We took Poppy out to a local “U-Pick” apple orchard today. Only we found out when we got there that it wasn’t so much “U-Pick” off the tree as “U-Pick” out of a giant box of apples. Poppy had fun anyway, though. Rockford dangled her into the giant apple crate and let her pick out her very own “sweet little apples.” She hasn’t deigned to bite into one yet, but she spend all afternoon hugging one.

The orchard is on a farm, complete with horses, sheep and pigs. I’m glad that Poppy’s introduction to real, live pigs was in “darlin’ little piggy” format rather than giant, hulking hog format. The piglets were pretty adorable, particularly the little brown fella. The sheep were a little stand-offish, but the horses wandered right over to us. Poppy was impressed, but she didn’t want to touch them. I can’t blame her. They were enormous.

You’d be able to see all that for yourselves if my camera’s battery hadn’t been dead. For now, though, you’ll just have to trust me. Cute pigs. Shy sheep. Giant horses. We may go back in a few weeks with a functional camera. Let’s hope the piggies aren’t pork chops by then.

We came home with far more apples than we needed, even though we filled the second-to-smallest bag they offered. We have an apple pie in the oven, and Rockford is planning to make an apple cake later tonight or maybe tomorrow. We’ll probably still have some left over. I’m thinking apple sauce.

Apple Crumb Pie

1 9-inch pie shell
8 cups thinly sliced apples
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place sliced apples in a large bowl. Sprinkle with lemon juice if desired. In a small bowl, mix together white sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Sprinkle mixture over apples. Toss until apples are evenly coated. Spoon mixture into pie shell.

In a small bowl mix together 1/2 cup flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter or margarine until mixture is crumbly. Refrigerate.

Bake pie in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over apple filling. Bake pie an additional 25 to 30 minutes, until top is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Adapted from AllRecipes.com.