“Good apple pies are a considerable part of our domestic

happiness.”

― Jane Austen

fresh apple garland

I promised a current collection of APPLE RECIPES after we arrived home from our apple orchard day out earlier this month. So I pulled out my little apple cookbook and got to it!

I also made a fresh apple garland with the itty bitty apples that Titus collected at the orchard.

The garland was [ not nice word, not nice word ] HARD to make! I used heavy fishing line and a long needle to string them. And no worries, no apples were wasted with our apple garland decor. We cut them up and fed them to the birds!

I have THREE red, crisp biting, delicious,

recipes to share this season:

1) caramel apple sundaes

2) apple brownies

3) apple orchard green beans

First, Caramel Apple Sundaes...

...instead of caramel apples on a stick, or instead of the caramel apple slices we did last year. Imagine all the goodness of a caramel apple except WITH ice cream and WITHOUT a stick.

Hollow out an apple, making it into a bowl. *quick tip* Use the motions of uncorking a wine bottle in the center of your apple with an apple corer to easily hollow your apple out. Then continually make larger circle moments until you have a bowl.

Fill with ice cream, top with caramel sauce and peanuts. If you want more of an "apple pie a la mode" style, then still hollow out the apple, fill it a little bit with a cinnamon sugar mixture (I like to add dark brown sugar too) and top with a little square of butter on each apple. Place in a baking pan and add boiling water to the bottom of the pan. Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes until soft but not mushy. Then you could use the vessels for the ice cream and caramel.

Next, Apple Brownies! This dessert is all fall! It makes the house smell like fall, it looks like fall, and tastes like fall. The cinnamon makes it perfectly perfect.

Cracked apple brownies with fresh cooked apple chunks and swirls of cinnamon. This recipe is from my recent Martha Stewart Living magazine and you can find the recipe by clicking HERE. Brownies without chocolate and they disappear just as quickly as it takes to make.

I let the boys peel and core the apples. They love, love the lonnnnng apple peels and nothing went to waste because they ate those long apple peels like strings of spagetti!

This recipe is on my new favorite list and added to my "make every year" collection.

The last apple recipe is from my Gooseberry Patch Apple cookbook: Apple Orchard Green Beans. You can find the recipe by clicking HERE.

These beautiful, cozy quilt block placemats were handmade by my childhood best friend's mom, Nancy, and given to us on our wedding day over 12 years ago! I pull them out with love for the fall and winter months.

Green onions, carrots, fresh green beans, sliced apples, apple cider, thyme, each ingredient blends together for a savory meal.

These Apple Orchard Green Beans were served as our main dish, with the meat as a side. We flip flopped the norm and it was delicious!

In our modern day rush, family gatherings around our dinner table don't happen every day, but on the special days that they do, I tuck those minutes into my heart as I look around the table, taking in each and every body that I love like crazy and appreciating the way each of them influence my life in such a beautiful way.

It's a precious blessing to have rows of plates and lots of mouths to feed.

Preparing home cooked meals is a gift I get to give to my family.

Before closing, some apple trivia:

Did you know?
-There are about 2,500 apple varieties grown in the USA
-And more than 7,500 varieties are grown worldwide
-Apples stored in the fridge last 10 times longer!
-It takes about 30-40 apples to make ONE gallon of apple cider!

Ohhh...and did you know that an apple a day keeps the doctor away?

*most facts found in Gooseberry Patch Apple cookbook

We hope to visit Cedaredge, Colorado, again NEXT year for more amazing cider and baskets of fresh apples to make NEW recipes with!

Cedaredge, CO

If you can't get enough of apples, visit my apple post from a previous year by clicking HERE for recipes like apple chunk buttermilk muffins, spiced pumpkin applesauce, and more!

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This post is linked to: Under the Table & Dreamin, Nifty Thrifty, Seasonal Sundays, Made by You Monday, Met Monday , Tuesday Tutorials and Tips, HOMEWORK: Be Inspired, Tasty Tuesday, Tip Junkie, Get Your Craft On, Works for Me Wednesday, Organize and Decorate Everything, Celebrations at Home,Transformation Thursday,Tablescape Thursday, Strut Your Stuff, 36th Ave, Foodie Friday, Frugal Friday, I'm Lovin It, Tickled Pink, Friday Flair, Design Dazzle, eighteen25, Be Different Act Normal, Funky Junk Interiors, Weekend Wrap Up sew many ways Six Sisters Saturday

Today I am partnering again with Rosanna, my FAVORITE dish company! Rosanna's heart and her passions mirror my own. And!! ...her dish collections are simply beautiful. Her blog, Table Talk by Rosanna, shares how to make the most of moments, the importance of gathering together in community, cultivating beauty around the table and with meals anywhere, and living with depth and purpose while enjoying this blessed life. Be sure to click on over to her blog today to see HER post that is paired with this post today!

Today's post focuses on some of these qualities mentioned above. The boys and I took a purposeful autumn road trip to the forest to celebrate the season and spend time enjoying beauty with nature and food TOGETHER.

I just shared last week about our visit to the apple orchards. We took FULL advantage of FALL because after our time at the orchards we drove up the mountain to end our day with a fall picnic.

We wove our way along some bendy mountain roads, keeping our eyes open like little foxes for the PERFECT picnic spot.

And then this picture perfect view landed in front of us, sparkling with yellow leaf reflections in the water, announcing it's prestige and beauty for us to witness. We were the only visitors in this goldmine spot.

This is where we would "tailgate", lifting the back of our SUV, pulling out pretty baskets of apples, bottles of cider, blankets, and soup, trampling through crunchy leaves, and creating a PICNIC!

None of this picnic food was homemade. It was all easy grab n go from the grocery store! Super easy loves. :)

Both of our un-homemade desserts were a hit! These pretty sandwich maples from Trader Joe's provided maple perfection! Have you ever heard of ESP pies (Extra Special Pie)? The packaging is SO CUTE and they taste excellent.

Other pre made fall picnic treasures in our basket:

And more!

Dinty Moore Beef Stew in a tall thermos is just right for October days in the forest.

And what is even better than cozy and warm food is cozy brothers!

The boys frog jumped across boulders, cut across the grassy fields, and collected big sticks while I set up our lunch.

Can you see it?
In the middle of the majestic mountains is an intentional gathering, breaking up the gentle nature, but only for a brief moment.

And just beyond our place of gathering are mountains with camouflaged patterns of deep greens and bright yellows...the type of view that commands all of your attention.

The sun was burning deep and low into the side of the mountain as we prepared to celebrate fall in the quiet mountains of Colorado.

A silent peek through the browned leaves show our gentle festivities breaking up the otherwise still forest.

A closer focus shows the details...

Plump pumpkins light up the fields, with my favorite one nestled in a Rosanna bowl.

Other than our family, the mountainside was empty and quiet.

We had our Dinty Moore Beef Stew thermos, a basket of apples from our orchard visit, apple cider, and homemade apple sauce in our picnic wagon. On a recent visit, my aunt brought us some jars of her homemade applesauce from her trees. It is delicious!

The signature staple of fall: apple pie! My, my, apple pie! This delicious apple pie dances on top of a beautiful clean white Rosanna cake pedestal.

Cheese and crackers

Time to warm up!

Soaking up the fall sunshine, breathing in the brisk air, seeing gorgeous colors in every direction, and tasting autumn.

When the boys finished eating, they geared up for some "backyard adventure exploring". Cameron wore his new headlight, a birthday gift from my aunt and uncle. (thank you!)

Their adventure included finding items of nature.

And off they ran to begin!

As they made their way around the lake, I could barely see them because they blended into the beauty so well!

All too soon, their nature hunt was complete, our picnic mess was packed back into the wagon, and the blankets tucked under our arms as we made our way back to the tailgate of our SUV to pack up and drive down the mountain before the sun tucked away for the night!