I am a Honey Bee

All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel

apples

Apple and Mushroom Wild Rice Stuffing- SRC

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I have a funny story.

It happened on Saturday, but it all starts with something that happened on Thursday. Kinda. Sorta.

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See, on Thursday our wonderful dog walker emailed me asking for me to call her. She wanted to let me know that Kemper’s left eye was all puffy. Not the eye actually, but all around it. Top and bottom lid. My poor bug eyed dog was even more bug eyed. It looked like he was punched. Well, a trip to the vet later, he was having an allergic reaction to something. Nothing in his diet or in the environment changed. Nothing that we could think of. So, he had to get a benadryl shot and keep taking it 3x a day for 3 days, plus pepcid for his stomach as allergic reactions will often upset their stomach. (The things you learn.)

Fast forward 24 hours to Friday night and my stomach starts itching. No big. It’s the winter. My skin is dry.

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Then it’s Saturday morning and my feet and hands start itching. My hands get splotchy and a bit puffy, enough to take my ring off. So while Kemper is getting Benadryl dose I take a pill too. What the hell is going on!?!? Anyway, Autumn and I then go grocery shopping. Enough of a distraction for me to stop scratching my palms. By the time we got home it was time for Autumn’s nap so I put her down and then got the perishables away. I was crashing so I figured I’d take a 5 minute catnap, or maybe a 15 minute nap. I’m usually great at getting myself up at a certain time, but I didn’t do so well as I woke up at 10.40. And panicked. Why? Because I had to make mac and cheese to bring over to our friend’s house for 1pm. I sprung up and stumbled into the kitchen while freaking out ‘How did you let me sleep so late? I gotta make mac and cheese. We are never gonna get to Mark and Allie’s on time!!!” “Umm, we’re going there tomorrow…” And so there we were. So I took a deep breath, stumbled back to the sofa and fell back asleep.

And that is why you should buy NON-DROWSY Benedryl. Noted.

Now it’s time to discuss this amazing side dish.

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For this month’s Secret Recipe Club post I was given Sarah’s blog Curious Cuisiniere. Sarah shares her adventures; whether it’s in the kitchen, traveling or her recent bakery position.  It all makes for well balanced blog with wonderful recipes including the one I chose for this months SRC.

Sarah shares hundreds of recipes, thankfully all very well organized. I enjoyed browsing through them as she shares a unique range of dishes from all different cultures. As I had been focusing on Thanksgiving recipes I picked her Apple and Mushroom Wild Rice Stuffing as it sounded easy to make – just about 30 minutes- and really flavorful with the layers of flavors from the apples, mushrooms, raisins, and, of course, the wild rice.

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This Apple and Mushroom Wild Rice Stuffing is the perfect side dish for Thanksgiving.  It’s off the beaten path which will make for a tasty alternative to stuffing but goes great with roasted turkey or other fowl.  The earthy texture and filling taste of the dish makes for a hearty side for tummy and palette.  The wild mushrooms mixed with the apples and long grain rice are a wonderful combination.

I changed things up a bit by using fresh mushrooms, as opposed to canned. But the recipe was so great that there was little personalizing needed. I did garnish the stuffing with chopped pecans and dried cranberries but you can leave it plain. Or you might even want to add some pecans into the rice. I love pecans but Autumn doesn’t do too well when nuts are mixed into things. She just spits them out. ha!

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Apple and Mushroom Wild Rice Stuffing

Makes roughly 2 quarts

Ingredients

  • 3 Cups water
  • 1/2 Cup wild rice
  • 1 Cup white rice
  • 2 Tablespoos butter, divided
  • 1 Tablespoon chicken or vegetable broth
  • 8 ounces of baby bella mushrooms, white button mushrooms are okay too
  • 1 medium onion, chopped (approximately 1 Cup)
  • 2 stalks celery, chopped (approximately 1 Cup)
  • 1 medium green apple, cored and chopped (approximately 1 Cup)
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 Cup chicken or vegetable broth
  • 1/2 Cup raisins
  • 3 Tablespoons parsley, dry
  • 1 teaspoon thyme, ground dry
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Process

  1. In a large sauce pan, mix water and wild rice and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered for 5 min. Add white rice, turn the heat down to low, and simmer, covered, for 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender, but not overcooked. Note: You may have some water left over in the pot when the rice is tender, simply transfer the rice to a strainer to eliminate the excess liquid.
  2. Meanwhile, sauté the mushrooms in 1 Tablespoon butter and 1 Tablespoon chicken broth over medium heat. Cook until browned and reduced in size, approximately 4-5 minutes. Remove from the skillet.
  3. Add 1 Tablespoon butter to the skillet. Once melted, add the onion and celery. Sautee for 3-4 minutes. Add 1 Tablespoon chicken broth and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the apples, and garlic and sauté an additional 3-4 min. Remove from heat.
  4. Add the onion mixture to rice along with remaining stuffing ingredients.
  5. Stuffing is ready to serve, or be stuffed inside a turkey.

Inspired by Curious Cuisiniere

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Check out all the other great Secret Recipe Club posts this month!

 

And be sure to check out my 3 years of Secret Recipe Club posts!!!!

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Overnight Apple Pie Breakfast Pudding

OVERNIGHT APPLE PIE BREAKFAST PUDDING

You guys have you seen Daniel Radcliffe rapping?

It has made my life complete.

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Seriously, I’ve watched his little performance on  The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at least a dozen times since Wednesday.

Obviously, I’ve loved the Harry Potter books and the movies. I don’t care to share how many times I’ve seen them. And we saw Daniel on Broadway in How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Which was amazing. But this has taken things to a whole new level for me. It’s just so cool.

Anyway, it’s Halloween so I’m here with a Trick AND a Treat.

Normally, I post a pie recipe but I wanted to change things up, a Trick if you will, by posting this breakfast recipe. It’s flavors are based upon apple pie so that is where the Treat part comes in. Clever, no?

Well, it’s super simple and I swear that you will love it. I love that it came together in about 5 minutes and then I just had it do its thing in the fridge overnight. I’ve made overnight oats often because I love how I have breakfast ready for me in the morning. I ate plenty of oatmeal while I was on maternity leave since oats are really healthy, filling, and comforting. I was all about warm comforting goodness in the cold months while I was home… hello, Polar Vortex!!

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Some days I have the chance to whip up eggs but more often than not I try to have something already prepped, like overnight oats or large batches of precooked steel cut oats, since spending $5 on a breakfast sandwich while I run into work is just annoying. And dumb. And unhealthy.

So while overnight oats are da bomb, I love how the added chia seeds really changes things up and adds a lot of fun flavor and texture to the recipe. I love how they pump up and get really creamy. Chia pudding- a fav! This breakfast pudding is just a great combo of those 2 things.

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Enjoy an Overnight Apple Pie Breakfast Pudding. And go watch HP rap. I swear it will put a smile on your face.

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Overnight Apple Pie Breakfast Pudding

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 Cups rolled oats
  • 1/4 Cup chia seeds
  • 2 1/2 Cups almond milk
  • 2 apples, diced (I used Macon apples)
  • 1/3 Cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Process

  1. Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well.
  2. Divide the mixture between 2 vessels. Cover and store in the refrigerator overnight.
  3. Stir prior to enjoying. Warm in the microwave, if you prefer it warm. Can be stored for up to 3 days.

Deep Dish Apple Pie with a Cheddar Rosemary Crust

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I might have had this for breakfast. A slice. Not the whole pie.

And it was gooood. Dang good.

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I had such high hopes to whip this pie up last week after we got home from our trip to Raleigh on Tuesday night but it was not in the cards. I was just so zonked after work both Wednesday and Thursday nights from playing catch up and then I was dragging myself out of bed in the morning (as usual) and then it was Friday morning… crap!! So I missed posting a pie recipe last week, which really, really bums me out. But I have to admit that if it means I’ve posted 50 pies instead of 52, I’m still okay with that. 50 pies… wow.

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I used the apples from when we went apple picking last weekend with Price’s mom and sister in New Hampshire. It’s a fun activity but it meant more this year as it was Autumn’s first time. She certainly enjoyed herself as she bit right into her apple as it hung on the tree.

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If you are going apple picking soon, or just picking up some apples while going grocery shopping, then I strongly suggest that you make a pie. A big deep dish pie. And one with cheddar cheese in the crust definitely doesn’t hurt.

Side note: I used to dread making crusts but now I really enjoy it. I’ve enjoyed all the pies I’ve made this year but my deminished fear related to crusts has been the best part of this whole thing. yay!

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We all know that apples and cheddar are a great combination when we are snacking. BUT just because we want dessert we shouldn’t have to miss that combo. So I decided to make a pie using apples and cheddar. I know of some diners that will put a slice of cheddar on top of the slice of pie prior to warming it up when they serve it to you. That’s a fine way to get cheddar to snuggle up to your apple pie, but cheddar IN the crust is so much better than just being on it.

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And since we have a rosemary bush on our itty bitty back deck I grabbed some of that to kick up the savory flavors. Kinda like a cheddar rosemary cracker. I think it adds a nice little elements to the crust and pie.

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Deep Dish Apple Pie with a Cheddar Rosemary Crust

Makes 1 deep dish pie

Ingredients

For The Crust

  • 2 1/2 Cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
  • 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • 6 ounces sharp white cheddar cheese, coarsely grated
  • 1/3- 1/2 cup ice water

For the Pie

  • 4 1/2 pounds of granny smith apples
  • 1/2 Cup sugar
  • 1/2 Cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 Cup flour
  • 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

Process

  1. To make the crust, in the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt, sugar, and the rosemary. Add the butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds. Add the grated cheese and pulse to combine.
  2. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; do not process for more than 30 seconds.
  3. On a floured surface, gently work the dough together. Divide the dough into two equal balls. Flatten the balls and  wrap them with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator.
  4. While the dough is chilling, combine the sugars, flour, and cinnamon together in a small bowl, set aside.
  5. Peel the apples in about 1 pound batches. Cut the apples into 4 pieces around the core, then slice each piece into 1/4″ thick slices. Add the slices to a large bowl and add some of the sugar mixture, mix well to coat all the pieces. Repeat with all of the apples.
  6. Preheat oven to 400. Line a rimmed cookie sheet with wax paper.
  7. Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator. On a floured work surface, roll out one of the disks to be large enough to fit your deep dish pie dish. Place the pie dough in the dish and trim so there is an extra 1/2″ beyond the edge of the dish.
  8. Scoop the apple pie filling into the pie plate. Leave any juices behind in the bowl. Top off the apples with a few small pieces of butter.
  9. Roll out second pie crust to be large enough to cover the pie. Carefully lay the crust over the apples. Fold the top layer edge under the bottom edge, then pinch together around the pie. Cut 4 small slits around the pie and make a tiny cross slit at the top.
  10. Place the pie on the prepared cookie sheet. Bake for for 75-90 minutes or until crust is golden and apples are tender.
  11. Place the pie on a cooking rack and allow to cool before slicing and serving. Store any remaining pie in an airtight container for up to several days.

Crust is adapted from Martha Stewart, Pie from I am a Honey Bee

 

Deep Dish Apple Pie

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I feel like I’m breaking the rules today.

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I’m wearing white pants! And it’s after Labor Day! Whatever, I think that rule is kinda old fashion but still I do feel like I am breaking a rule.


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But it’s gonna be 90 today!!! HOT AND HUMID! So it doesn’t feel like summer is ‘over’ so I’ll enjoy my white capri’s today!

It has been hot and humid all week and I’ve loved it. Well, I didn’t love having our cranking away at 375 for an hour and 15 minutes for this pie. But once the pie, and I, cooled off it was all worth it. That first bite was killer.

Anyway, what are you doing this weekend? I have a deadline on Monday so I am going to work tomorrow for a few hours for blissful uninterrupted work. Then our Sunday is pretty open. I’m hoping that we complete the refinishing of our dining table chairs that we started a few weeks ago. Fingers crossed. One thing I do know about the weekend is that we are definitely going to enjoy this apple pie!!

I think you can’t beat 4 1/2 pounds of tart apples that are coated in cinnamon and sugar and piled high in a homemade buttery pie crust. Yep, you read that right… 4 1/2 pounds of apples!! That is how you get a deep dish apple pie! You need lots of apples!!

And you need to make the pie crust. As I’ve said before, I’m a big fan of pre-made store-bought pie crust but this pie just deserves it. I swear.

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I just bought these granny smith apples at the grocery store but I’m telling you I can’t wait to go apple picking. We had a blast last time we went so I’m really looking forward to going this fall. And of course, the best part about apple picking (besides the fresh apple cider donuts!) is the cooking and baking afterwards. Yay! More pies!!

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Deep Dish Apple Pie

Makes a 9″ Pie

Ingredients

Crust

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, chilled
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

Filling

  • 4 1/2 pounds of granny smith apples
  • 1/2 Cup sugar
  • 1/2 Cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 Cup flour
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

Process

  1. To make the crust, in the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds.
  2. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be careful not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
  3. Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap in plastic. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 1 hour.
  4. While the dough is chilling, combine the sugars, flour, and cinnamon together in a small bowl, set aside.
  5. Begin to peel the apples in about 1 pound batches. Cut the apples into 4 pieces around the core, then slice each piece into 1/4″ thick slices. Add the slices to a large bowl and add some of the sugar mixture, mix well to coat all the pieces. Repeat with all of the apples.
  6. Preheat oven to 400. Line a rimmed cookie sheet with wax paper.
  7. Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator. On a floured work surface, roll out one of the disks to be large enough to fit your deep dish pie dish. Place the pie dough in the dish and trim so there is an extra 1/2″ beyond the edge of the dish.
  8. Scoop the apple pie filling into the pie plate. Leave any juices behind in the bowl. Top off the apples with a few small pieces of butter.
  9. Roll out second pie crust to be large enough to cover the pie. Carefully lay the crust over the apples. Fold the top layer edge under the bottom edge, then pinch together around the pie. Cut 8 small slits around the pie and make a tiny cross slit at the top. is golden brown.
  10. Place the pie on the prepared cookie sheet. Bake for for 75-90 minutes or until crust is golden and apples are tender.
  11. Place the pie on a cooking rack and allow to cool before slicing and serving. Store any remaining pie in an airtight container for up to several days.

Crust Sourced from Martha Stewart

Crock Pot Baked Apples- SRC

Crock Pot Baked Apples

Every night Price and I are up between 2 am-4am, depending on when Autumn has fallen asleep. Ideally, we get her down between 9-10.30 and then we immediately brush our teeth and drive into bed as well. Gotta maximize on our sleep! Anyway, there are some pretty interesting things on TV in the middle of the night.

Sometimes we watch something we’ve DVR’d but other times we’ll find some random thing to watch while I’m pumping and he’s feeding Autumn. Lately, we’ve been watching the Australian Open. So weird to be watching live tennis in the middle of the night. But to change it up, the other night we watched the first episode of Wahlburgers, a reality show about the burger joint run by the Wahlberg family. Made me want a burger in the middle of the night. Hello… always hungry now!

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Other nights we turn on Weatherscan and just so happen to leave it on for like an hour as we sometimes are zombies in the middle of the night. There is just something so relaxing about their music in the middle of the night. no?

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Anyway, besides the TV we watch in the middle of the night, I often end up browsing Pinterest. My pins are pretty varied but lately I’ve been thinking about slow cooker recipes. I have fallen deep in love with my slow cooker. It just makes things so much easier now with a new baby. Between feeding her, changing her, snuggling with her my time gets sucked up pretty quickly. And it’s not like I have any problem with that but that is the way things go. Basically it just means it’s time to reinvent how we typically get meals on the table.

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Since slow cooker recipes are a big part of our life now, it made perfect sense that Price picked out these Crock Pot Baked Apples for this month’s Secret Recipe Club. This month I had Emily’s blog called Life on Food. Emily has lived all over, including Iowa, Maine, and Connecticut, and her travels are reflected in the recipes she features on her blog. Totally jealous she gets to Disney every year too!!

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These Crock Pot Baked Apples are killer. Well, actually, I don’t like baked apples. So I took Price’s word for it when he said they were really, really good. I know, how can I not like baked apples?!?! It’s a texture thing that has to do with the skin. But Price wanted them so I made them. That’s what happens when you love someone… you make them baked apples! And then your house smells amazing!!

Make these for yourself, or at the least for someone you love!

Crock Pot Baked Apples

Makes 6 apples

Ingredients

  • 6 Gala or Macintosh apples
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup diced walnuts
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup apple cider or apple juice
  • 2 tablespoons orange liquor (optional)

Process

  1. Remove the stem, core, and seeds from the center of each apple while keeping the bottom of the apple. This basically creates a bowl shape.
  2. In a large bowl, mix brown sugar, walnuts, butter, cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Fill the apples with the filling and place them in the crock-pot. Pour in the liquids into the bottom of the crock pot.
  3. Cover and cook 2 1/2 to 3 hours on high heat until the apples are soft and begin to collapse.

Adapted from Life on Food

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Apple Pie Squares

When I was recently doing a bit of random blog browsing on Rachel’s blog I saw this recipe for Apple Pie Squares and I knew I would have to make them this year. After I went apple picking I knew that making these was only a matter of time, finding time. Well after a crazy 2 weeks that included a surprise trip to Chicago (more on that later!) I finally had some time to stay home and bake. I’m not saying they take long, I just felt the impulse to basically unpack everything in the kitchen before hand and put it in a new cabinet/drawer/bin before doing anything cooking related.

 

 

Before making them I discussed with Rachel that I don’t have a food processor large enough to process all the base ingredients together so I would have to adapt the recipe a bit and I’d see how it works out. Well, folks if you have a food processor then follow Rachel’s instructions, you don’t have one then follow mine. These came out really well so I imagine that you can make it work out for you as well. If you can’t break down oats in something like a mini prep which I borrowed from my friend) then you just carry on. Maybe I’d add an extra egg white to help it come together easier. The important thing is that you make these apple pie squares!

 

 

Truthfully I was a bit nervous about enjoying these because I don’t like apple crisps, or any crisps for that matter, since they have an oat crumble on top. Well, it turns out I like the taste and just hate the texture.  Blending the oats kept the great oaty taste but completely changed the texture. Perfect!! In regards to adapting the recipe I basically stuck with it but I used much more apples, basically because I felt like it, so I had to increase the bake time. Also, I didn’t have plain yogurt at home so I used vanilla which gave this a nice a la mode taste to it.These were a hit at work and I bet they will be a hit when you make them too.

Apple Pie Squares

Makes 16 squares

Ingredients

For the base and topping:

  • 1 1/2 C flour
  • 1/2 C brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 C oats
  • 1/2 C butter, cubed
  • 1 egg white
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

For the filling:

  • 6 oz of vanilla yogurt
  • 1/2 tbsp sugar
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 4 C diced, peeled apple

Process

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 8×8 pan by lining with foil or parchment.
  2. In a large bowl, mix the peeled, diced apples together with the sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Once evenly coated, add the yogurt and mix to coat all pieces. Set aside.
  3. In a food processor,  blend the oats until a fine meal is created.  Add the oats to a large bowl containing flour, brown sugar, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. Mix thoroughly to combine. Add the butter incorporate with your hands/forks/pastry blender until the dough is crumbly. Remove 1 cup of the mix, set aside. Add 1 egg white, blend until mixture is just combined.
  4. Evenly press moist mixture into the baking pan. Bake crust for 10 minutes.
  5. Spoon filling over the pare-baked crust spreading out as evenly as possible. Sprinkle reserved topping mixture over apples. Press down to flatten just slightly. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown.
  6. Cool in the pan then transfer to the fridge to chill for at least one hour. Remove from pan carefully and slice into 16 squares. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Individual Apple Pie Tarts

One of my favorite things to do is rip out all the recipes in magazine that I think I would enjoy making. There is a big difference tween the ‘ooo this looks good’ recipe to the ‘I need to make this one day/right now’ recipe. Then I trim my recipes pages up and file them stack them all up so I can go through them and pick out things to make. Well, I recently came across a recipe of Individual Plum Tarts from my Rachael Ray magazine.

 

 

I made Individual Apple Pie Tarts by swapping out the plums for apples and adding some typical spices used in apple pies. These are easy with a capital E! The puff pastry does most of the work for you and you just need to dice up some apples and quickly mix with the sugar and spices. The important thing is to have a non stick sheet or one that is coated with non stick cooking spray so the puff pastry doesn’t stick. The rest is a breeze! And you’ll end up with really yummy little apple pie tarts!

Individual Apple Pie Tarts

Makes 6

Ingredients

  • 1 sheet of puffed pastry, 1/2 pound
  • 3 cups of finely diced baking apples (approximately 3 apples)
  • 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • pinch of ground nutmeg
  • butter

Process

  1. Let puff pastry thaw according to package’s instructions.
  2. While the puff pastry is thawing, peel, core and finely dice the apples. In the bowl, combine the apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
  3. Unfold the puff pastry and cut along the 2 seams to get 3 strips, then cut those in half to get 6 rectangles.
  4. Lay the rectangles out on a greased non-stick baking sheet, add 1/2 cup of the apple mixture to each rectangle keeping a 1/2″ border around the edges clean of apples. Add 2 tiny pieces of butter to the mound of apples.
  5. In a 375 degree oven, bake until golden, about 25-30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Ice cream or caramel sauce are great additions when serving.

Apple Picking At Russell Orchard in Ispwich, MA

Two weeknds ago I went apple picking with some coworkers and had a fantastic time together getting bags full of apples. We went up to Russell Orchards in Ispwich as it is one of the closest places to go apple picking around Boston. It was my first time going there for apple picking (Price and I had been there for berry picking years ago). The day was beautiful and we had so much fun picking bags of varieties of apples.

Prior to my friends’ arrival I took part in a wine & cider tasting in their general store from their own winery. For $5 I sampled 2 hard ciders, 2 fruit wines, and received a branded glass. They sample different ciders and wines (11% alcohol)every week. This week they sampled their Apple Cider, Perry, Jostaberry, and Dry Blueberry.

Apple Cider- “A very sweet and fruity dessert cider, great with apple pie” … This was very enjoyable. I liked the sweet subtle flavor.

Perry- “A slightly sweet hard pear drink” … I wouldn’t have even guessed this was pear. It was lovely but was not very fruity, esp pear like.

Jostaberry- “The berry is a cross between the gooseberry and the black currant. This wine has a tart, fruity taste.” … I loved this red fruit wine. It was tart but not pucker inducing. I liked the flavors, specifically the currant flavor,

Dry Blueberry- “Similar to the Blueberry, except this wine is aged in French oak. Bold like a Cabernet with a subtle berry flavor” … I didn’t finish my sample of this, neither did the 2 women next to me. They must not have been a fan of the smokey flavor. Had it been described as smokey I would have not had it as I for like smokey flavors, esp wine. If you like very dry and smokey then this is a great wine for you.

I’m glad my coworker picked Russell Orchard as it was convenient to get to, packed full of apples, and was a beautiful place.

Beautiful, beautiful apples.

It’s hard to go wrong with acres of apples, but they organize their PYO (pick your own) fields well. Everything was labeled with clear signs on each end of the row. Having gone to other orchards that just use flags as boundaries I found that Russell’s fields were very easy to navigate.

The fields are a short walk from the entrance so they offer hayrides to get to and from the fields. We deicded not to do this as the lines was l-o-n-g but it looked like a lot of fun. Personally, I think you should walk to the fields and take the hayride back after you (and your kids) are tired from walking around and carring a bag of apples.

For $15 you get a peck sized bag, which holds about 10-12 lbs of apples. I wanted a wheel barrel full but that was not an option nor, I assume, in my budget. I stuck with only picking apples that were good for baking, which were Cortland, Empire, Jonagold, and Honeycrisp. Their chart was helpful for picking which apples were best for baking, sauce, dessert (eating??), and juice. Their site says that it is cash only for weekends and Monday holidays but they did accept debit cards by the general store. You just need to buy your bag there at the store instead of getting it at the orchards

Before we left I got a loaf of cinnamon bread that we enjoyed for breakfast the following week. While there were long lines for their cider donuts I did not get any. I much prefer cider donuts that are coated in cinnamon and sugar while they are fresh from the fryer. Russell makes a plain donut and I just can’t justify the calories on something I don’t love.

I think this is great orchard to visit in the summer for berry picking and in the fall for apple picking. Don’t miss out on picking local fruit at the peak of season!

Gotta go get a pumpkin next, dontcha think?

____________________

Russell Orchards

143 Argilla Road

Ipswich, MA

(978) 356-5366

open 9-6 daily

Apple Pie Trifle

This Apple Pie Trifle is a wonderful combination of vanilla cake, soft cinnamon apples, and whipped cream. The caramel drizzle on top is the perfect finishing touch!

Post Contains Affiliate Links. Read my full disclosure HERE

Apple Pie Trifle is the perfect fall dessert for everyone! It’s a great combination of cake and pie so it’s sure to make everyone happy to dig in. Thankfully, it makes enough for a hungry party so everyone can enjoy some. Yum!

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Apple Cupcakes with an Apple Butter Buttercream Frosting

From the first time I flipped open my October 2010 issue of Every Day with Rachel Ray, I knew I would be making the apple cupcakes in there. I love fall because of apples. Apple pie, apple donuts, apple cider, candied apples, caramel apples, apple and cheddar omlets… the list goes on. so when I saw apple cupcake I knew I would be trying these out.

The cupcakes sounded great as they were described in the magazine, but I decided to give them my own twist. I had spent the day prior to making the cupcakes canning various things, including apple butter. I loved spending the day in the kitchen, esp surrounded by the sweet smells of  fruit cooking down into jam and butter. Our whole place smelled like an intense apple pie for the whole day while the apple butter was cooking down. Once it was complete I canned some and left some for us to use immediately. And by use immediately, I mean eat right out of a bowl. Since one can only do that for so long I decided that I would need to eat it on toast for some ‘real’ substance and add into some recipes. Which resulted in the development of the apple butter buttercream frosting.

The cupcakes are really easy to make. I loved it since I did not need to make the mixer dirty for that. Just use 1 whisk for the cupcakes and you are all set. The recipe called for peeling the apples, but I did not think that was necessary, so I just grated them as is, and ended up with great results. Laziness can pay off.

I wanted my cupcakes to stay really moist so I slightly under baked my cupcakes by a minute or so. I tested the cupcakes with a toothpick and it came out pretty clean so I stopped it at that point. (You will note the toothpick in one of the cupcakes… Price was marking his because he felt that one looked the best. I couldn’t help but laugh at him.)

I typically store cupcakes in the refrigerator or in a cool place because of the milk in the buttercream. However, this frosting does not have milk in it so you don’t have to rush them into the big chill. That is one thing I really like about this frosting since I really dislike harden butter cream frosting. That being said, don’t leave them by your warm stove or you will have a frosting disaster on your hands.

Apple Cupcakes with an Apple Butter Buttercream Frosting

 -makes 24 cupcakes-
 
 

 Ingredients

Cupcake

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 4 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 4 baking apples (about 2 pounds), shredded
   
Apple Butter Buttercream Frosting
 
  • 2 sticks of unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 5+ cups of powered sugar, sifted
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1/3 – 1/2 cup of apple butter
  Process
  1.  Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 cupcake pans with liners.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
  3. In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar until smooth. Whisk in the oil and vanilla extract.
  4. Add the wet mixture into the dry mixture until just combined. Add in the shredded apples.
  5. Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners and until almost full.
  6. Bake for 25- 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a baking rack.
  7. Prepare the frosting by: Cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add in the powdered sugar in batches, mix completely. Add in the vanilla and apple butter and mix completely. Add more powdered sugar until reached desired consistency.