Apples in the kitchen: a collection of recipes AND Fresh Apple Garland

“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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