Martin's Hillside Orchard

Explore the Orchard

Candied Apples

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Straight from our favorite food personality, The Pioneer Woman herself, comes another tasty apple offering – candied apples.

These things are simply stunning. Tasty as well as evidenced by Alex making multiple references to them: “Boy, those candy apples you made last week were really good.”

Guess we might have to prep another batch for his late September birthday. Shhh! Don’t tell. Don’t want to ruin the surprise.

 

Tip: We found that if you store the candy apples in the refrigerator they will retain their glorious shine. Leave them out on the kitchen counter that shine will dim. But, they’ll still taste good.

Apple Dumplings

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With premade biscuit dough as a timesaver, this recipe couldn’t be easier. You have the rest – apples from the orchard and a few kitchen staples. Yummy, buttery vanilla-ey!

One important tip: Continue baking the dumplings until the apples are soft, i.e., you are able to insert a toothpick and don’t meet resistance. If the dumplings are browning but the apples are still hard, cover the pan with foil and keep baking until the apples get tender. The foil keeps the dough from burning. Just wanted to mention this as we had to bake ours for at least another 15-20 mins beyond what was referenced in the recipe.

Apple corer

And a key utensil for coring the apples, an apple corer — here’s what the one we use looks like. We’ve found them pretty much everywhere – at your local grocery store, Walmart, Amazon, etc.

Easy Apple Tart

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This tart is beyond simple to make but it looks very sophisticated and it tastes divine. I seriously can’t believe I just made this! No, really, I keep looking in the fridge to make sure it is still there and I didn’t imagine it. What is going on?

Yes, that’s the theme of this season’s recipes – Easy. But surprisingly, just because it is quick to make doesn’t necessarily lessen the taste or plate appeal. Thanks to The Pioneer Woman!

The recipe basics: Slice the apples; toss in sugar with a bit of salt; place on puff pastry sheet; bake; and most, importantly, Enjoy!  Yes, that’s really all there is to it.

I think we are now going to start keeping a package or two of puff pastry sheets in the freezer. A person could do this with peaches. Or maybe, a peach/raspberry combination. Would be delish!

 

Raspberry Shrub

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Want a cool refreshing drink that is perfect for a hot day? Start with a raspberry shrub (a mix of berries, sugar and vinegar) add ice and sparkling water. Kick it up a notch with your favorite liqueur if you like

Below are some photos of the shrub-making process. Super easy, just need to work ahead and definitely worthwhile having some cheese cloth on hand.

 

Adding sugar to the crushed berries
Here is a pic of the shrub as a finished product – had to act quick before we used it all up in cool drinks

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin Cream Pie

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We decided to try out another “Pioneer Woman” recipe. You can pretty much rely on her to deliver something scrumptious and fairly buttery 😉 And, this recipe does not disappoint.

Pumpkin Cream Pie

Unintended Short-cut: We  could only find instant pudding in the little country store in our town, so we went with that. On the upside, that substitution allowed us to skip the cooking process. We just mixed the instant pudding with the half-and-half/whipping cream and added the canned pumpkin. The texture seemed just fine and it saved a few steps.

My that homemade graham cracker crust is just delicious!

And, who doesn’t love adorning with crushed grahams?

We probably should have added a dollop of whipped cream on top for the photo-op. Next time, next time.