Monday, September 12, 2011

A Trip to the Apple Farm

It was a beautiful late summer morning, so we decided to take a trip to an apple farm to get some pie-making apples.  I don't bake too many pies from scratch, but September/October always finds me filling a homemade pie crust with some sort of apple concoction.

This country road  seems so fitting for an apple orchard and farm stand. It's about a 45-minute drive from where I live. It is gorgeous when the maple trees are dressed in their autumn finery.  We plan to go again next month to get more apples and take in the spectacular colors.

Cute welcome sign by the main entrance to the store.

We arrived 15 minutes before the store opened, so we walked around the orchard and explored a bit.
They have a few farm animals for children, making it the perfect autumn day trip for families (what a great marketing idea that was!)


This sign was above the outside sink for the porta-a-potty.

  How cute!

They have a covered outdoor seating area for their lunches. They were cooking brats and grilled apples today.


As soon as the doors opened, we headed to the apples.  I asked for a tart apple for pies and they suggested Gala Reds.

While DH paid for our peck of apples, I  snapped a few pictures around the store.
They had some cute Halloween displays.
We were back home by noon and I immediately started cooking with the apples.  I made crust for a double-crust pie, but instead of one pie, I decided to make some hand held apple pies.
Just two hours ago those apples were sitting in at bin in an adjacent city.  Now they are pies sitting on my counter--it warms my heart--and DH's tummy.

I have not tried one yet, but DH did and said they are good. 

I had planned to take a glass-bottom boat tour of local shipwrecks this weekend, but that never happened.  The tour is over two hours long and I just did not have the time to spare on Saturday. Maybe next weekend.  If I do, I will certainly share it with all of you.

14 comments:

  1. Your hand-held pie looks so delicious. What a fun day. And I need to know how you do that trick with hubby paying for something. Mine always "disappears" when it comes time to pay-LOL!

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  2. What a charming place to go visit. You must really like homemade apple things to go that far instead of to a store for those apples. They look wonderful.
    Cher Sunray Gardens

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  3. Hand held pies! Looks just like the ones we had at the Mennonite shops this past week. Of course I forgot to take pictures. We bought 5 different kinds, coconut cream, cherry, peaches & cream, blackberry and red rasberry. We've been gone on a little trip for 5 days in the camper, and I will eventually get it blogged. Have a great week!

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  4. Oh Zoey..beautiful hand held pies! I love getting my apples directly from the source.

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  5. Zoey, playing catch-up here...first off, you've had frost already?? Oh, phooey. We're still hanging on yet, the lowest its gotten at night has been 38. I guess there's a possibility of a freeze this week though.

    Love your Autumn Joy sedums, mine are just starting to bloom but they don't look as nice as yours do. I love the handheld apple pies you made, if Carl saw them he'd be after me to make him some. We've been married 33 years and I have NEVER baked a pie, I know, how shocking! Maybe I'll work on that talent (which I do not have) for our next anniversary, lol.

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  6. Zoey, what a fun day. Your hand held pies look delicious.
    Barb

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  7. Yummy ~ your hand held apple pies look scrumptious! We live in apple country and I love it. Applesauce, apple butter, apple pies, apple crisp ... the list goes on. I love market/gift shops like this one.
    'hugs from across the lake in the U.P.'

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  8. Sue,
    I say, "Oh, Honey, this is a blog moment. I need to take a pic, could you please pay at the register?" LOL.

    Cher,
    I can't really tell if they taste better, I just like to take short car trips.


    Patti,
    I can't wait to read about the latest trip!

    Hi Betty,
    Me, too. I don't really know if they taste any different, but it just seems like they should. :)

    Karen,
    No frost yet--just warnings. It's over 80 today and has been for a few days, so summer is back!

    Barb, Thanks. They did turn out pretty tasty.

    Cher,

    I am thinking of making some applesauce to freeze. Do you ever freeze apple sauce? I could use a good recipe--preferably with butter and brown sugar.

    I was in the beautiful U.P. Saturday night. . . up near the Soo. We love it up there.

    What part of the UP are you in? Maybe you have already told me and I have forgotten....that happens when you get around the half century mark and gets worse by the year. LOL!

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  9. What fun your trip to the orchard was! Your little pie look great, too. You've put me in the mood to bake an autumn pie (apple, of course!)
    Blessings, Beth

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  10. Yum-o! We have a few orchards within 10 miles here and I want to do the same thing. Thanks for the inspiration. DH looks good! : )

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  11. Hi Beth,
    I hope you have fun making pies!

    Dianne,
    If DH happens to read my comments, his chest will pop when he gets to yours. :)

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  12. I made an apple pie two days ago but it wasn't with our own apples, it was with the ones my mom's cousin gave me when we went to visit him and his wife on St. Joseph Island this past Friday. He has a few apple trees in his back yard:-) I haven't picked our own yet, they're not quite ready yet, still a bit on the tart side. Another week or so should do it. Love the idea of a hand held pie, must try that next time.

    I love going to apple farms and I really enjoyed seeing your pictures from your trip there:-) xoxo

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  13. Thanks for sharing your autumnal visit. I've been in the hospital since August 1 with at least two more weeks to go. So I'm being denied my fall. So I really enjoyed your post

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  14. Pea, How wonderful it must be to have your own apple tree!

    Patrick,
    I am so sorry to hear that. I hope you get well soon so you can come home and enjoy the autumn season.

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