Fall in Love with Fall

It's been a busy couple of months around here and the next couple look to be even busier.  There have been a lot of overnight travel days for Corey and we really needed a couple of days to focus on our new family.  Plus Oliver is getting to that age where he is much more aware of his surroundings and so outings are becoming more enjoyable (usually).  So we planned a trip to a pumpkin farm and apple orchard.  This tradition isn't one that has ever required children, Corey and I have enjoyed going to pumpkin farms and apple orchards about every year since we've been married but I know that bringing along our baby and making it a family tradition is only going to sweeten the deal.

Our neighbors referred us to this little gem of an apple orchard.

We are kicking ourselves that we didn't know about it sooner.  It was kind of a drizzly day but we didn't let that ruin it for us.  The 45 minute drive to get there was like discovering a side of Indiana that we didn't know existed.  I have to be honest with you, Indiana is not always the most beautiful place in the world (shocking news, I know!) but the drive from Bloomington to the orchard just south of a tiny town called Trafalgar, was downright idyllic.  We passed a llama farm, a charming barn that was actually a country farm stand, horse stables, and lovely fences that went on and on.  I have to make another confession, the trip didn't start off in the most pleasant of ways.  Ollie was cranky, mom and dad were both exhausted and cranky and some not so nice arguments conversations happened on more than one occasion. As we drove, giving each other the silent treatment and one beautiful scene after another unfolded in front of us our crankiness faded and we realized that we needed to embrace the day that we had together and enjoy every minute.  The charm of this place made me anxious for the day when Oliver could actually enjoy the activities the orchard has to offer.   For now we were just spectators.

There was a lovely little train.

Rows of sunflowers bowing their heads and submitting to another year come and gone.

And this one little guy hanging on a bit longer.

Squash blossoms that look like fingers clenched in a fist.

Pumpkins waiting to be picked off the vine.

A charming covered bridge.

A petting zoo.

Baskets of gourds and squash.

Apples ripe for the picking.

These cool crisp mornings and mild sunny days make me want to read cookbooks, drink cider, eat soup that has been working away all day in a crock pot, and hunker down in my kitchen and bake.  But baking and cooking have brought on a whole new meaning with a little one in the mix.  The days of being able to spend hours in the kitchen are long gone.  Now I have to plan a lot more carefully, you can't really master an intense recipe that calls for "stir constantly" when there is a solid chance that at some point during the process there will be crying that needs to be attended to (the baby's crying, not mine...usually). I've had my eye on several recipes on Pinterest but most of them just wouldn't be the same if I was making them in the middle of summer, they practically require temperatures in the 60's, rainy day optional. Cue, this weekend. The forecast showed a 60 percent chance of rain both Saturday and Sunday so I decided this was to be a weekend of baking and cooking. I tried new recipes and also made some good ol' comfort food.

This chicken enchilada soup was super easy.  You pretty much just toss everything in the crockpot and 8 hours later you have a warm bowl of soup with a perfect balance of spiciness and a little bit of sweetness from the corn. This will definitely be in our fall/winter crockpot rotation from now on.

I baked this almond cake on Friday.  It was pretty delicious, how couldn't it be with 3 sticks of butter between the cake and the frosting?  However, you definitely need to add some tart fruit to the top to cut through the sweetness of it.

I wanted to make these caramel apple cider cookies but I couldn't find the instant apple cider mix anywhere in the two stores I visited.  Irritating!!  I have a 5 month old, I don't have the luxury of visiting 5 stores to find a simple box of instant apple cider.  Soooo, I'll keep you posted.  As soon as I run across a box (I know they have it in the stores in Iowa and I'll be back there in a couple weeks) I'll make them.  Stay tuned!

I used these beautiful apples from the orchard to make a big batch of applesauce for Oliver.  I never knew making your own applesauce could be so easy! Following the advice of a helpful worker at the orchard I chose Jonagolds.  They have so much sweetness on their own, I didn't need to add any sugar.  I peeled, chopped and boiled them for about 25 minutes. Then threw them in the food processor and added a bit of the cooking liquid to thin them out a bit.  That's it! My grandma used to make applesauce for us when we were kids and I guess I envisioned a much more involved process.  In reality it probably was for her, I'm pretty sure she did it all by hand and thinking of this gave me a whole new appreciation for her and for my food processor.

The weather man is predicting another full day of rain tomorrow so I'm off to enjoy what's left of this sunny day.  A comfy chair outside, this cup of cider,

and this little punkin' are calling my name.

Happy Monday!