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The Picking of the Apples
By Doug | September 27, 2008
Another tradition in the Garland family is to spend one Saturday in early fall picking apples at Stepp’s Apple Orchard near Hendersonville, NC. We have been going to Stepp’s for many, many years. They have a large variety of apples in well groomed orchards. Their prices are good too. This year we got three bushels. We will use them for applesauce, apple crisps, maybe an apple pie or two, apple salads, and cooked apples. The college students that we have over during the fall particularly like cooked apples. We generally cut up 10-20 pounds of apples and then put them in a pressure cooker along with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and some secret ingredients. The apples are cooked and stirred for a few minutes until soft. Most everyone likes them and will go back for seconds or thirds.
The other part of the apple picking tradition is going to Bat Cave, NC for a picnic lunch or dinner. Bat Cave is a small mountain town with a park next to the Broad River. We eat at the park and sometimes play in the water. The bugs were out in force this year and so we did not stay too long. We did see a rather large water bird (an egret I think) that made a meal out of a small fish. We usually also stop at a local apple company to buy freshly squeezed apple cider. The store in Bat Cave was closed by the time we arrived, but we were able to find another one nearer to Hendersonville. We bought apple cider and a large mountain cabbage.
We thank God for the opportunity to get away for a few hours and to enjoy His creation and one another. Stop by to eat an apple with us!
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October 5th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
[...] On a recent Saturday, we went apple picking with the Garlands. [...]