the arugula files

It's Decorative Gourd Season! Pumpkins, Apple Picking, Donuts, the Apple House, and a Recipe for Caramel Corn

What's your take in swearing in blog posts?  Sometimes I really want to throw some F-bombs out there, but I wimp out.  My mom reads this blog!

The thing is that sometimes swearing is really funny.  Take this McSweeney's article,  "IT’S DECORATIVE GOURD SEASON, MOTHER*******."  Decorative gourds mean fall, as the article hilariously notes.  I've held off on welcoming fall until this last week.  I've been strolling around town in sandals, mostly tightless--in denial, really.  

Time for apple picking, pumpkins, our annual trip to the Apple Donut House, and, bonus!, a recipe for caramel corn.  

This sh*t is going to be so seasonal.

Apple Picking at Stribling Orchard

I'm smitten by one thing these days: the weather.  It's fall in DC, my favorite time of year.  Hearing the leaves do the cha-cha on the street, drinking seasonal beer at the Black Squirrel, watching local drag queens sprint down 17th Street, and picking apples are, for me, the measures of fall.

Apple picking is the best way to embrace the weather.  My favorite place to pick my own is Stribling Orchard, located about 60 minutes from DC.  There are farm animals, picnic tables, and a small country store that sells pie.

If you are from New England forget about Macintosh Apples.  Let it go.  Now is the time to pick York, Nittany, Crispens, and Granny Smith.  What to do with all those apples? Bring them home and bake an apple pie, apple cake, applesauce, and, when your sweet tooth falls out, top them on pizza and stuff them in sandwiches.

If you are looking for somewhere close by to eat, try the Apple House, about 15 minutes further down the road on Route 66.  The kitchen serves all day breakfast and specialty sandwiches like the Redskins Rockin' Rooster.  Most importantly: they sell spiced apple donuts. 

If Stribling Orchard is too far for you, check out Metrocurean's Apple Picking Guide for other orchards in the area.

 

 

Apple Pie with Almond-Brown Sugar Crumb

I have so many apples from apple picking, even though I didn't really pick any.  It's true, we drove to the orchard, walked around, then decided that the apples on the trees weren't so great, so we bought some from the orchard store instead.

"A Bull Walks Into an Apple Orchard and Says to the Pig..." (Apple Picking at Stribling Orchard)

Today Marcus and I went apple picking at Stribling Orchard in Markham, Virginia.  When we arrived at the farm, a very interesting character greeted us:

Applesauce Spice Cake (or the last of my apples)

This is the perfect cake for brunch.  Check it out in this internet recipe treasure chest.

Homemade Applesauce. Yes Way!

I took 8 pounds of Macintosh apples that I picked at Stribling Orchard and turned them into the most delicious apple sauce I've ever tasted. No way. Yup, that's what I did.  And it's official, I'll never buy applesauce from the store again.  Okay, so I never really bought applesauce anyway.  That's because I wasn't a fan; it tasted too much like baby food to me.  Even the fancy dancy apple sauce I once bought at the farmers market was only so-so. 

When you find yourself staring at 10 pounds of apples that are about to go bad things change.  I got the delicious recipe and inspiration from Elise.  I made a few adjustments to her recipe (only about 1/8 a cup of brown sugar and 1/8 cup of white sugar and two cinnamon sticks to my 8 pounds of apples) to make the applesauce less sweet and more cinnamon-y.  You should adjust it to fit your palette.

Picking Apples

The weather this weekend demanded a trip to Stribling Orchard in Markham, VA.  I even found some Macintosh apples (10 pounds!). 

This apple picker came in handy.  Though, it seemed to bruise the apples.  Marcus devised a clever strategy: leave one apple in the bottom of the wire basket to protect the rest. 

Stribling has picnic tables, a country store, and donkeys.  There were goats too, but they hid in the barn all day.

The orchard is only about 60 minutes from DC.  Now I have to figure out what to make with all my delicious apples!