In the Kitchen - Apple Dumplings

Ashleigh & I recently made apple dumplings, after our trip to the orchard. I had found what turned out to be a great recipe. Was simple & easy. All I had to do was peel & core the apples & slice them. Then with some guidance, Ashleigh was able to do the rest.

First you peel & core 2 granny smith apples. Cut apples into 8 slices each. Next, roll each apple slice in a crescent roll. (takes 2 cans crescent rolls)

Place in a 13 x 9 buttered pan.
Then melt 2 sticks of butter, add 1 1/2 cups sugar and barely stir. (did I mention this is the lowfat version? :) heehee) Add 1 teaspoon vanilla, stir, and pour over apples. Pour a 12 can of mountain dew around the edges of the pan. sprinkle with cinnamon. (you can see the row on the left-side of the pan...where Ashleigh got a little crazy with the cinnamon. she wasn't expecting it to come out so fast. I had to scrape it off!)
Bake at 350 for 30 - 45 minutes or till golden brown and crispy on top.

Apple Pickin' Time

A couple weeks ago, we went to an apple orchard. Sorry I am just now getting pictures up and posting about it. It was one of those spur-of-the-moment field trips. You know, where your friend calls and says "hey, do you want to go to an apple orchard with us? In about 15 minutes?"
Seeing as we had been searching for a u-pick apple orchard, we jumped on the chance.
We traded in our textbooks for some hands-on nature study.

Logan was very impressed at how handy the apples were. Right there, ready to eat.
Ashleigh loved using the "picker" to reach the apple near the top.
One of our friend's Dad, helping Ashleigh put our apples through the washing machine.
The apples went down a conveyer belt, were sprayed with water and tossed with brushes, coming out clean and sparkly on the other side.
We got to sample their homemade apple cider. Picked 10 pounds of apples. Was a gorgeous fall day.

We then spent the rest of the week reading apple themed books. Like "How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World" by Marjorie Priceman. And "The Apple Pie that Papa Baked" by Lauren Thompson. I planned on doing a lapbook on apples, but plans went a little crazy and hasn't happened yet. We'll see.