We may have flopped in witnessing orange trees being decked out in golden spheres of citrus when we visited Florida in June, but around here, right now, the apples trees are decorated with beautiful apples galore!

One of my favorite fall traditions, albeit a relatively new tradition, is going to pick apples.  We head out to the orchard, hop on the wagon, ride over the rolling hills, and breathe in the fresh air.  Typically, we munch through our bags of Honeycrisp apples so quickly that we head out to the orchard more than once a season.  I know some people are able to pick enough and store them for months to come.  Around here that would mean we’d probably have to get enough apples to completely fill my van.  We go through enormous amounts of apples throughout the whole year.  Maybe we should have our own small orchard someday.  Or maybe not.

We had a small apple tree in my backyard when I was a kid.  I loved to climb it; I dreaded being told I had the job of picking up the fallen apples from the ground.  Oh the torture of being a kid!  But oh, the delicious and creative things you can do with apples.  You don’t have to scour Pinterest very hard to discover some great ideas.  Here are a few new ones we decided to try this year.

You know what they say.  “An apple a day…makes for a whole week of apple-tastic ideas.”  No?  Not quite right?  Well, this will be fun anyway.

sauteed-apples

Sunday  

Try this sautéed apples recipe from Sweet Treats.  I added coconut milk to mine.  I think they would be pretty good on ice cream or possibly mixed in yogurt.  A little sugar would have made this a little sweeter.

apple-rings

Monday

We call these little delights apple doughnuts or apple rings.  Making them is far from extensive, but they always perk the kids’ interest.  (Translation: They are super easy to make, but look so fancy.)  All you have to do is slice your apples into circles and core out the center.  I find it easier to core them individually after I slice them.  My kids love the job of coring them; it’s great fun.  

img_20161003_084301I love this style of apple corer – you can slide the core right out.  If you want to get really fancy you can use small cookie cutters for the center.

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Tuesday

10 Apples on Top by Theo LeSieg (Fun Fact:  This in one of Dr. Seuss’ pen names.  It’s his actual last name “Geisel” – backwards!)  Little Bins for Little Hands  shares a cute activity to go along with this easy to read book.  I checked the book out from the library, stopped at the Dollar Store for some red balloons and we made our own set of “apples” to stack.  

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Wednesday

Belle has made apple butter before, but this was a first for me.  I modified this from a recipe on Plaid and Paleo and it is in the crockpot as we speak.  So, I’ll update you in few hours.  It sure is starting to smell yummy in here.  I didn’t have cloves or allspice, so I used apple pie spice in their places.  I used Honeycrisp…because that’s what we picked.  I also won’t can it. 

1.  Because I don’t have a clue how to do that  

2.  I am hoping it will be tasty enough to share and

3.  I will freeze any extra.

FOLLOW UP: It needed some sugar.  I found what little white and brown sugar we had in our pantry and tossed it in after it was done.

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Thursday

What’s more comforting than muffins?  Not a whole lot.  Looking for a new recipe?  Check out these healthy applesauce oatmeal muffins from Tastes Better From Scratch.  The only variation I made was that I used rice flour instead of wheat.  They are pretty tasty; I ate 4 all at once and the decided I better freeze the rest.

Friday

Check out this sweet and simple poem for kids by Teacher by the Beach Apples, Apples.

Saturday

I am really impressed by how fancy these apple roses look.  You have to watch this video, Cooking with Manuela Apple Roses.  I have wanted to try to make these for a long time.  I haven’t had time just yet (and they intimidate me a bit…they look a little complicated)  She makes it look easy on the video, but I am guessing it may be a little more challenging for me.  If you try them before I do, let me know if you have any tricks.

 

Want more?  Still looking for more apple juiciness?  Hands On As We Grow has compiled 42 apple crafts. 

Share in the comments section below some of your favorite apple activities and recipes.

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