Today we went to the apple orchard to pick Empire apples. They are a sweet-tart apple that is perfect for eating, baking, sauce and salads:
Beak and Skiff Orchard is south of Syracuse, NY and this year they have a new cafe, a tasting room for their hard ciders, wines, vodka and gins. They also have a gift shop loaded with country decor and canned goods, a bakery and cider mill:
Our first stop was the cafe for lunch and these buckets of plastic silverware caught my eye:
Cute, huh?
We both ordered chicken salad on croissants. This was the best I have had in a long time - it was loaded with chopped apples, pecans and grapes:
The view from the orchard is just gorgeous, but unfortunately the sun was hiding behind the clouds and the fall colors didn't show too well:
The fun part is taking the tractor ride into the orchard:
Today they were picking Cortlands and Empires....
...so we filled 3 bags with Empires...
Silly us - we picked 50.4 lbs of apples!
50.4 lbs!
"An apple a day keeps the doctor away"
We ended the day with a fresh baked apple cider donut!
I imagine I will be making some apple sauce, baking an apple cake, making "chicken salad with apples, pecans and grapes" and keeping that doctor far away!!
If you go, you have to try the Northern Spy Wine - that was my favorite!
You will be a busy girl with that many apples! Looks like a fun way to spend the day. Empire apples are my all time favorite!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a great day! Have fun with the apples:@)
ReplyDeleteSo jealous! Hoping to get the boys apple picking this month. Can you believe I've never been? At least I don't remember ever doing it. My husband is a pro at it. His grandfather owned an apple orchard in Germantown many moons ago.
ReplyDeleteJeanine
Hi Patti,
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely trip and lunch. That chicken salad looks heavenly. Looks like you'll be busy peeling apples and baking.
hugs
Sissie