Fall Apples

My granddaughter will be ten months old in October. The time has flown by! But as she gets a little older, and as fall approaches, I am getting very excited about re-living some of my favorite fall traditions with my little one.

I love the apples of fall! I remember when I was growing up one of the fundraisers for our church was baking and selling apple dumplings at the fall festival. Members of the congregation would get together on Friday of the festival weekend. The church kitchen and social hall would be a-buzz with activity. Some folks were mixing and rolling dough and others were peeling and coring apples.

One year, I brought my boyfriend to help with the preparation. I figured if he could endure the whole apple dumpling event he could endure most anything! He laughed and joked with the ladies of the church as we rolled out the dough for so many apple dumplings! We took some home and baked them. There’s nothing like a warm apple dumpling with some ice cream on the side.

Apples are also great for cider. We usually head out to McCutcheon’s or Baugher’s in Westminster to pick up our stock. I love mulling cider in the fall. Sitting in the kitchen and looking out at the beautifully colored leaves while I sip my cider is always a well spent fall afternoon.

And what would fall be without apple pie! I cannot wait to bake my first apple pie with my granddaughter. I hope she enjoys being in my kitchen as much as I enjoyed spending time with my grandmother in hers. A grandmother’s kitchen always smells like heaven.

Now, I’m not much of a cook, but I do hope that my little girl and I spend some wonderful times in the kitchen together. And that boyfriend with all of the dumpling experience, well,he learned enough about peeling apples and rolling dough that I decided to keep him! I’m sure he’d be more than willing to help us girls with our apple adventures in the kitchen.

Fall is such a beautiful time of the year. I cannot wait to share it with my granddaughter!