Happy Birthday Johnny Appleseed!

I haven't been doing so well on our Tuesday Family Nights :( so we decided to take a "daycation" just the three of us and spend some time together.  Since this week is Johnny Appleseed's birthday and we are going to be learning about apples this week I thought what better way to spend the day than to go to Mercier Orchards and pick some apples.  "Miss Priss" LOVES apples and the weather was perfect so . . .that's exactly what we did!

When we finally got there (after a 3 hour drive) we hopped right in the line for u-pick.  They snapped a quick picture of us while we were waiting:

We took a tractor ride from the store to where the apple trees were.  On the way we had a short tour.  Merceir Orchard has over 50 different types of apples so you can imagine how many apple trees we passed!  Our "tour guide" also gave us a quick history of the family owned business, and instructions for the proper way to pick an apple :)

When we got off the tractor they gave us a bag and we were ready to pick!  We were allowed to eat all we wanted while we picked and "Miss Priss" LOVED it!  Her favorite color right now is green so she wanted the Granny Smith apple. These apples were HUGE and she ate nearly every bite!  I just knew she was going to have a stomach ache but she didn't!




"Miss Priss" struggling to pick her apple. She needed work on her "twist and pull"!

 They let you hang out and pick as many apples as you want.  The weather was perfect so we took full advantage and had a blast picking and tasting the different kinds!  My usual favorite apple is Fuji but after this trip I have a new favorite Beni Shogun!  Here's a couple more pics of us in the orchard:

After we had picked our apples, we hopped back on the tractor and rode back to the store.  There they had over 20 different pies, several cider flavors and pretty much anything apple you can imagine!  We went to the cider bar and I tasted peach cider and "Miss Priss" tasted the cider slush.  Her first taste was a little sour!

After the first taste she loved it though and we had to order a big cup for her!  After purchasing a few more apples and some pies, we were ready to head home!




Enjoying her apple sucker on the way home





So what am I going to do with all those apples?  I've already made a caramel apple cheesecake:

And in the next couple days I plan on making some apple butter!  Do you have any favorite apple recipes?



Anyone can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the number of apples in a seed.
Robert H. Schuller