All About Apples

Photo Caption: That's my niece, Belle, complete with face paint art,on our apple picking outing!

I had a reader ask for more information about apple orchards yesterday.

One on the best places that I've found for finding apple orchard locations is HERE.

I live in the Chicagoland area and the one my family and I all go to each year is called Boggio's and it's in Granville, Illinois. It's a little bit of a drive for me but my sisters live in that area so we make a family day of it. We normally go on the weekend when they have craft vendors there and a petting zoo. I've found that the staff is super friendly and their prices are very reasonable. They have a hayride that will take you out to the orchards, which in itself, is fun. If you do stop by, be sure to go into their store and buy some apple cider donuts. They are phenomenal and worth every second you may have to wait for them. I honestly cannot even talk about them without craving some! :) There was a long line when I was there last and I waited maybe 20 minutes but they were piping hot fresh and honestly were the best donuts I've ever had. (I think you can order them ahead of time, too?)

I picked two bags of apples this year with hopes of making up a lot of applesauce and trying to make my first apple pie. Well, the kids loved the fresh apples so much, that I barely had enough for the applesauce! :)

I use the Crockpot Applesauce recipe HERE. It's super easy to make and the smell of the baking apples is like a free air freshener! If you are planning on having a Halloween party, I recommend whipping up a pot of some and letting your guests tell you how great your house smells! :)

I tried something new this year. I took part of the applesauce that I made and I poured it into an ice cube tray. I wish I had thought to put some sticks in a few because they would have made nice pops for the kids. But my thinking is to throw some in a nice bowl of oatmeal this winter. Yum! :)

If you are looking for more apple ideas, Utah Deal Diva has a great posting HERE. I think I'm going to try the dried cinnamon apples recipe! Also, I saw that she used an Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer. I always thought these were more expensive and when I saw it was $16.99, I used some SwagBucks I had to get one. I figured the kids would have some fun with it over the years. And I've never seen these in the thrift stores by us.

Do you have any apple ideas/recipes/tips on your blog that you'd like to link-up to? Please be sure the link is to the posting and not your home page. Thanks!

Also, do any of you have any apple orchards that you recommend in your area? You never know...your recommendation could help another one of my readers have a great family outing!

What do you all do with the apples that you pick?