Where should we go today?

How 'bout some apple picking out west?

After Mass, we loaded up the car with the kiddoes, a good book on audio cd, a quick stop at Panera's for their awesome deal on 13 bagels and two tubs of cream cheese, and then we headed west. In ONE HOUR, we were at Stribling Orchard and it was not only a beautiful, autumnal drive ... it was an amazing discovery for our family.

We eat apples all the time. Anytime the kids are hungry, dh and I respond, "eat an apple". We eat apples chopped up with potatoes, or apples sauted with cabbage, or applesauce, or apple cake .... well you get the idea.

But to find a "pick your own" with tons of varieties, still lots on the trees, and a good price (we paid $1.25/lb) was a great discovery for these intrepid travelers -- and only an hour door-to-door!

We're on the short side, so it's nice they have picking-poles to use!

Here's Bam-bam ready to grab some o'them apples

A stop on the path to investigate Mr. Wooly Worm. The kids were so sad as we kept finding decapitated Wooly Worms -- but this one was still running across the road when the kiddoes surrounded him.
A bit of tail-gaitin' is always nice -- especially when you buy some of the Orchard's, just-made , hot-and-yummy, cinnamon-sugar donuts! Wow! How come we only bought six of those?Home in time to watch football -- with 23 pounds of luscious, yummy apples (and a jar of the Orchard's Honey and a few of those donuts left!)

Stribling Orchard has been here since the early 1800s -- when Dr. Stribling first rented, than bought the property. The current owners -- the SIXTH generation of Striblings -- have maintained and expanded the orchard to include over 2500 apple trees (23 different varieties) and then in the summer they have peaches (18 different varieties). The folks here are so nice ... the apples are so good ... and the other delectables in the store are amazing.

The orchard still has tons of apples if you haven't had a chance to head out and pick your own. We're going to go out again at the end of the month just to see what's left and enjoy another spectacularly beautiful (70 degrees and bright blue skies!) day on the farm.

ETA: Dh and I have decided we may just make another trip next Sunday with a friend from Denver -- show her the lovely scenery and snatch up some more apples. The smell permeates the house tonight (especially since I whipped up a batch of applesauce with those apples that looked a bit "iffy" -- but all were great and made some awesome applesauce).

Here's how we made the applesauce:

1. Peel and core the apples -- remove any worm spots or other "not-niceties".
2. Place in pot, covered with water and a few cinnamon sticks -- we had about a dozen apples and 3 cinnamon sticks.
3. Bring to boil; turn down to med-low heat and let simmer for 45-60 minutes.
4. Remove the cinnamon sticks then mash slightly then add about two cups of sugar and more spices -- we like a bit of allspice, clove and more dried cinnamon.
5. Simmer another 20-30 minutes then let cool.
6. Great for breakfast the next morning with hot oatmeal -- or add a bit of vanilla ice cream to a bowl and eat tonight!

Apples: Loveliness Fair

Kristie from Canada has just posted her Loveliness of Apples Fair with excellent links to apple studies throughout the blogosphere including mention of our two posts on books and apple dolls) ....

We love apples around here and love this time of year when the air is crisp, cold enough to snuggle inside at times, and just generally a family-inspired time.

THANKS so much to Kristie for doing a wonderful fair about the lowly apple!

Apples: Apple Doll craft

As I mentioned recently, we've been doing a bit of an apple unit. One of the books we found, Elisa Kleven's The Apple Doll, is a wonderful story about a little girl and her apple doll. At the end of the book are some easy-to-follow directions for making your very own apple dolls.

Today, since it was snowing when we got back from Mass, String Bean and I worked on making our very own dolls. In this dry, Front Range climate, they should dry fairly fast ....
First, get out your supplies: good, large & unblemished apples, sharp knife (or kids can use a ball point pen/plastic fork or knife), bowl, lemon juice, directions (in the book).Peel the apple so that all peel is removed -- probably best for an adult to do this step as you need a SHARP knife.
Carve the face -- start with the nose, cutting away the sides so the nose is above the rest of the face. Make holes for eyes and cut in the mouth, chin, cheeks, etc. The one on the right was "cut" using the back end of a plastic fork -- the definition seems better than the one on the left where a sharp knife was used!
Place the apples in a deep enough bowl so that the apples can be covered with lemon juice (to which 1-2 tbls of salt has been added). For our two apples, I used a whole bottle of lemon juice. Let the apples soak, submerged for at least 5 minutes.
Place the apples on a rack (or hang from string) to dry completely. The apples should shrivel up and look like old, weathered faces.

Once the apples are completely dried (dry and spongy), you can use chenille stems for arms and legs (twisting extra chenille stems to give it a strong body) or you can use sticks with bits of dried apple attached for hands and feet. Dress your doll and you are all set -- these dolls will last a long time, but do check them occasionally if you've had a more than usual humid day.

Books: Apple unit

Thanks to the lovely ladies at Serendipity, we have started on an "A" unit ... angels, apple-blossom fairies and of course, the almost-trite, apple.

Apples are a very popular unit around this time of year. Here are two quotes we're using for copy-work (primarily because I really like them!):

Three apples fell from heaven.
One for the teller,
One for the listener,
And one for the one who took it to heart.

-- Armenian folk saying

Anyone can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the number of apples in a seed.

Robert H. Schuller

Here are some of the books we've found that have really helped our unit immensely:

Cheripko, Jan – Brother Bartholomew and the Apple Grove – is one of those picture books that is so much more; this is a story about dedication, mis-placed pride, understanding and love. The illustrations by Kestutis Kasparavicius add much to an already amazing story!

Edwards, Julie Andrews – Dumpy’s Apple Shop – this book I got for my youngest who loves Julie Andrews’ “Dumpy” series. This is a great addition to apple books as it talks about all the wonderful things you can make with apples. Also, it’s a “My First I Can Read Book” so it’s very kid-friendly!

Hibbert, Clare – The Life of an Apple – a well-done and well-illustrated book about seed to seed cycle of apples.

Hutchins, Pat – Ten Red Apples – this is a wonderful reverse counting book with lovely, folk-art style illustrations. A great picture book.

Kleven, Elisa – The Apple Doll – a scary start to school is lightened when a little girl makes a doll out of an apple from her family’s apple tree. The dolls starts to get a bit off so her mom shows her how to dry her “grandma” doll and soon all the kids in class want one. Includes directions for making your own apple doll.

Micucci, Charles – The Life and Times of the Apple – this was highly recommended by a friend and I can see why! This book is a lovely, beautifully illustrated tribute to the apple. It talks about the life of the apple – from planting seeds, grafting plants, blossoms, parts of the flower, help from the bees, apples forming and harvesting, uses of apples, apple varieties and more. This is a MUST HAVE for any apple unit!

Priceman, Marjorie – How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World – this is a great introduction to geography (and lots of rabbit trails from this one!) when a girl wants to make an apple pie, but the local store is closed. As she collects the best ingredients from around the world, readers learn a bit about these exotic locales.

Royston, Angela – Life Cycle of an Apple – another well-illustrated book that shows all the stages of an apple from seed to apple.

Tomorrow, I've promised the kiddoes that we'll try making our own apple dolls (ala Elisa Kleven's book above) -- and here in the REALLY DRY Front Range, they should turn out well. We'll also attempt the applie pie in the back of Marjorie Priceman's book -- unfortunately we already have the ingredients and thus, no excuse for visiting all the places she mentions!

We'll post more about our really fun week, later this week!