When I was a kid I used to love to go apple picking in the fall for the same reason most people do – apple cider doughnuts. So a few years ago when Kim suggested an excursion to an orchard outside of Manhattan, I jumped at the opportunity. Let’s just say I won’t be returning soon!
Many orchards advertise themselves as being 40 minutes from midtown Manhattan which in the dead of winter might be the case. However, as soon as the scent of seasonal apples starts to hit the city’s supermarkets, expect a mass exodus of screaming kids heading to pick their own apples. Imagine cars backed up for miles waiting to pass through quaint gates guarding the ripe apples. Imagine flocks of kids descending on the trees like crazed bees. Oh, and imagine crazed bees too.
Anyways, until Xavier begs and pleads to participate in this ritual, I’m getting my apples on the corner of 97th and Broadway. Last night I stopped in on my way home and decided to make what Heidi Swanson calls an “unfussy apple cake”. It’s no apple cider donut but it’s a delicious, hearty and somewhat healthy way to showcase fall’s prized fruit. I used a bit more than two cups of apples and added a pinch of nutmeg and ground ginger. I loved it. Xavier hated it. He’s probably holding out for an apple cider donut.
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/unfussy-apple-cake-recipe.html
But for someone who loves kids in all their forms, apple picking outside of NYC sounds divine! :) I'm going to have to try that cake, though perhaps after going pumpkin picking....
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