I’ve been waiting for this season for months! I’m so excited that the weather is turning and my boots got to come out of the closet. It seems that this summer has lasted so long that we might skip right over Fall and land in winter. For now, we will enjoy the crisp air and first rains.
Dryw and I spent one of our date-days visiting different Apple Hill orchards. I picked up one of the official Apple Hill maps and started marking where we went last year and this year. I hope to add to it each year with new spots we visit. We lunched German-style at Bavarian Hills... and it was German! The lady that took our order for sandwiches looked and smelled German (they take fewer showers and may or may not believe in deodorant). I got a roast beef sandwich on a french roll and Dryw ordered the tri-tip sandwich, which turned out to be a better pick because it was so juicy. It definitely tasted European due to the simple white roll and mayonnaise spread.
Next, we stopped at Jack Russell Brewery. You would think, because of its name, that they would allow cute little doggies, but they made us leave Hans in the car. We sampled the apple beer and their brand new honey wine (mead). We decided that they needed to keep working on the mead since it tasted like cough syrup... It’s a good thing that the samples are only an ounce! The apple beer wasn’t bad at all, though.We moved on to pick apples at Denver Dan’s U-Pick orchard. We trekked out to the orchard and searched for some good apples on the picked-over trees. We found some decent-sized Granny Smiths and a few miniature red apples. Hans had to stay in the car there, too, because it was so dusty that he would have created a quite a mess in the car.
Finally, Hans got to roam around at our last stop: Rainbow Orchards. We toured around the grassy hill then snacked on apple cider donuts! They were yummy but I think I preferred that cakey donuts from High Hill that we got last year. Before we left to head home, I picked out some funny-shaped gourds for our front door-step.
We stopped in Placerville to check out the antiques street fair and then in downtown Folsom where we ate dinner at a Pizzeria Classico. What a great hubby I have to take me on such a fun date!
I must report that Stephanie’s baby shower went off without a hitch. Each of the hosts took care of all her responsibilities and made it happen stress-free. Now we are counting the days until baby girl Johnstone gets here! I can’t wait to meet her!
Before Fall arrived, I was thinking about what kind of decorations I could put up. The first thing that came to mind was a wreath for our front door. Our condo definitely puts limits on the amount of seasonal items we can store, so I can’t go overboard with the festive decor. But I decided one wreath and some gourds (and pumpkins soon) would be reasonable. I saw some wreaths at Marshall’s and TJ Maxx, but I noticed that they were already falling apart and wouldn’t even last through the year. I found a simple twig wreath at Michael’s and picked out some silk leaves and flowers to add to it. I ended up wrapping a leaf garland around the wreath and adding a red bow to complement the colors in the leaves. I’m happy with the result of this simple and inexpensive wreath!
My latest baking venture: zucchini pumpkin bread and pumpkin oatmeal cookies! And the taste-testers loved it! I based the bread recipe off one I found on allrecipes.com. It turned out moist and not too sweet... I made the cookies for our small group using a recipe from the same site. I like the combination of pumpkin, oats and chocolate chips. It almost tastes healthy, although I know it can't be with all that butter and sugar. I stacked some of the cookies in fall containers for a neighboring family, my main client contact and our family. We have a an ongoing exchange with our neighbors Luci and Steven. We started by taking them 'smores cookie bars then they returned the favor with carrot cake and we've been sharing baked goods ever since! I know we do it out of good will, but part of me wonders if we are unconsciously trying to pawn off the temptation of having those baked delights in the kitchen all the time. Well, it doesn't make much of a difference because the other most often sends some buttery, sugary, calorie-filled goodness in the other direction. Anyway, it is a fun tradition to have with friends and it's perfect for this season.Happy Fall!
