An Apple (picked) A Day...

Is good for the soul, just like chicken soup.
Yesterday was a quiet day at home in CT, well not so quiet I guess. Mom and Dad have workers over the house trying to fix up some odds and ends (i.e. rotting garage beams thanks to lovely termites) and I couldn't hear myself think let alone carry on a phone conversation with the EASL computer person and banging and hammering in the background.
When Mom locked herself out of her bedroom (with neither lock nor key), I decided we absolutely had to get out of the house. No questions asked. And where were we headed?
To the lovely Blue Jay Orchards farm, to handpick some apples and explore the fall New England countryside.

We got to the orchard in Bethel and found the parking lot completely empty. What a treat, we had the whole place to ourselves. We hopped in the enormous general store they have and purchased our apple bag, which came in 2 sizes, small or medium. We decided on the medium so we could each bring home about 8-10 pounds of apples. I liked the idea of pre-buying the bags. That way you could just cram all the apples you could carry into the bags, no questions asked, no weigh machines, just pick 'em and go. There were 3 apples we could choose from: Braeburn, Mutsu, and Granny Smith. My mom and I started walking down the rows of trees and were a little nervous as we found most of the apples not far from their trees, but sadly on the ground. Were there any left to pick? As we wandered further and further into the orchard we found our trees and we found plenty of apples.
After we filled our bags to the tippytop we paid a visit to the gift store. We got a couple baskets and did some damage, not a lot, but some. I picked out a rhubarb strawberry pie that was delicious and decided to treat my co-workers today to some of Blue Jay Orchard's very own apple cider donuts. Needless to say, they were a big hit.
It has been a very long time since we 'd been apple-picking and Mom and I decided it's never to late to start new traditions...