Apple Picking

Noelle and Hailey
Scott reaching for the really high, really shiny ones!
Farmers for a day.
This one is for you, Judy. It's not Iowa, but it's close.

Wow! Isn't God the most amazing artist. We all needed a breath of fresh air this weekend so we headed out to Gays Mills, Wisconsin for some apple picking. We went to Starry Ridge Orchards and picked our own. It was so fun, and relaxing. The colors were wonderful and the apples are fantastic. They recommended a combination of Cortland and Spartan, so that's what we picked. I made apple crumble last night. I found the recipe on Food Network's website.

Apple Crumble

Filling (I doubled all of this, except the lemon, I only had one):

4 large apples (about 3 pounds)

1/4 cup sugar

1 lemon, juiced

2 tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping:

1 cup walnuts or pecans, roughly chopped

1 cup flour

1 1/4 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold butter, cut into small pieces

Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Set oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.

Peel, core and slice apples into 1/4-inch slices. Place apples in a large mixing bowl and toss with sugar, lemon juice, flour and cinnamon. Pour into a lightly greased 9 by 13 inch baking dish, spread into an even layer. In another large bowl, mix together the nuts, flour, oats, sugar and cinnamon. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, gently work in the cold butter until pea-sized lumps are formed. Top apples evenly with mixture and bake until apples are bubbly and topping is golden brown, about 45 minutes, rotating halfway through cooking. (Mine took at least 10 minutes longer, probably because I doubled the apples!) Yummy!!