It's Apple Time

In my ongoing effort to catch up with the several block of the month projects I'm behind on, I finished the September Country Cottages block--and September's focus was apples!

How appropriate then that I also visited Apple Hill this weekend!  I've told you about Apple Hill before--it's an area in the foothills near Placerville with a large number of apple orchards and farms that open up to the public, primarily in the fall.  On weekends, may of the farms rent spaces to craft vendors, and visitors travel from apple farm to apple farm, getting outside and enjoying the weather, eating apple desserts and other goodies, and purchasing fresh fruit and veggies as well as bottled and jarred specialty items, like sauces, dressings, olives, pickles, etc.

I picked up my friend Imelda early Saturday morning, and our first stop was High Hill Ranch where we browsed the craft booths, sampled some apple wine, and fought crowds in order to purchase yummy fudge and caramel at the fudge shop next door.

We planned to stop at Grandpa's Cellar next and Boa Vista last, but as we were passing Boa Vista, we spotted a perfect parking spot, so we pulled in.  At Boa Vista we ate BBQ'd tri tip sandwiches and purchased apple cider and dough balls--balls of pie dough already made and ready to roll out.

It was a beautiful day with blue skies and temperatures in the 70s.

We also bought unbaked apple turnovers to bake at home.  I'd love to show them to you, but they're  gone now.  BUT . . . I still have dough balls, so I suppose I could make more!

Our last stop was at Grandpa's Cellar.  Not only do they have a bunch of preserves, syrups, and other goodies, but . . .

they sell a lot of kitchen gadgets, and I'd been looking for a couple things I was able to find there.

I very nearly bought one of these aebleskiver pans.  I had it in my basket, but then I heard Hubby's voice--I swear it sounded like he was right behind me--asking me why I bought one of those things and where I thought I was going to store it.  The problem is that our kitchen space is small, so unless I think I'll use something often, I really have no business buying it and bringing it home.  I hate it when I hear Hubby's voice when he's not even THERE, and I've asked him to please stop it, but he doesn't listen, so I'm sure I'll continue to hear his voice when I least want to.

The other couple of kitchen gadgets I bought are small and have a purpose, so I was okay with them.  No nagging Hubby.

By the time we finished at Grandpa's Cellar, it was after 1 p.m. and the crowds were getting thick.  Traveling by car on one of the main roads was very slow as traffic had backed up and was proceeding at a crawl, so we figured it was time to leave Apple Hill and make a few other stops on the way home at various shops, including a quilt shop and Hobby Lobby.  By the time we pulled up in front of my friend's house, the back seat of the car was filled with bags.  Judging by our loot, yep, I'd say it was a very successful AND fun day!