macintosh. Jonamac. Greening. They were all in season and our top three favorites. They also happen to be the perfect combo together. The macintosh provide that iconic apple flavor. The jonamacs are the same apple-in-your-face flavor but harder than your traditionally soft macs. Then there's the greening, which are tart and add the kick to any apple filling. 

Look at how picture perfect this was. It's basically impossible not to go overboard picking and eating them right off the tree. 

After we found our favorites (and picked conservatively) we thought we should get a couple 20oz apples. What are 20oz apples you may ask? They're gigantic two pound apples that have little to no apple flavor. It makes my heart sad. But they make good filler. Unfortunately, I couldn't justify getting some after trying one and it being less than stellar. I couldn't. I just couldn't. 

Thankfully though, there was another crop of apples ripe for picking. Blondees. These apples are winners. They're like a ginger apple-pear flavor cross. And they're going to be decadent in my apple filling. 

Overall, we picked 29 jonamacs, 17 blondees, 16 macs, and 13 greening for a total of 35.10 lbs of apples. Roughly $48.79 at $1.39 a pound. A definite decline from last year's haul. However, in no way does this dampen my excitement for this autumn apple season and all the recipes I can't wait to try! 

Happy apple picking!

What recipes are you cooking with this year? Are you sticking to tried and true or trying something new?

Happy Friday! Safe Travels

Tomorrow, Ryan and I will be making our journey north. I'm so excited to spend the time with his family. This will be our first Christmas spent with them since we've been married. In past years, we'd either go up the week or two before or for a couple days afterwards. But this year, I get to experience a full LaBarge family Christmas and I'm excited. If you're traveling this holiday season, whether it's down the road or across the state, I hope you're safe. You want to make sure you can enjoy yourself once you get there!

Now, my dad is known for his apple pies. He crams about 7-8 apples per 9" pie. It's large. And they're delicious. Word gets around on these pies. Unfortunately, he's been busy. So I baked pies. From scratch. And from those apples from my freezer. Remember those?

I know, my edging technique needs work. You see that lattice technique though, right? I know, the widths vary. But you know what? These are going to be fantastic. How do I know? These are my fourth and fifth pie I've made this baking season. So yea, they're going to get eaten. If not by my in-laws, then definitely by me. Because I. LOVE. APPLE. PIE. I have the ass stomach ache to prove it.

That brings us to your fourth and final printable for December. It's pretty generic, but you can put it on beautiful paper in an equally pretty frame and have something good going on. 

O Little Town of Bethlehem

Please note that this printable was formatted to fit an 5" x 7" paper.

Food for thought...Danish Apple Pastry Bars

A couple weeks ago I bought a half a peck of apples from the local orchard at our farmer's market. My original intention was for fruit for lunches. Well...some how that didn't happen and I needed to use these apples. So I searched the interwebs until I found a new recipe online and made it my own. Here's what you need to make these wonderful fall treats:

Pastry

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup milk (approximately)

Filling

6 medium apples

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract (if desired)

Icing

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp milk

There's no ingredient picture because I was throwing everything together late. Please forgive me. There's plenty of pictures for the steps though!

Step 1. Preheat your oven to 375 F. Peel, core, and slice your apples thinly. Place in a large mixing bowl. To prevent apples from browning before you move to the next step feel free to add a dash of lemon juice. Give them a little toss to coat evenly. 

Step 2. Add packed brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla (if desired) to the mixing bowl. Make sure your hands are clean and then give those babies a toss. Set the bowl aside until ready to fill dough.

Step 3. To make the dough, add flour, salt, and tabs of cold butter to your food processor. It is a thousand times easier than using a pastry blender or fork. Add one stick of butter's worth at a time. Pulse until the mixture resembles course crumbs. 

Step 4. In a liquid measuring cup, add the egg yolk. Beat it slightly and then add milk (~1/2 cup) until the measure reads 2/3 cup. Add the mixture to food processor slowly until the dough is slightly sticky. 

Step 5. On a lightly heavily floured surface, roll out about 2/3 of dough. Fold several times and roll it out. Roll out to about 16x20. If the dough sticks to your surface (like it did with mine) roll it up in your hands and work in some extra flour. Then roll out.

Step 6. Fold dough in half and press into bottom and sides (about 3/4" up) of an ungreased 13x9 pan. Take your delicious apple mixture and pour that in. Make sure to drizzle the juices at the bottom on top of it all. 

Step 7. Roll out the remaining dough to 13x9. Press onto the top of your pan. Slice holes in the crust so it doesn't explode the steam can escape. I made mine into an argyle type pattern. Make sure you pinch together the bottom and top crust.

Step 8. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Please don't judge my dirty oven window. Now I won't lie, the recipe I was following said to bake for 25 minutes THEN add the foil. It was just about the worst instruction ever. I mean, have you ever tried to put foil on a 375 degree pan?! It's rough and hot. Burning sensations WILL occur. So add it first then take it off.

Step 9. Remove foil from dish to allow it to brown. Bake for an additional 25 minutes until golden brown. Then remove from oven and let cool. 

Step 10. While the bake is cooling. Put powdered sugar and 2 teaspoons of milk in a liquid measuring cup. Mix together until well blended. I also added about 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla to the icing as well. You don't need to do that though. Then...drizzle, and drizzle, and drizzle.

Step 11. Allow bake to cool completely before cutting into 18-24 squares (depending on your portion size). Or if you can't help but try one before it's completely cool, make sure it's not steaming or boiling still. I waited about 45 minutes until I couldn't stand it any longer. 

Step 12. Enjoy! I think these would pair perfectly with apple cider ice cream. Now, I'll just have to figure out how to make that.

Let me know if you try this recipe and how they turned out for you. I'd love to see some pictures of these delicious treats! Especially considering I made mine yesterday and there are four left...

Wonderful Wednesdays - Apple Picking at Bowman Orchards

One of my favorite things to do in the fall is go apple picking. One, because I love eating apples and two, I like spending cool, autumn days in the sun enjoying the crispness of the air. It's even better spending it with those your love. Our haul this year was 40+ pounds of the fruit, a half gallon of apple cider, half a dozen apple cider donuts, and an apple fritter. I probably would've bought a pint of apple cider ice cream (to go with the delicious pastries you'll see on Friday!) but I thought...better not. Here's some pictures of our adventure this past Sunday:

Bowman Orchards in Rexford, NY

we picked jonamacs, greening, macintosh, honey crisp, and twenty ounce

I only ate four apples on premises

the hubbs

our haul

that was the line of cars waiting to drive into the orchard

Are you planning on going apple picking this year? Have you already? What's your favorite kind? I love the pink lady apples. They're perfect for lunches and recipes. Just another wonderful thing about fall!