Lets go pick some apples

When there is a nip in the air and the trees become more colourful we start to think of a popular fall activity -  Apple picking.  Many of us head out to orchards with friends and family to pick crisp, sweet apples to enjoy during the fall.

A group of colleagues and I made the annual track this weekend.  We have been doing this for over a decade.  A local orchard agrees to donate apples to a local food bank, we supply the labour and deliver the apples.    It sounds like a lot of work, picking a 150  bags of apples, but many hands make light work.  Afterwards we reward our hard work with a potluck picnic in the orchard!

With little planning we always seem to put together an amazing spread.  Food always seems to taste better when outdoors, and when you get to enjoy it with friends it is always better.

In honour of this fall tradition, this weeks cookbook pick is a theme cookbook - all about Apples!
The Apple a Day Cookbook by Janet Reeves entices readers to include apples in many dishes that they would not have thought an apple belonged in!

As you know my goal is to create a 3 course menu from the selected cookbook each week,  which I did this week, but I spread the dishes over 2 days.  The appetizer and dessert I brought to the picnic and the main course  was for supper the next day.  

This weeks menu included:

Curried Apple Soup

Chuckwagon Beef Stew

Pumpkin Apple Butter Pie

The curried apple soup was very easy to make with ingredients most of us have at home.  The warm soup was great to have on a cool day with just enough heat from the curry to make it interesting.  It will certainly be a soup I make again.  

Each year after we pick the donated apples we usually pick apples for our own use.  Most of the apples I pick get eaten fresh, but a few will find their way into Apple Jelly and Apple Butter.  A jar of Apple Butter left from last year was the reason I choose the Pumpkin Apple Butter Pie recipe.  A twist on the traditional pumpkin pie.  The addition of the apple butter made for a softer filling than a typical pumpkin pie, but provided an interesting hint of sweetness. 

The Chuckwagon Stew seems like a typical stew with the exception of apples.  I was concerned that the apples would overpower the stew or cause it to be too sweet.  I was pleasantly surprised the stew tasted delicious and you would hardly know apples where in it, as they pretty much dissolved into the stew.
A great way to add a little more fibre to your stew.

This week I will take some time to convert a few of those apples into Apple Jelly and Apple Butter but for now I think I will go eat an apple.