Here is what the trees in our apple orchard are looking like. These will make for perfect caramel apples on halloween. The rest will be used for bobbing for apples, or will be pressed into the most delicious apple cider. The ones that fall onto the ground before we get to them? We feed them to the neighborhood horses. 

Speaking of horses, anyone willing to watch our lane tonight and keep their eyes open for the headless horseman? Happy Halloween!

We took a break from harvesting apples in our orchard today and got creative. We decided to make a little gnome fairy cottage for our halloween pumpkin this year. It couldn't have turned out any cuter!

Directions: 
Hollow out your pumpkin as normal. Carve out windows and door. We even carved out little window in our pumpkin door. Attach door hinge using a skewer. Use the cut out windows to cut little peices into window boxes. Attach with tooth picks. Forage in your yard for berries, flowers, and grasses. Put berries across the top of the pumpkins, place the flowers in the window boxes. We used grass and tied them with a string to look like fall decor. Then We covered the bottom with moss and berries and added little gnomes for fun. 

This is the perfect non-spooky and fun jack-o-lantern and even little hands can help. The foraging as a family for the decor was the best part. Enjoy!

This caramel apple recipe is so deliciously decadent. The sweet caramel with the tart apples is the perfect combo. All the fun topping options makes this the perfect party activity that everyone will enjoy. Hope you have a spook-tacular time making these! (And no, this recipe does not involve unwrapping store bought caramels.) 

2. 16 ounces brown sugar
3. 2 sticks butter, room temp
4. 14-ounces sweetened condensed milk
5. 2/3 cup corn syrup
6. 1/3 cup maple syrup
7. 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
8. 1/4 teaspoon lavender salt
9. 12 tart apples
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11. Topping ideas: sprinkles, chopped nuts, dried fruit, toffee bits, M&M's, candy corn, melted chocolate
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13. Directions: Combine all ingredients in saucepan. Stir over medium low heat until sugar disolves. To make sure no crystals form, brush the edge of the pan where the caramel meets the pan with melted butter every few minutes. Bring to boil, stiring constantly. Once your temperature reaches 240 degrees. Remove from heat. Place sticks in your room temperature apples. Roll them in the caramel and top with toppings immediatley. 
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Want to make a pie that will delight and spook your guests this Halloween season? Well have we got a pie for you. Its a simple and delicious apple pie recipe, with just one extra step of cutting out a Jack Skellington face in the crust prior to baking. This pie is a great way to use all those delicious in season apples that are around, while adding a little fun unexpected flare to your desert. 

PEGGYS PIE CRUST

2 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbs. sugar

2/3 cup shortening + 2 tbs.

8-10 Tbs. Cold water

In a bowl add flour, sugar and salt. Cut in Shortening. To cut in shortening a pastry blender works the best. If you don't have one a few pulses in a food processor will do the trick. Anyway the flour mixture should resemble smallpeas. Add cold water and barley stir. To much working with the dough causes a tough crust. Gather dough into a ball, and refrigerate for 20 minutes or so. Cut the dough in half. If not using the other half for your dough for the top crust. I always roll it out into a pie pan and freeze. Roll out dough on a boardusing a small amount of flour so dough does not stick. Line pie pan with dough leaving enough extra around the edges for a good crusty edge. If you are putting a top crust on make sure you cut some slits for the stream to escape. Happy pie Making

If your dough doesn't come out perfect, no big deal. Just patch it with extra dough. Once it's cooked no one will care or know.

THE PIE FILING:

6-7 large apples

1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar

1/2 of the juice of a lemon

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 tbs flour

Peel and cut apples into wedges. About 6-7 large apple. Toss the apples with sugar (depends of the tartness of the apples and how sweet you like things. I would say 1/2 -3/4 cups sugar). Now toss in a squeeze of lemon juice, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg and about 2 Tbs. flour. A little trick I do is sprinkle a little sugar onto the bottom of the pie before adding the apples. This keeps the crust crisp. 

Now that your apples are in the shell. Sprinkle with a little more sugar and dot with butter. This means cutting little pieces of butter and putting them over apples, about 1/4 of a cube. 

Role out one more layer of crust and cover the top of the pie. Cut out your skeleton face. Cook your pie at 350 until nice and brown. If the edges get too brown you can add strips of foil, or leave it be like we did for a spookier vibe.