We are trying to get all the fun holiday activities in before Stephen has to leave for training, so this weekend we decided to visit Apple Hill. I have heard several people talk about how nice it is so we decided to check it out!
Apple Hill is an association of 55 ranches set on a small mountain at 3000 ft. elevation. The association consists of orchards, vineyards/wineries, pumpkin farms, Christmas tree farms, shops and activities for kids. It's close to Tahoe so you can even see all of the beautiful Tahoe mountains in the distance!
Just a little taste of the sweet desserts they had
This is a trout pond that you can pay to fish in.
It is surrounded by picnic tables and this is where we had lunch!
I decided before we even got there that I was not coming home without picking my own apples! There was lots of venders selling freshly picked apples, but I wanted to pick my own. Several places didn't have a big enough harvest to support their yummy treats and picking so they opted for the treats. :) We finally found one that had a great selection!
This is one of the orchards that didn't have enough apples so it was used for parking
This was the orchard ready for pickin'!
Now that we made it home with the apples I had to figure out what to do with them! Apple pie, of course! I was not in the mood for making that today, I'll probably save it to brighten up my Monday.. :). I decided to make apple chips for Paisley and Stephen and applesauce for Liam. Applesauce is super easy in the crockpot and very delicious! It was my first time making apple chips and (since I don't have a mandolin) I had to do the thin slicing by hand. Luckily, my expert cutting skills did the trick!
Just core and thinly slice apples
sprinkle a little cinnamon (it's hard doing a little cinnamon)
Bake at 200 degrees for 2 hours
Paisley ate them up! I was a little disappointed at how little you got for the amount of prep time it took and then cooking for 2 hours, but they were still delicious!
Now for applesauce!
Cored and diced the apples
Sprinkle a little cinnamon and cook on low for 4 hours in the crockpot!
Then you just mash with a potato masher and you're all done! Liam liked them and so did Stephen :)
And.... still enough left over for pie....
So it was definitely a fun and productive California day!
Thanks for reading!
