More Fall Into Fun: Cider Mills and Orchards

One of my favorite things about fall is hitting the cider mills and U-pick orchards.  To me fresh cider, warm cinnamon sugar donuts and a big bag full of apples for desserts is a great way to spend a day.

What Activities Are You Looking For?

Depending on what we want out of the day, we check ahead to see what each place has to offer.  Some places have hay rides out into the orchards, hay mazes, cider mills and even apple tossing contests.

Our local favorite is about an hour away.  A tractor takes you on a hay ride through the property until you reach the orchard that has over 10 varieties of apples for picking.  We like to go with a group and get a ton of different types of apples, so that everybody can try some of each kind.  We usually go with folks from our bible study group and then take turns trying to outdo each other for the best apple dessert.  Here’s a favorite, easy apple recipe.

Baked Apples

• 4 large good baking apples, such as Rome Beauty, Golden Delicious, or Jonagold
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup currants or chopped raisins
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 3/4 cup boiling water

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Wash apples. Remove cores to 1/2 inch of the bottom of the apples. It helps if you have an apple corer, but if not, you can use a paring knife to cut out first the stem area, and then the core. Use a spoon to dig out the seeds. Make the holes about 3/4-inch to an inch wide.

2. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, currants/raisins, and pecans. Place apples in a 8-inch-by-8-inch square baking pan. Stuff each apple with this mixture. Top with a dot of butter (1/4 of the Tbps).

3. Add boiling water to the baking pan. Bake 30-40 minutes, until tender, but not mushy. Remove from the oven and baste the apples several times with the pan juices.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream on the side.

Makes 4 servings.

photo credit: r-z