For starters, I just bought some new sneakers! Yea! I have to do this about every 6 months because of the amount of miles I log. So what to do with the old dirty sneakers? Um, wear them to trek around in the wet grass of an orchard, of course.
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| These are wild colors. (For me.) Bright laces! Hope they make me run faster! |
Apple Turnovers
2 packages puff pastry (no, I was not going to make my own)
6 apples, (mixed varieties), peeled and diced
2 tbsps unsalted butter
Juice of one lemon
1 tsp lemon zest
4 tbsps light brown sugar
2 tbsps white sugar
2 tbsps corn starch
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
One of the girls in running class had the idea to go apple picking and of course, I was on board. Marker-Miller Orchards in Winchester, Va. First stop, inside the Farm Market.
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| Not sure what's in here, but I can guess! |
Inside on the right were all kinds of home made salsas, jams, jellies and salad dressings.
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| So many interesting flavor combinations. |
They had a case with baked pies and other treats like pumpkin rolls and whoopie pies.
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| Make me walk away. Pie baking for later at home. |
We of course were hungry after the hour and a half drive from Northern Virginia, so we snagged some of the very reasons people come here. Fresh pumpkin and/or apple cider doughnuts. (And some cinnamon twist thingie.) I'm not even a big doughnut fan, but these were incredible. Perfectly pumpkin and covered in cinnamon sugar. A cake-like doughnut, but very tender and light. I could have eaten three. I restrained myself. (But I did go back and buy more for later!)
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| View inside the bag. I really do take you everywhere with me. |
Back outside. They have lots of things for kids to do. Like this tractor train. The carts are little cows and they each have names. Like Jelly Bean, Tessie and Sweet Pea.
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| Moo moo. I mean, choo choo. |
Rolling hills of miles and miles of apple trees.
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| Like a storybook. Golden delicious. |
The sky was gorgeous and bright.
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| The blue, the green, the white. What a palate! |
Now on for the long awaited moment, the actual picking. We ended up with some Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Red Stayman and Ida Red.
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| Sometimes some of the branch comes along for the ride. |
Making Brooke pose. The action shot!
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| She is holding one of the bags you buy and you can fill it up as high as you can carry. |
Seriously, this apple was GINORMOUS! I made her hold it while I took a picture so you could see it relative to her hands. It was bigger than a softball, I kid you not. It took a separate car to drive home and probably will have to stay in Brooke's guest room.
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| That was the prize fruit of the day! Blue ribbon moment. |
Later, when Brooke was poking around she said, "Karen, you gotta get a picture under here. It's so cool!" She was right! I love this shot from under the apple tree.
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| Inside the tree. Your VIP pass. |
Let me tell you, the bag gets heavy quickly. When I bought the 1/2 peck bag (for $9.00), I asked approximately how many apples it would hold and she said about 25. Well, some of these apples were just gigunda. I ended up with about 18 and felt I got my money's worth!
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| Filled to the tippy top. |
Once we all had full bags, we took a little break. Apple picking is hard work. (Um, not nearly as hard as the 20 miles Brooke ran yesterday! Woo hoo!) We really just wanted a beverage. They have incredible HOT cider.
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| Atomic hot. Have to let cool. So tasty though. |
The girls enjoying their cider.
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| Rocking chairs. Ahhh. |
After cider, we had a quick trip to Sonic. (I know, bad girls - but we're all runners, so we didn't feel too guilty.) Needed full bellies for the long ride home.
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| Some of each. |
Once home, we got right into turnover making. I took one or two of each kind of apple and my friendly sous chefs peeled and diced them. I like having their help. They are now invited over every time I cook. I put all the ingredients in a pan and then simmered on medium for about 15 min. Just long enough for the apples to soften just a little, but not turn into mush. This is not a lesson in making applesauce. I did that last year.
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| Smells like pie already. |
Seeing as we had been out all morning picking apples and having a bit of a drive to and fro, I thought instead of making pie dough from scratch, I would use puff pastry.
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| Thaw as directed. I bought the day before from the freezer section and put in fridge and it was perfect. It will soften. |
Flour a surface and a rolling pin and roll out the dough until it's a little thinner. Try to keep it square as best you can. Then slice into three equal pieces.
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| Eh, equal enough. This is home made. |
Pile about 2-3 tablespoons of the slightly cooled apple mixture onto each strip and brush egg wash onto the three open sides.
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| Pastry glue, it's beaten egg to you. |
Fold the top side down and use a fork to crimp the edges.
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| Sealed together and nice pattern to boot. |
Use an egg wash and brush the outside. Slice three vents into the top for steam. (Plus it looks pretty.)
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| Pretty! |
Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 25 minutes or until golden brown and puffy. (Hence, puff pastry. I know you get it.) Take out and let cool on a rack.
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| Mmm, done perfectly. |
Now for caramel sauce that will knock your socks off.
Caramel Sauce
1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar
4 tbsps unsalted butter
1 cup of heavy cream
Pinch of salt
I didn't get any pictures because you have to be extremely careful with hot sugar. But this is what you do.
Add water and sugar to a pan on medium heat, stir and bring it to a boil. It will take some time for the sugar to turn from clear to light brown. I lost track of time, but it was over 15 minutes. When it does turn that light brown color, in goes the butter and off goes the heat and in goes the cream. (Warning: Be careful! When you add the cream, it will bubble up like mad! So use a big enough pan.) You need to whisk it and whisk it and whisk it until it becomes creamy again. You can turn the heat back on if it looks like the caramel is balling up and the milk is sort of separate. It will all melt back together eventually and you can put it aside.
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| This sauce is SO delicious and light. I'll never buy caramel sauce in a jar ever again. (I may however invest in safety goggles.) |
It made 12 turnovers. I sliced each one in half and gave the girls a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream with it. Covered both items in that luscious caramel sauce and that was that. Everything fall promises delivered hot in a flaky pastry pocket.
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| The caramel sauce really brings it all together. Extra special flavor. |
Every activity today was a blast! The chatty drive to the country with the girls, trouncing through the orchards, marveling at the massive apple, dining on fresh doughnuts and cider, and then coming back to my place to make the turnovers. I'd like many more days like this throughout the entire fall. But for now, I need to come up with recipes for the twelve large apples I have left! Fortunately when they quoted "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," they didn't say I couldn't cover it in brown sugar, butter and cinnamon!
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