Carter's Mountain

I'm so excited it's finally October, it's one of my favorite months. I love the cool weather, changing leaves, Halloween/Fall decorations, and I LOVE pumpkin patches. Greg and I go to them every year and we have been for about 9 years now. The boys were too young last year to go, so this is the first year getting to experience it. There's several free ones around here, so we have one planned for every weekend this month.

Today, we went to Carter's Mountain. They're having their Annual Apple Festival, where you can pick your own apples (or just buy the pre-picked ones in their country store) pick pumpkins, ride a hayride, etc. The weather today was in the 50's, so it was perfect fall weather. Carter's Mountain is right next to Monticello and is about a 20-30 minute drive from our house. When we got there, the first thing we did was ride the hayride. The boys loved it! We sat in the front and let them stand on the hay and face forward. I think they loved seeing where we were going and they both loved the tractor that was pulling us. It was so cute to see how excited they were. Carter smiled the whole time and did not move his head--he stared straight ahead the whole time. Evan was just smiling and babbling away.

After the hayride, we let the boys play in the area with the pumpkins. They loved running around and getting to touch the pumpkins. We got some pictures, bought some apples and headed home.

Everybody took a great nap when we got home, we were all worn out. When we woke up, we just couldn't stay inside with it being so nice out. Plus, Evan decided he did not want to be cooped up in the house and gave us no choice but to take him and Carter out. We took them to the park where they played for the longest time. It was perfect timing, there was a few people there, but it wasn't too crowded. Afterwards, we went to Kroger and got the ingredients to make Southern Apple Crumble with the fresh apples we got today. The apple crumble was so easy to make (I actually googled "easy apple crisp recipes) and it was delicous!! Greg and I both loved it. Here's the recipe.

      

Southern Apple Crumble

 

Filling

3 large apples, peeled, coarsely chopped (about 3 cups)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 to 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 cup cold butter or margarine, cut into small pieces

Topping

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® oatmeal cookie mix

1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted

1/2 cup chopped pecans

                               1 Heat oven to 300°F. Spray bottom and sides of 8-inch square (2-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. In large bowl, toss filling ingredients. Spread mixture in baking dish. In same large bowl, stir cookie mix and melted butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over filling. Bake 40 minutes. Remove from oven; sprinkle with pecans. Bake 15 to 20 minutes longer or until topping is golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.