Pick Your Own

Rain, mud, and fresh apples;
my son loved it, as did the
teenagers on the trip.

Allowing your children to pick their own fruits and vegetables is an amazing way to encourage a love of healthy foods, as children get to select their own foods, learn about them, and get the extra encouragement of the fresh-picked taste, and even though all of that is wonderful, sometimes you need to take your children to experience these things because they are fun.

With the start of school comes the beginning of apple season, and if there is a 'best" fruit to pick, especially for younger children, this is it, as apple picking is simple and young children can participate because there is little damage that they can be done to an apple and more than enough to save them from having to share, so all the most elementary melt-down triggers are eliminated!  Also, many orchards offer hay rides, live music, and games, in addition to picking your own apples.

To find orchards in your area, visit "Pick Your Own," where in the third box down, you may click on your state to find information on local farms.  You will want to look up each orchard to see what varieties they grow, hours, policies on eating apples etc. but you want to make sure that you are visiting a farm where you can venture into the orchard to pick your own apples from the trees, as this is not true for all farms.

My best advice for your trip to the farm is to wear comfortable walking shoes that can get wet and possibly muddy, but also take your camera.  If you need help with what to do with ten pounds of fresh-picked apples, try one of our recipes for homemade apple sauce or my favorite apple crisp recipe (below).

The apples that you pick will be the best that you have for the entire season, but as apple season spans from August to October, with different apples hitting their peak at various times, try new varieties this year from your local grocer, if they stock locally grown produce, or farmers market.  If you are unfamiliar with apple varieties and their best uses, you can consult this list published by the L.A. Times, so that you do not buy baking apples for your children's lunchboxes.

Apple [Etc.] Crisp

This is a mix of a recipe given to me by my neighbor and my mom's recipe.  Not 100% healthy, as butter and sugar are your top ingredients (other than apple), but quite reduced, considering from whence it came.

8 apples (or enough to fill your baking dish.  I like to use different varieties and I leave the peel on, as it is the most nutritious part.  Your dish should be very full, as the apples will cook down.)
1c blackberries, rhubarb, or peaches (depending upon the season)
2T granulated sugar (add 1t if using rhubarb)
1/4t kosher salt
1/2t cinnamon
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2T butter (cold, cut into pieces)

Topping:
1c granulated sugar
2T dark brown sugar
1c unbleached flour
1/2t kosher salt
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/4t cloves
5T butter (cold, cut into pieces)

Preheat oven to 350F. 

Core apples, but leave the peel.  Cut into 1/3in thick slices and then cut the slices into bite-sized pieces.  Grease baking dish by lightly rubbing it with a small amount of butter.  Place apples into your dish and toss with other ingredients listed above "topping" ingredients; place remaining part of 2T of butter on top of mixture.  Set aside.

Topping: Thoroughly mix together dry ingredients.  Add butter and use your hands to work the butter even through the mixture.  Sprinkle over apples and bake for 45-1hr.  If the peel was left in place, you will need the extra time to soften it.

Serve with low-fat frozen yogurt or, my favorite, Stonyfield low-fat French Vanilla yogurt.