Apple Pickin' With the Girls

On Friday I mentioned our quick trip to the Apple Orchard.
I made the mistake of telling the girls early Wednesdsay morning that I thought we would go pick apples when I was done with work. By the time my workday came to an end, the weather was looking funny, but there was no turning back. I was staring at two excited little faces that were not going to take "another day" for an answer.


I reluctantly packed them up and headed North prepared for the worst, but optimistically hoping for the best.


This is Sarah's third year pickin' at the same place and she knows the drill.
She went straight to the little farm market to get a box for the apples and then took a seat and waited for the bus to come and take us up into the orchard. Little Reagan was just taking it all in as this was her first time.


The bus seemed to take longer than normal and we were all getting a little restless. I spied this very cool out of service bus in the barn and told the girls to go stand in front for a photo.


Of course I didn't get one shot of the two of them together, but I will take what I can get and thought that these were really cute!


I LOVE this one of Sassy Sarah....


and I couldn't decide which one I liked better, so I am posting both the color and the black and white. I had a little fun editing these. In my opinion that funky colored school bus called for a more artistic look.


Finally the REAL bus showed up and took us way up into the fields.
Once we got out, I knew our trip was going to be cut short.
Let's just say, in addtion to the threatening weather, we had a few other small issues to deal with and it caused Sarah to have a mini meltdown.


Reagan continued to pick as many apples as she could reach.


She filled her basket....


and then she was ready to go....and it was a good thing because just like that, it started to rain!


We did not pick near as many apples as we normally do, but we still had enough to make a few apple desserts this weekend.

I usually make an apple bundt cake and I have posted that recipe the last two years. You can click HERE for that recipe. That is still my all time favorite apple dessert, but I wanted to try something else this year so I decided to make apple breads instead. The apple bread is perfect with a cup of coffee or tea. A little more dense than the cake, but still very good!

Apple Bread
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups diced apples
1/2 cup chopped walnuts(optional)
1 teaspoon flour



Mix flour, cinnamon, soda, salt and baking powder together.
Beat eggs and add sugar and oil.
Add vanilla and dry ingredients.
Stir in apples.
Mix walnuts in a tsp of flour and add to batter.
Pour into 2 greased loaf pans.
Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes.


I think what I like most about this bread is the play on textures.
The outside is a a little hard and crunchy, but the inside is very soft and loaded with those tender apples. You can also really taste the cinnamon..... I tend to get a little heavy handed with the cinnamon.

I am hoping that a second trip to the orchard will be in our future.
Pat likes the bread and the bundt cake, but his favorite is deep dish apple pie and I will need a lot of apples to make one of those.