In our family...

In our family....we do second chances...we do grace...we do real...we do mistakes...we do I'm sorry (and I forgive you)...we do loud really well...we do hugs...we do family...we do love.















Friday, October 30, 2009

An apple a day keeps the doctor away!

“An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

Well I hope so anyways because we are all finally healthy. (Smiling big)

This little lady loves apples. On the rare occasion that we go to that fast food place that starts with an M, she orders apples instead of fries. And she usually eats half of my salad. She loves all the healthy foods that we eat. I know…she’s kinda strange. Don’t let that fool you though because she loves candy with a capital L. She will even ask to have it for breakfast. Little man? Not so much. He does like apples but he loves his fries with a capital L and doesn’t care much for salad or candy. I know…he’s kinda strange too.

She is crazy about apples.

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It’s  a good thing we all love apples because recently, we went to help my parents with the apple harvesting. And we came home with lots of juicy red apples. Thankfully, it was one of our sunny days so it was a perfect day to spend outside. They had a very good crop of apples on their tree’s this year.

We picked lots and lots of apples.

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We picked until the tree’s were bare except for the few we left for the birds.

Little man was excited to go up on the loader on Grandpa’s tractor.

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And of course little lady had to have a turn too.

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We filled pail after pail…

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…and made lots of trips on Grandpa’s golf cart, to haul the trailer full of apples, up to the garage.

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We took breaks from the work to pretend that we were the drivers…and of course to eat some apples.

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Once we picked all the apples, we sorted through all the apples…

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… some for apple pies and apple sauce…and of course for sharing…

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…the best apples…CIMG0062 were kept for eating just as they are.

My job was sorting and it really was hard because many of the apples were perfect huge crisp apples. Perfect for eating. In my sorting I came across the cutest little baby apples so we kept a bucket of them for the little people to eat. In my sorting I found these twin baby apples that shared the same stem. So cute!CIMG0058-1

The apples that are bruised or damaged in any way, get washed and then cut up and then go into this apple press that my dad built a couple of years ago. It makes pure apple juice.

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Once all the apples were put through the press we hauled the 5 gallons pails of juice into the house. We poured the juice through cheese cloth to strain it and then it goes into containers that we freeze.

Of course, then it’s clean up time. Makes for a long day but there is nothing like hard work in the fresh air of autumn. I like that the little people got to take part in all of this and be such helpers. After such a long day of working and playing the fresh air, I thought they would fall asleep on the drive home. Instead they talked and talked about all the fun they had helping.

We came home with lots of red juicy apples for eating and freezing for pies, crisps and sauce and we have lots of fresh apple juice in our freezer.

And of course I had to take some pictures of my happy apple eaters with our apples and pumpkins we got from Grandpa and Grandma.

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My husband made an apple pie already…yes, I have a husband that bakes and cooks and I must say he does it wonderfully. I love the example that this sets for the little people. Actually he spoils me rotten but that’s a whole nother post for another day.  Anyways, the pie tasted wonderful made with these apples. Now that the pie is gone, I was wondering what we could make next. I wanted to make something different, that we haven’t already made.

I didn’t have to wonder long, because Jan from Jan’s Sushi Bar posted a wonderful sounding recipe for Apple Upside Down Cake. If you have never been there you must go visit. If you like to cook or bake and like honest funny people, you will love her like I do.  This isn’t a cooking blog per say because she does write about daily life stuff too. She has a heart of gold and a lot of wisdom that you don’t learn in a book. She posts the best recipes and I seriously think she needs to either write a cookbook or have a cooking show along with her husband, Beloved. They both crack me up with their antic’s so between their good humor and mad cooking/baking skills I think they should take it on the road!

We were going to make them right away but need to go to the store first. So, this weekend, my little man, whom pretends to be “Emeril” when we cook and little lady, whom pretends to be “Rachel Ray” when we cook together, are going to make Jan’s cake.

They pretend to be Emeril and Rachel even when their pretending at their play kitchen or pretending to make food out of play dough. They love watching the cooking channel with us. When we watch shows in which a husband and wife are cooking together, they get excited and say “Their just like you guys cooking in the kitchen!”

I bet you can  guess who their favorites are? You’ll never guess who I am when we cook?  I’m  Emeril’s  and Rachel’s mom of course!

Do you have any favorite apple recipe’s that you would like to share?

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17 comments:

Jeannie said...

Great post - I'm going to check out that apple upside down cake.

I wonder your Dad couldn't rig up a cheesecloth screen to set over the 5 gallon pails to save the pouring to filter later. My husband brought home a 5 gallon pail of cider - I filled every pitcher and then some to get the cider into the fridge. Good idea to freeze it but I'd need containers for that too.

There is an old order Mennonite farm with a wind powered apple press near us where we can get this.

Brian Miller said...

what cute pics! we love apple picking, and fresh cider, and tractor rides...pretty much everything about your post. hope you have a great weekend!

CiCi said...

The family that plays (and cooks) together.....
Wonderful post about apple picking and all the work after that. Most of us would think the work is over once the apples are all picked. A friend makes an apple crisp that she claims is so easy but it is so yummy. You probably already have a recipe for that.

Jan said...

Oh, Lori! I'm blushing here! Thank you so much for the links AND the kind words!

I love the pictures and the stories that go along with them. Your Little People look so happy and the apples look so delicious (oh, I have severe fresh apple juice envy, too!).

If your Little Lady loves apples, she should love the cake. You'll have to let me know! And again, thank you. You are such a doll!

Busy Bee Suz said...

It is so funny what the kids will and will not eat...mine were always weird too.
I love all the pictures...the kids look like they are having so much fun. You are providing so many great memories for them.
I swear, I can SMELL apples now too.

I Am Woody said...

My favorite apple recipe is this: Eat it fresh, right off the tree! If it's a little green and sour, even better:)

Buckeroomama said...

Your little lady liking apples and her greens --that's super. She sounds like my Zoe, who loves pretty much all kinds of fruits and will attack her veggies, but she also absolutely LOVES sweets.

My in-laws have a couple of apple trees, but we're never there when the apples are ripe for picking... I'm sure the kiddos will enjoy that.

Have a wonderful weekend!

SciFi Dad said...

I've got no recipes to offer, but I had to comment on how sweet those little people of yours are. Great photos.

Smart Mouth Broad said...

What a great day. I wish we lived close enough to apple orchards. We do have oranges but it's not the same. Thanks for sharing this lovely day and your beautiful children with us. I want to try Jan's recipe too.

Kathryn Magendie said...

Apple upside down cake! I've never heard of that -- will check it out...

those smiling faces make me smile ---

I love apples and have one every day - the honey crisp are one of my faves - we get them local here

happy post!

Anonymous said...

How funny... my granddaughter has always pretended to be Rachael Ray too! She's a great little helper in the kitchen at age 7 and has been for the past 4 years. It's good to start them young with cooking skills.

Great photos of the kids! They're so adorable and happy too.

Di

Garnetrose said...

My husband and I were just wondering where we could get some apples made into cider. I surely do miss it. We had a man who did it for years but he passed away two years ago so I am going to have to look for someone with a press.

Be glad your young one loves apples and salads. My grandaughter is like that. She loves fruit and such and I think it is because her mom never lets her have alot of treats that are sugary but she keeps the house stalked with apples and such.

Well, I have a bushel of spies that are waiting for me....

laurie said...

oh yum. such gorgeous apples. i've been eating two honeycrisp apples every day for the last couple of weeks; they're so delicious this time of year.

and apple crisp! i love apple crisp. so easy, with no crusty to roll out. and that lovely oatmeal and brown sugar top. yum.

Bogey said...

Lori, what a primo day you had with the young 'uns! You made my heart giggle! And what a great opportunity to show them that not all things come from a grocery store and that there is a little bit of labour involved in getting these fresh beauties to market. Not a bad bonus in having Hubby create a special treat either. It sounds like you all had a marvelous time. Have a great week end. Oh, and if you are interested, I could send you an Apple/Pork Chop recipe that is perfect for this time of year. Cheers!xoxo

Ginger said...

Beautiful pictures! Such pretty kids and delicious looking apples! I have a recipe somehwere for an apple cake that is to die for. I'll try to dig it up when I get home. Please do let us know how Jan's cake turns out. i've been wanting to try it myself!

Joanna Jenkins said...

You have a husband who bakes! OMG, you are a very lucky woman.

And the kids and all those great pics-- FABULOUS :-)

xo

Hilary said...

What a wonderful day.. those kidlets are just gorgeous and the apples make my mouth water. A perfect autumn post. :)