Apple Orchard Adventures

Today Steven and I went to a local orchard - The Berry Patch - in Nevada. If you live in the area, I'd suggest you stop by, or find another orchard that interests you. The Berry Patch still had lots of things to go out and pick around the farm - various types of apples, pumpkins and gourds, and even raspberries! The man who was working out front even told us where to find all the best raspberries in a more secluded spot from where the hayride takes patrons. We came home with eight pounds of apples, 1 pound of red ripe raspberries, and four pumpkins - all for less than $20! We're going to use at least two of the pumpkins to make pumpkin pie, we might cut the other two into Jack-o-lanterns. Half the apples have already been cut down and are in the process of being made into a crisp (I'm on a break until the butter warms up a little bit). The other half will probably just be part of my lunches and after-work-snacks for the next couple of weeks. And the raspberries... I don't know! I might just eat them alone or alongside morning muesli... but I really want to try to find something fun and creative to do with them. I might throw a few into the apple crisp just to see what happens.

Here's the Apple Crisp recipe I found on allrecipes.com:

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups butter
• 2 quarts peeled, cored and sliced apples (That's somewhere between 8 large apples to 16 medium apples.)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, oatmeal, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar. Cut butter into mixture until crumbly.
3. Take half of the mixture and pat it into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
4. Cover crumb mixture with apple slices, then sprinkle apple slices with remaining crumb mixture.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 to 50 minutes or until apples are tender.

Mmmm.... autumn tastes good.

Pank Recipe

Mmmm... homemade pancakes. Or, Panks, as we call them here in the Athay house. The snow is falling here in Iowa, and I'm making breakfast.

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in milk, egg and oil. Mix until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Easy-Pancakes/Detail.aspx

Egg Salad Recipe

I have a real problem with not preparing, packing, and bringing lunch with me to work. This usually ends up with me wandering downtown to get something to eat at one of the restaurants or delis. That won't really work with this "new lifestyle" I'm trying out, so I'm leaning on an old favorite to get me through this first week: egg salad pitas.

Ingredients:

• 8 hard-cooked eggs, diced (locally produced at a nearby farm)
• 1 cup mayonnaise (you could do Miracle Whip if that's your preference)
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped onions (locally grown)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dill weed (or less... I'm not an enormous fan of dill weed)

Directions

• Hard boil the eggs, dice them all up. Take the rest of the ingredients and mix them in with the eggs. Shove into a pita pocket or between bread slices. Show off to your co workers or share with your family.

My best friend in high school used to bring me one of these every day for lunch my junior year. I'm excited to eat them at work tomorrow.