plenty

another gorgeous, perfect weekend to join us in the orchard. 

we have a brilliant selection of apples for you to pick.

something for everyone!

still available are

macintosh, royal gala, silken, mcgowen, cortland, spartan and empire apples. 

we are starting to pick smoothies and blondies…

both are golden, sweet and delightful. 

smoothie 

smoothies are an early variety of a golden delicious that are sweet, 

crisp and juicy with a lovely creamy flesh.

 don't you just love the name? 

these are so great to eat fresh but are also excellent to use in baking.

blondie 

blondies are very sweet, mellow and juicy. 

they taste a bit like a banana with hints of melon, ginger and honey.

of course they are cute and fun!

you can bake with these too. 

sadly the last windstorm snapped many trees in this orchard. 

 

 we have been busy picking apples all week, 

while a charm of finches sang and enjoyed the sunflowers nearby. 

we found this creation in our pumpkin patch. 

is it farm graffiti? a cairn for the fairies? 

we’ve had fun making apple pies, using 

another great recipe from judy kim.

this is her buttermilk pie dough recipe that is the bomb…easy, forgiving, and quite rich. 

 i needed a little more buttermilk than the recipe called for

 and because i am a bit impatient, i grated frozen butter into the dry ingredients

 rather than cutting cubes and sharding them. 

(thanks to my sister nancy for that tip)

 judy’s recipe for buttermilk pie dough 

yield: two 8 to 10-inch single-crust pies or one double-crust pie

developed to make more dough than your average double crust pie recipe…

very handy if you’re making a lattice or decorative pie.

ingredients

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, additional for rolling

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoon sugar

½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted european style butter, cut into ½-inch cubes and chilled

1/2 cup chilled buttermilk

directions

1 in a large deep mixing bowl combine flour, salt, and sugar. bring pre-cut butter to room temperature for a few minutes and add all at once into flour mixture. toss until each piece of butter is coated. using your hands, break butter into the flour by pressing it between your index finger and thumbs while using a slow snapping or sliding motion. it will create large flattened shards of butter covered in flour. rotate through all the pieces of butter until they have all been fully flattened out and well coated. there should not be any large pieces of butter left and the mixture should look shaggy at this stage.

2 using your hands, level the flour mixture and create a slight well in the center. for even distribution use a pour spout liquid measure to drizzle small amounts of chilled buttermilk all over the center of the flour. using your hands toss mixture from the side to the top in order to keep liquid away from your hands and from touching the bowl; buttermilk should be incorporated rather than all over your hands or creating wet spots on the bowl. wait until buttermilk is fully absorbed before each addition. keep mixing with your hands and eventually squeeze the mixture together in your fist to test the consistency, it should just stick together.

3 spread a light dusting of bench flour on a clean surface and knead the dough 5 to 7 turns until it forms a ball. the dough will be slightly wet so add flour as needed to prevent sticking. don’t be afraid to knead the dough until it’s smooth and all the loose bits are incorporated. lightly coat the dough all over with flour. cut the dough in two pieces, about 1/3 and 2/3 ratio. place cut side down onto plastic wrap; tightly wrap and form smaller piece into a flattened round about 1-inch thick, ideal for the base of your pie. form the larger piece into a flattened rectangle also 1-inch thick.  sometimes i even cut the dough into equal 1/3 pieces, it’s often easier to work with smaller pieces and keep other pieces in the refrigerator. chill for one hour to rest, at minimum 20 minutes. bring dough to room temperature for a few minutes before rolling. i like to soften the edges of the dough while it’s still wrapped before rolling to prevent cracking.

4 dust surface and rolling pin with bench flour. this dough is well hydrated, so no need to be worried about adding bench flour, use when needed. roll smaller round into a circle between 1/8 to ¼-inch thickness. roll from the center outwards and lighten pressure of the rolling pin before you reach the edge, this keeps the thickness even. slightly turn pastry after each roll to prevent sticking and add bench flour when needed.  when the pastry begins to flatten out, concentrate the rolling pin movement in an upward and circular motion mimicking the curve of the dough, again lightening pressure before reaching the edge, this helps keep it round. when dough is larger than the size of your pie dish, gently fold into quarters and place inside the pie dish. ensure it is well centered and nestled into the corners without stretching to prevent shrinkage while baking. using your dominant hand, take the flat part of your upper index finger and gently press the dough into the base corners of the pie dish, while the other hand gently lifts each edge of dough to ensure it is not being stretched. 

5 for a classic crimp, trim dough ½-inch past the rim, reserving leftover pieces of dough. fold under and crimp using the thumb of your dominant hand while pushing into the index finger and thumb of your other hand forming a subtle v-shape. place pie dish and dough trimmings on rimmed sheet pan, and chill in refrigerator while you roll your second piece of dough into a rectangle. use dough to make a dough crust, long strips for a lattice or use pie cutters to create embellishment pieces. leftover trimmings from the base crust can be rolled out to be used with a pie cutter. 

i found a pressed apple blossom while looking through recipes!

i love how judy suggests making a double batch while you are in the mess. 

wrap your dough in plastic or beeswax and label it with the date for future use. 

you'll  make your next pie in half the time. 

keep dough tightly wrapped up to 5 days in the fridge

 or up to 3 months in the freezer. 

thaw frozen dough in the refrigerator overnight.

we baked our apple pie at

 450˚ for 10 minutes, loosely covered with foil, 

and then 350˚ for about 50 more minutes, uncovered. 

and then the big question…

do you serve your pie with a slice of old cheddar cheese, or vanilla ice cream?

i grew up with cheese on my pie. mark grew up with 

ice cream on his. sometimes we do both!

see you soon!

warm autumn hugs,

laura 

carl laidlaw orchards