Apple Picking! (31 Days: Day 2)

31 Days of Fall Fun, Festivities, and Projects!  Day 2! :)  (insert big pat on the back to myself for being on the ball and getting it posted not too late in the day LOL)  Why don't we focus on one of the fun parts of fall today - family time!  The weather here has been so beautiful the last couple of weeks - blue skies and moderate to chilly temperatures.  I've been loving it and was excited to catch the tail end of apple picking season over the weekend.  Of course that was the day the weather decided to turn overcast and drizzly but we went anyway.

And what fun it was!  The orchard was beautiful and even in the rain we didn't mind the walk out to the field from the parking lot.  I was kind of hoping for big trees with ladders to climb, but these were just short ones that we could all reach easily (and I guess in the scheme of things it's better not to risk the 5 year old falling out of a tree, right?). 

 

It didn't take much time to fill the basket, even with me snapping photos and only picking about two apples myself. Then the kids happily skipped back to the barn/picnic area where they had spotted a few tire swings.

On the drive home we kept coming up with more and more fall recipes we wanted to try with our new apples and pumpkin (even though we skipped the hayride to the pumpkin patch this time - there is only so much rain one can take).  Stopping at Cracker Barrel for lunch just contributed to our enthusiasm.  They had a photo of their pumpkin musse with gingersnaps, which we didn't try there but promptly looked up recipes for on the way home.  My husband took charge of making the mousse, while I whipped up a batch of pumpkin dip for the apples and put a pot of apple cider on the stove to warm up.  What drizzly apple picking day would be complete without warm apple cider?
And the "recipe" I use is very simple - simmer apple juice/cider with little bit of orange juice, some brown sugar, and a few whole spices (cinnamon, cloves, etc - just remember to fish them out before drinking).

Such fun!  This is for sure something we will add to our fall traditions next year!