Apple Picking

Only ten more days until it's officially fall! September is that weird in between month where school has started and the pools are closed so mentally we've moved on from summer, but it's still a hundred degrees and the air has been an awful smoky haze for the past few weeks from nearby wildfires. I am so ready for crisp air and sweaters, but until the weather gets on board we'll just eat everything pumpkin and apple and pretend. This past Sunday we wanted to spend Ez's last day as a non-student doing something special for him. And as a kid who would gladly eat a bushel of apples a day if we let him, we figured apple picking was the way to go. Of course, on the way there, he voiced his other plans, which were to go to Target, but once we got there he was all about those apples.

Last year the apples were over-ripe and buzzing with bees and wasps by late September, which made for a less than pleasant experience. Nothing puts me on edge like bees buzzing around my head. This year we opted to go a little earlier in the season and the apples were perfectly sweet and crunchy, plus not a bee in sight. We grabbed ourselves a box and got to work, with Ez doing most of the picking and Declan doing most of the heavy lifting. He insisted on carrying the box up until it was nearly half full. That kid can't resist any chance to flex his muscles. I call him my baby Hulk.

The orchard had fuji and granny smith apples, but after about three rows of fujis our box was overflowing and we had approximately 5 lbs more apples than a family of four could possibly need. You'd think we'd be appled out, but we also made sure to stop at BOA Orchards up the street to stock up on everything apple-related we could get our hands on. Apple salad dressing. Apple wine. Apple Pumpkin Butter...you get the idea. I wasn't hungry so I skipped out on the pie and donuts, but I'm already regretting that decision. It's possible we'll have to go back and remedy that.

Ez can expect to get apples in his lunchbox for the next 30 weeks or so. I've also been eating shredded apple in my oatmeal, blended apples in our smoothies, and I've got my sights set on these apple oat no bake bites, this perfect fall salad, apple veggie muffins, and some apple monkey bread for good measure. That should only leave about six dozen apples leftover. What's your favorite way to bake with apples?

And for comparison's sake, here's our last three years of apple picking:

Happy almost fall, y'all!