Apple Pie Adventure

Sunday morning I met Brad and Brooke at their new place together (formerly just Brad's) and we set on an Apple Orchard adventure!

I was excited for the first weekend of fall, so wore my new Berry colored Rainboots to walk through the orchards on the hunt for some delicious apples that would be baked into something sweet. On the way I stopped for a latte and had several compliments on the boots - and here I was self-conscious because I was wearing rainboots with nothing but clear skies and a crisp bite in the air.

^Matching scarf from Seeds to Beads^

We made it to Bell's Orchard with excitement in our eyes, but quickly saw that they were closed. Sigh. We had heard there were good places in Sherwood to pick, so we headed on a scenic drive to our next stop - Sherwood Orchards .... who were also closed on Sunday. I suppose that we should have done our research before heading out - but it seems like Sunday would be the perfect day for these local U-Pick farms to be open!

Our mission wasn't a total waste - on our drive between orchards we saw Gramma's Place that was more of a fruit and vegetable stand, but we still had the chance to buy local and get some photos of the store, the pumpkins and the sunflower field.

^Ghana Baskets^^Too early for me to buy a pumpkin^^Lucky I didn't get stung by a bee!^

We made it back to the apartment to find the easiest recipe and assess our ingredients situation. Brooke and I went to the store for Pumpkin Spice Latte's pie supplies while Brad slaved away with peeling, slicing and sampling the granny smith apples. Or course this all took place while watching NFL Redzone and sipping some cider from Gramma's Place.

After some decent lattice patchwork and realizing we had enough apples to make TWO pies, here's what we came up with:

^Before - look at that drip!^^Survivor of the great smoke-out 2012^^Up close and personal^^So tasty! Dad, you get half of mine!^

I was happy that pie making wasn't that difficult. We took some obvious shortcuts though by using pre-made crust and having three hungry hungry hippos on the task (and one used to be the best Sous Chef in all of Southeast Alaska).

Dan was jealous that he wasn't around to enjoy the pie since granny smith apples are at the top of his grocery list, but I think we can manage to make another when he's home on October 3rd(!!) on our day off together! It can be his reward for placing SECOND at the Dundee Township Park District Open! Proud girlfriend!

<3 JE