A Trip to the Orchards

Brian, Emily, and I have established a lot of fun seasonal traditions over the years. And despite what Matt Bellassai has to say, apple picking is one of our favorite fall activities! For the past several years we have visited Wilklow Orchards in Highland, New York. We love their amazing selection of apples and are addicted to their apple cider donuts. This year we found the trees overflowing with ripe, juicy apples and picked over fifty pounds to take home with us! If you have any amazing apple recipes please send them my way. 

Apple Picking 2013, 2012, and 2011

Scenes from the weekend.

This weekend included two of my favorite June traditions: Kate's Annual Ice Cream Social and strawberry picking in the Catskills. On Saturday a group of amazing women gathered at Kate's apartment in Brooklyn to sample artisanal ice creams. She found an awesome variety of flavors this year ranging from Grapefruit Campari Sorbet to The Munchies from Ample Hills. My favorite was Coolhaus's Balsamic, Fig, & Mascarpone. It was so delicious!

On Sunday Brian, Emily, and I drove up to Kelder's Farm in Kerhonkson, NY to pick strawberries. Our friend Eric and his daughter Heidi joined us for the day and we had a wonderful time. We stopped in New Paltz for lunch beforehand at Main Course. Our farm to table meal was excellent! I can't wait to eat fresh berries all week. We came home with four quarts full! How was your weekend?

Fall Favorite.

One of our favorite fall traditions as a family of three is to go apple picking in upstate New York. This year we returned to Wilklow Orchards in Highland, NY. Their orchards are beautiful and their apple cider donuts are always hot, delicious, and coated in cinnamon sugar. Let's get real, the donuts are my favorite part! We devoured a half dozen as soon as we arrived and then spent hours wandering rows of Empire, Macintosh, Cortland, and Golden Delicious apples. I was so excited to fill our bag with lots of Macintosh apples, which are my personal favorite.

Since our day at the orchards we have enjoyed homemade apple crisp, apple sauce, apple oatmeal, and lots of apples and peanut butter. If you have any favorite apple recipes, please send them my way!

Heat Wave

Our day at Canobie Lake Park this year was especially steamy, with temperatures nearing 100 degrees all afternoon. We braved the heat, lathered up the sunscreen, and cherished every minute spent in the shade. We really struggled the first hour we were there, and considered leaving after sweating more than we have ever sweat before, but after an hour in the dark, air conditioned theater with a Katy Perry show we were refreshed and ready to power through. We had a blast riding all the attractions, devouring the most delicious fresh cut french fries, and treating ourselves to fried dough for dessert.

I was so excited to ride the ferris wheel, which Brian operated back when he was 17 years old and lived near the park. He explained the mechanics as we waited in line, and boasted about his ferris wheel experience to the girl loading up the ride. I think he was pretty excited, too. We got to ride right as the sun set, and had amazing views of the park and the lake as we circled up and down. It was the perfect way to end our day at the amusement park!