Apples, Orchards and Harvest Time

With harvest time here and orchards heavy with gorgeous fruit, I thought I'd offer up an apple recipe round-up for those of you who are fond of Big Red (or Big Green). Here in western Idaho, we are blessed to be surrounded by some fabulous apple orchards, as well as other fruit orchards and wineries. Plus with Washington as a next door neighbor, it's really hard to avoid the tangy sweet round goodness in the supermarket.

As an aside: Do you live near an orchard, fruit stand or farmer's market? If so, I highly recommend visiting one of these places to pick up a crate full of crunchy red or green fun and then go home and make something delicious out them! Don't forget to send a juicy snack with your kids to gift their teachers with school starting again. 

Apple Rice Pudding

Apple Pie w/ Candied Crust

Apple Cake w/ Cream Cheese Frosting

Apple Salad

Apple Crisp

And one extra recipe just for fun...

Spiced Applesauce

2 lbs tart cooking apples
1/2 - 2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg

Wash, core, and peel apples then cut into quarters. In medium saucepan, bring 1/2 cup water to a boil. Add the apples and return to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally

Head over to Alicia's Recipes to find many more fall and harvest recipes! Connect with us on Facebook for more recipes shared from other food blogs and follow us on Pinterest for more foodie inspiration!

Jammin' Fruity Ideas

Do you can? Put up preserves? In my family it's a time-honored tradition to make jams, jellies, preserves, syrups and pie filling with all sorts of fruits. (We can veggies too but that's for another post!) My great grandmother and grandmother taught my mother [and me] to can and preserve and someday I hope to teach my future daughters-in-law how to do it too, if they don't already know how.

Canning is not only a practical way to store up your family's favorite fruits for winter use, but it's also a fun way to connect or re-connect with friends and extended family. There's nothing quite like sweating together over a boiling pot of jam to help bond peeps together. Get some friends or relatives together and save the fruit for later in the form of jams and jellies, using some of our simple free fruity recipes.

Oh and I threw in the blackberry smoothie recipe to help you cool off after a day of canning - enjoy!

Apple Jelly

Blueberry Jam

Blueberry Rhubarb Jam

Blackberry Smoothie

Date Jam

Head over to Alicia's Recipes to find many more autumn, harvest and fruit recipes! Connect with us on Facebook for more recipes shared from other food blogs and follow us on Pinterest for more foodie inspiration!