Produce

It's Fall at our house which means time to pick most of what we grow. We had a few things this year early like cherries and rhubarb. However our apples and plums became ripe all in the same week. Our plum tree is young yet so we just baked a couple pies and ate the rest. Not enough to freeze. The apples were another story. Bag after bag we picked and are still in my kitchen. I have tons of ideas of what to do with them but until it's done won't know which I decide. We have a couple food dehydrators we can use but I also have been fixing pie filling and freezing it for the winter months. I love warm apple pie, yummy!

Here's just enough plums and apples for the two pies we made for dinner. I love the look of them together before I prepare the apples.
Our garden has produced quite a few peas this year and the rest isn't quite ready. We were late getting it planted and may not get the full size out of these. On the left are radishes, then carrots, then green onions and the last two rows on the right are peas. Next year we are clearing out more space and making some raised beds and container planters to plant a larger variety. This right here makes it all worth it to me to have moved so far this year. I would never had gotten this done in Colorado. Keagan says, "These are our forever apples. They will feed our family forever and ever. How nice of Papa to plant us this tree."

BAKED APPLES

Ingredients
4 large Macintosh or Empire apples
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup instant oatmeal mix or rolled oats
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, a healthy grating
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
2 ounces, 1/8 cup, golden raisins, chopped
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, walnut pieces or pecans
Yields: 4 servings
Preparation
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Cut the top off of each apple, about 1/4 - 1/2 inch from the stem end and reserve the tops. Core and hollow out each apple to make room for the filling. Sprinkle apples with lemon juice to prevent them from turning brown.
Mix the rest of the ingredients together in a bowl. Overstuff the apples and replace the tops. Bake 20 minutes in a small oven-safe dish or a muffin tin to keep the apples from tumbling over.

APPLE PIE

INGREDIENTS
Crust
1 box (15 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box
Filling*
6 cups thinly sliced, peeled apples (6 medium)
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon lemon juice
DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 425°F. Place 1 pie crust in ungreased 9-inch glass pie plate. Press firmly against side and bottom.
2. In large bowl, gently mix filling ingredients; spoon into crust-lined pie plate. Top with second crust. Wrap excess top crust under bottom crust edge, pressing edges together to seal; flute. Cut slits or shapes in several places in top crust.
3. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until apples are tender and crust is golden brown. Cover edge of crust with 2- to 3-inch wide strips of foil after first 15 to 20 minutes of baking to prevent excessive browning. Cool on cooling rack at least 2 hours before serving.