The kids and I went apple picking the other day, for those of you without orchards this is the deal; you pick up a bag at the entrance to the orchard, grab a wagon and trek into the orchard. The rows are marked with what kind of apple trees in that row , you walk up and down the rows smelling , eating and picking apples off the tree until you fill the bag. The bag we picked weighed 30 pounds and cost about $18.00. It's probably more expensive to pick your own than it is to buy them at the supermarket, but there's no comparison to a fresh , crisp, right-off-the tree apple and the kids all have such fond memories of apple picking . This year my nine y/o remarked how the trees are smaller this year and she remembers a few years ago when the trees were ssssssooooooooo tall ! Her aunt and I laughed and told her it's because she's so much taller now, but she was adamant about how much the trees have shrunk!

Anyway, here's the recipe we made the first night :

Apple Streusel Squares

2 cups Flour
½ cup Sugar
½ tsp. Baking powder
½ tsp. Salt
1 cup Butter or Margarine
1 slightly beaten egg
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup flour
1 tsp. Cinnamon
6-8 medium apples, peeled, cored, sliced

Optional: 1 cup sifted powdered sugar
Milk

Preheat oven to 350°

In a medium mixing bowl stir together the 2 cups flour, the ½ cup sugar, the baking powder, and salt. Cut in the butter til the pieces are the size of small peas. Stir in the beaten egg; gently toss with a fork to combine. Divide the flour mixture in half. Turn half into a sprayed (Pam) 13 x 9 pan; spread evenly. Press onto the bottom of pan to form a firm, even crust.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the ¾ cup sugar, the ¼ cup flour, and the cinnamon. Add apples and toss to mix. Arrange apple mixture over crust. Sprinkle remaining flour mixture over apple layer. Bake at 350° for 40 - 45 minutes. Cool for one hour.

For icing, in a bowl stir together the powdered sugar and enough milk (1-2 Tablespoons) to make of drizzling consistency. Makes 15-18 servings

Instead of the icing we served it with caramel vanilla ice cream!

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY CINDY!!!!!!!

The kids ate 4 apples each the first night, and I kept telling them they'd get diarrhea from it and finally my 9 y/o daughter says, that's fine, I like diarrhea .

Weezie, what about caramel apples?! They're o.k. at the fairs but made at home with FRESH apples are the best !!

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY CINDY!!!!!!!

Sorry , Weezie, just noticed here I never got back to you! I have done the kraft melt your own caramel apples, usually the bag of caramels comes with the stix too and directions, but they've made it even easier these days, you can pick up a package of caramel sheets (right in the produce section at my local supermarket) and you just wrap the sheet of caramel around the apple, put the stick in, and bake it for 5 minutes! Yummy!

We picked our own apples so we used macintosh and paula red's .

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY CINDY!!!!!!!

Can you melt those carmels in the micro?????

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Weezie

Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2





http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/

Nancy..that's a great recipe for caramel apples...I have to eat about 3 when I make them...they are so addicting!
Mel, I just posted a good recipe for a brown paper bag apple pie up in another apple thread...you might want to try it with your fresh apples for something a little different!

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Happiness, like a dessert so sweet.
May life give you more than you can ever eat...
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quote:

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Originally posted by weezie13:

*Grampy used to make the best apple cider, but he liked to make
the hard cider for the adults..* and vinegar too.

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You don't happen to have the recipe do you??

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One OS to rule them, one OS to find them:
One OS to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Redmond where the shadows lie.