Hickory Nut Gap Farm

 As opposed to our trip to Stepp Farm a few weeks ago, Hickory Nut Gap Farm was amazing!!!  The staff was so kind, helpful, and ready to answer any and all questions that came their way.  (Not to mention dealing with 20+ kids 6 and under!)  And the apples were incredible!!!

 Naomi LOVED holding the baby chick.

 Ben had NO intension of holding the chick, he was content to just pet it. :)

 They had a great big barn with an area surrounded by hay bales, and about 20 different tricycles.

The kids loved it!

 Ben the speed demon. :)

 

No trip to a farm is complete without a rope swing! 

 A wonderfully fun day... even if the sun is shining in your eyes!

Stepp Farm

 Our little "homeschool group" went to Stepp Apple Orchard.  Despite the rather rude staff, we had a great time learning about the many many different kinds of apples, playing in the corn maze and soybean maze and enjoying a beautiful day with friends! 

Naomi the Scarecrow

Cornmaze Fun

Ben the Scarecrow

Apple Picking - Lift, Twist, Pull!! 

Corn Maze

Today we went with our little home school group to the Elida Home Corn Maze. The weather was B-E-A-UTIFUL and we had a wonderful time!

Although the corn maze was beyond what our kids could really handle (we found that out the hard way... and by hard I mean lugging a 30 lb little girl through a mile-long mud pit... okay, not quite that bad... but almost)... we still managed to have an awesome time. They had a bunch of other things to do, including a mini-maze, a "corn box," tractor rides and a huge slide. And now... the pictures! :)

My attempt at a self portrait on the tractor ride.



Ben on the Super Fast Slide. He did it about 25 times.



Corn Angel?

I Love Fall!

I LOVE Fall! I love the cool weather, the falling leaves, the colors! And I love everything it inspires! Hot tea and cocoa, soup, jeans, sweaters, jackets, pumpkins...

We have been out enjoying the beautiful weather the last couple of days, here are a few pictures!

Naomi swinging.



Collecting leaves, sticks, acorns and more. :)



Naomi with her loot.



Ben the odd ball.



Oh the colors. Ben pushed this stick the entire 1/4 mile home, trying to hit as many leaf piles as possible.



Walking around the Bass Pond at the Biltmore today.



I finally caught a smile!!!



King of the Stump!

Apples, Apples and More Apples!

Well, it is that season! Our life has been filled with apples, applesauce, apple pie filling, german apple pancakes, apple slices, apple cider and so much more... :)

Last week my mother-in-law, Sarah, and I went out to Hickory Nut Gap Farm (a local farm here) and bought 4 bushels of apples. While Sarah filled boxes with apples, the owner took Ben (and her two little grandchildren) on a little tour of the farm. We saw horses, piglets, calves and got to stand in the chicken coop while hundreds of "teenage" chicks ran around our ankles! Ben had a blast! Here are a few pictures of Annie (the farmer) and her two grand kids teaching Ben how to swing on a rope!

Checking for eggs in the hay!

Getting ready!

Showing Ben how it's done!

Sarah and I spent two whole days last week making applesauce and apple pie filling (which I use for apple crisp mostly). We got about 10 quarts each of applesauce and 6 quarts of pie filling.

And we have been eating lots and lots of apples! Here is a recipe that I found (and modified :-P) for an apple coffeecake that was very yummy!

APPLE COFFEE CAKE

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
  
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
  
• 1 cup applesauce
  
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 4 apples - peeled, cored and sliced
• 5 tablespoons white sugar
• 5 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 10 inch bunt pan.
2. In a large bowl, stir together flour and baking powder. In a separate bowl, beat together sugar, applesauce, eggs. Stir egg mixture into flour mixture, alternately with orange juice, until smooth. In a small bowl, combine 5 tablespoons white sugar, 5 tablespoons brown sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon.
3. Pour 1/2 of batter into prepared pan. Add 2/3 of the apples then 2/3 of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Repeat laying with remaining ingredients.
4. Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 60 to 80 minutes. Let cool for 15 to 20 minutes, invert on a plate and serve.

I added the glaze of powdered sugar, cinnamon & vanilla. :)

Life in the Mountains

This is one of the many reasons we live where we do. This is my view when I turn the corner onto my street... mid November!! Does life get much better? You can see our mailbox on the right. We are the only house on our street, and we love it that way.

And it is hard to see, but here is a picture of our house, with the mums we just planted. We have mums in the hanging baskets and by the front door, and we even bought a few pumpkins. We spent most of last Sunday raking leaves, and the dog found poison ivy and poor Andrew is covered and has been itching for over a week. Thankfully the parts on his neck, arms and hands are almost gone, but it is appearing still on his legs, stomach and back. :(

This is our one last effort at trying to sell the house this fall. :) If it doesn't sell by January we are going to take it off for a while. We will probably re list it next Spring once we have settled into the rhythm of grad school/work/baby. My mom is also coming for a month and I would rather not have it on the market then... just one less thing to worry about.

Try Something New!!

Fall is in the air, and I am pulling out all the old amazing fall recipes. So, here is what we are having for dinner. It is a recipe that my mom made when I was little. I have always thought my mom was a great cook, and then I grew up and realized she is still a good cook, but all her recipes come from two cookbooks!! HA!! I am now in possession of these two cookbooks, so it is only a matter of time before I become at least half the cook my mom is. If only I could stop modifying recipes! However, I don’t think it is possible. For example in the following recipe, I almost double the meat (for the meat loving man in my life), I 8x or more the pepper (who puts 1/8 tsp of anything in a recipe??? It is not even worth it in such a small amount) and make whatever other modifications are necessary. :) So without further ramblings here is the recipe (Jen K, this is the one I commented about, I thought the world needed it too).

CHICKEN CIDER STEW

2 C. apple cider or juice
3 T. catsup
2 slices bacon, cut up
1 ½ t. salt
¼ t. dried savory (you can use Italian seasoning)
¼ t. dried basil
1/8 t. pepper
1 2-2 ½ lb. broiler fryer chicken, cut up
4 carrots, thinly sliced
2 med. Sweet potatoes, peeled and cut up
2 med. Onions, finely chopped (approx 1 cup)
1 stalk celery, cut into 1 in pieces
1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped (approx 1 cup)
3 T. flour

In large pot stir together 1st 7 ingredients. Add chicken. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Stir in carrots, sweet potatoes, onions, celery and apple. Cover and summer above for 30 minutes or until meat and vegetables are tender. Blend the four and ¼ c. cold water, stir into stew. Cook and stir til mixture is thickened and bubbly. Serves 4.

You can also make it in a crock pot, just save ½ cup of the cider for the end, and mix it with the flour before serving. 10-12 hours.

P.S. Great with dumplings, drop biscuits or cornbread. :)

Fall in Asheville

This was taken across the street from our house. I LOVE FALL! (Especially in Asheville). Below are some pictures that were taken in the last few weeks while my mom, Buzz & Meredith were here... with my new camera. :) Enjoy!