Recipe Traditions 2009-2011

2009

2009- A trip to the Orchard is always fun–and we always seem to have more apples than we know what to do with!  This year it was a little cold, so we started off our trip with some hot chocolate and caramel apples.  The kids got to play in the corn, and had a great time!  We went to a chemistry show where Alexis got to be the, “lovely assistant,”  we pretended to be the 3 little pigs, we jumped on a huge air pillow, we slid down a very long slide–and we picked LOTS OF APPLES!

Thankfully. with the help from my PC peeler/corer– we were able to quickly start making yummy apple treats.  Kyle joined in the fun, and made a caramel apple crisp– while the kids helped me peel and chop apples for Apple Butter and Applesauce.

The Apple Butter, was a crock-pot version recipe, that I adapted.  I loved the day-long simmering method–because it was easy, and it made the house smell amazing.  The applesauce we made was a pot on the stove, version–but also turned out yummy.

2011-

We did the same things at the orchard, making those traditions really stick- I like being able to see traditions started in our little family.  This year, Jaxen slid down the slide all by himself, which he wouldn’t even do last year.  He was also tall enough to jump on the big jumping pillow without any hesitation from seeing all the ‘big kids’  As we watched him this year, I flashed back to him, 2 year old, barely able to stand up with all the other kids jumping–and me going out to hold his little hands to jump with him.  Neither of the kids needed me this year.

With the years, my kids have gotten bigger and more independent and the little orchard has gotten bigger and a little more commercial 🙁  A front porch with rocking chairs, has been replaced with glass sliding doors, and checkout lanes.  All of these changes, make me a little sad, and make me long for the ‘good ol’ days,’ which was coincidentally just 2 years ago.  It seems when you have children, an eternity of changes is held in just a year- that seems to last a minute.

Here are the kids this year:

This year I followed the same recipe for the Apple Butter–which is best served warm– :

 (this year, like the years before- I had some good help!  They’re never too young to help in the kitchen!)

• 5 1/2 pounds apples – peeled, cored and finely chopped ( I used my apple peeler/corer and vidalia chopper)
• 1 cups sugar
• 2 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• dash or two of salt

   2011

Applesauce:

I peeled, cored and chopped several apples and put them in a pot. (approx 3 lbs)  I covered them just enough with water, and turned on the heat.  I let them simmer until apples were tender– about 15-20 minutes.  Squirt about 1 Tb of lemon juice on top, add a little sugar, depending on how sweet you like it– and then blend in a blender til desired consistency.  I only added 1/4 cup of sugar, but some people would prefer to add much more.  Chill.

I served this for dinner with my Truffle Pot Roast and the kids just gobbled it up– adding just a little cinnamon to the tops of their servings.

Here is the Post Roast Recipe from 2009

Beef Roast

A new addition to my 1st Baking/Cooking day of Fall:

Apple Pie