Sweet Berry Farm - Apple and Peach Picking

This morning, Tom, Collin, Reagan, Katelyn, and I went to Sweet Berry Farm to pick apples.  The weather couldn't have been better.  The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and it was a nice, comfortable temperature.  Supposedly, it was about sixty-five degrees, but it felt warmer in the sun.

The last time we went apple picking, Collin and Reagan were really little.  That time, we went to a place that had huge apple trees and we had to use long poles to get the apples.  Here are a few pictures from that adventure in October of 2007 (by the way, it was about ninety degrees on that October day!!!):

That's ten year old Tyler picking apples.

Collin was three.

Reagan was about nineteen months.  Funny to see her in that hat; I still have it and Kate wears it often.

Sweet Berry Farm is much better for young kids because they can reach the apples to pick them on their own.

 Tom spotted a perfect apple pretty high up, and Collin was happy to reach for it.

 Sweet Berry Farm allows (and actually encourages) you to eat while you pick.  I love that!

After we filled our bag of apples, we decided to pick peaches.

  

Soon after we got home, I made a Walnut Apple Peach Crisp with Cinnamon Brown Sugar Crumble, and it is just about ready.

Letter Aa Activities

I was excited to see this apple mask on the paper grocery bags at Whole Foods this week.  I use my own bags, but I always ask for a paper bag for any meats I buy.  I cut the mask out and taped a popsicle stick on the back.  Kate thought it was funny for me to have an apple face, but she wanted no part of trying it herself.

 Kate is a HUGE fan of these peg stacking letters.  We have a few different alphabet toys, but this is her absolute favorite and she plays with them quite a bit.  It's funny to me because Collin and Reagan hardly played with any of the peg stacking toys.  We paid special attention to the letter A this week.

 Kate enjoys using the Do A Dot markers, so I printed this page for her to dot all of the letters.

She really didn't have any interest in this tactile A.  She said it was pink and pretty and that she was "done".

The play dough has been out a lot!  She was very excited about adding toothpicks to her dough!

She put all but one of those toothpicks in by herself.  She would put them in and take them out and put them back in; LOVED it!

Yes, she does have clothes, but NO she does not like to wear any of them!

I made baked apples with a pie crust topping for a treat.  The recipe came from American Girl magazine.  It is really easy:

- core apples
- stuff each apple with a little butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar
- top with pie dough weaved as shown
- bake in foil muffin cups in 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes

If I make these again, I'll add more brown sugar and cinnamon.  Also, I would like to bake the apples longer.  Maybe if I covered the dough after the fifteen minutes, that would work out.  They were pretty good though.

So far, our letter Aa fun has been a success!

A is for Apple

We are totally immersed in our letter A fun.

I made apple smiles using sliced apples, a tiny bit of peanut butter, and mini marshmallows.  

Kate and Collin loved them.  Reagan ate the apples and peanut butter and left the marshmallows for her siblings.

I also made homemade play dough and added red food coloring and a lot of cinnamon.

 For fun, I stuck in a twig and a leaf to make an "apple".  Kate immediately removed the stick and leaf and threw them to the floor!  She had fun with the play dough though.

The play dough recipe I use is:
1 c. flour
1/2 c. salt
1 T. cooking oil
1 T. cream of tartar
1 c. water
1 t. extract (this varies on the season or whatever I have on hand, but I have used peppermint, vanilla, lemon, coconut, almond, and maple); you can also use spices (for this recipe, I used about 2-3 tsp of cinnamon; I like it to smell good!)
1 t. glitter (optional)
food coloring (optional - I obviously used red today) 

I measure the ingredients into a nonstick pot and stir until well mixed.  It's important to add food coloring before heating the dough, otherwise the color will transfer to hands and surfaces.  Then I cook it over medium heat until the dough pulls away from the sides and forms a ball.  I dump it out onto a cutting board and once it is cool enough, I knead it until smooth.  I love kneading warm play dough - super soothing!

The Apple Pie Tree

The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall is a fun book that follows each season of an apple tree as it grows leaves, blossoms, and apples.  When the apples are ready to be picked, it is time to make an apple pie! 

Instead of making apple pie, we made apple pie dip.  Oh my, this is SO good!  You can find the recipe on the Family Fun magazine website.  Click on that link now and get this recipe because you will want to serve this at your next party or social event.  Really, it's that good!

Of course you need something to be dipped into this deliciousness.  The recipe called for using tortillas, but we used a Pillsbury pie crust instead.  I just unrolled the crust, brushed on melted butter, sprinkled on cinnamon and sugar and then used our fall cookie cutters to cut shapes from the crust.  Then I baked them in a 350 degree oven for about ten minutes.

Yum!

Apple Cupcakes

We finished R's week of letter "A" activities with a special treat.  I saw these apple cupcakes in Family Fun magazine and figured they would be fun to make.  We made vanilla cupcakes, frosted them, and sprinkled some red sugar on top.  The "stems" are tootsie rolls cut in half, and I used green icing to make the "leaves".  A few of the "apples" had bites taken out of them; those "bites" revealed the inside of the "apples" with a little help from some white frosting and tiny pieces of tootsie roll "seeds". 

A is for Apple

R's preschool uses a letter based curriculum featuring a letter of the week in alphabetical order.  I decided to supplement at home while following along with the letter of the week, so we have been working on the letter "A".  R has done some worksheets, a do-a-dot letter A, and other written work, but she really enjoyed the letter "A" play dough.

I followed my favorite play dough recipe, but added red food coloring and a lot of cinnamon to the dough.  I always add food coloring and spices before heating the dough because it blends better.  I have never had a problem with the food coloring getting on our hands, and I think that is because we mix it in before cooking it.

I gave R a tray with the red play dough, a few tiny twigs from our yard, and some leaves from our yard.  I asked her to form a clump of the dough into a ball shape and then add a twig and leaf.  I never told her to make apples, but she quickly figured it out.  

She also used the dough to make the letter "A".  R really enjoyed this and I am actually considering making play dough to go along with each letter of the alphabet.

*The apple play dough idea came from My Montessori Journey.

The Apple Doll

The Apple Doll by Elisa Kleven is the story of a girl named Lizzy who loves to play in the apple tree in her yard.  When she starts school for the first time, she decides to take a piece of the apple tree with her.  She makes a twig body for her apple and names the doll, Susanna.  Lizzy's mother shows her how to turn Susanna into a real apple doll that will last a long time.  Susanna helps Lizzy overcome her shyness at school and make plenty of new friends.

I love everything we have read by Elisa Kleven, and this book is no exception.  The story is so sweet, and there are directions for making your own apple doll at the end of the book.  Of course, C and R had to make apple dolls.

We found two unblemished Granny Smith apples, peeled them, and carved noses, eyes, and mouths on them.

The next step is to place the apples in a bowl and cover them with lemon juice.  I put a bowl on top of them to keep them submerged in the juice.

Thirty minutes later, we removed the apples from the juice, placed them on a greased cookie sheet, and put them in a 200 degree oven for thirty minutes.  Once the thirty minutes passed, we alternated drying the apples in the oven and on a sunny windowsill.  According to the directions, this typically takes about three days, but it was very humid when we started the drying process and our apples were not dry until the sixth day.  Maybe they would have dried faster if I used the oven, but I didn't really like the idea of having the oven on all day long.

When they finished drying, we used feathers, fake flowers from a lei, pipe cleaners, beads, and cotton balls to turn the apples into Grandma and Grandpa Apple.  C and R begged to do make these, but I have a feeling that the apple dolls will never be played with again.

 I think they are kind of cute.  What do you think?