Besides my parents occasionally using this blog as a means of checking up on me (Hi Mom!), I’m never sure who else comes here on a regular basis. I get lots of page hits on individual posts, such as my experience taking the Michael’s cake decorating course last spring or a recipe that sounds intriguing (my dairy free blueberry oatmeal muffins has been consistently the most popular).
Therefore, I’m never sure when I should talk about the other, non-baking events that happen in my life. I know that its the personal aspects of a blog is what makes it interesting and keep readers intrigued, but I’m never sure on what level I should be sharing things. Obviously, you have to be careful and I’m not interesting in sharing tons of personal stuff with the internet. At one time, it was dangerous to put a picture of yourself online and now with Facebook and Twitter, its almost the norm. I even remember when my parents were too afraid to use online banking when it first became available and now its the fastest, easiest way to pay our bills.
I had a couple of outside influences when it came to making these brain cupcakes. One is that it is now thisclose to Halloween, although if you were to go the holiday sections of any store, Halloween began back in September. Another is that it’s Trevor’s favourite unofficial holiday. We always make a list of movies to watch leading up to the 31st, which always includes the Halloween series, Nightmare on Elm Street series and the Scream movies. Those are the ones I’ll sit through. On his own, I’m sure he watches many more. These cupcakes were to get us in the Halloween spirit.
You know, in between all the mini chocolate bars and Tootsie Pops we’re currently consuming.
Lemon squares. They are easy to make, a pain to cut and they don’t always look pretty when you finally managed to saw off a few squares. Don’t let that fool you, they are always delicious and these ones have a story to tell. I just wish that these photos showed more of the yellow-goodness that was inside them.
I started the morning with a dream to make lemon squares and I ended the day with a cleaner oven and a greater patience for Trevor. He might say the same about me.
When it comes to naming recipes, how do you figure out which words come first? I must have stared at the title of this entry for 10 minutes straight, trying to piece together the words apple, cinnamon, almonds, and scones. Would it be better if almonds came first? Where does cinnamon fit in all of this? Apples were the highlight ingredients, so does it come first or second? Naming recipes shouldn’t be this complicated.
In my opinion, it’s not fall until you go to a pick-your-own apple orchid. This Thanksgiving, my Mom and Grandma flew down and took us visiting some family members, some of whom owns and operates an apple farm – Smiths’ Apples and Farm Market in Port Elgin.
This apple farm is open everyday from the beginning of September until the end of October. I don’t know how Micki and Steve do it. When we arrived early during Thanksgiving weekend (their busiest time), the place was already pretty busy. Steve always makes time to chat with everyone out front and Micki was also able to greet us, despite being super busy in the store and kitchen areas. We said a quick hello and grabbed a couple of wagons for apple picking.
Since we are big apple eaters, we brought along 2 large totes to fill up. My Mom and Grandma ended up taking them home on their flight, but Trevor and I ended up with 2 full cloth grocery bags.
The farm has lots of apple varieties, so we picked some Jonagold, Royal Gala (my person favourite) and some Aurora Golden Gala. We also picked up some delicious Honeycrisp, which are not for picking and are only available in their store.
What I love about the apples is how huge they are! I swear, one of their apples is like eating 2-3 grocery store apples and they taste so much better too!
After apple picking, there is plenty more to do on the farm. A couple of my younger cousins raced Trevor and I through the huge corn maze. Every year is a new theme and they make it challenging by placing clues throughout the maze based on the theme. This year was “Mythological Creatures.”
If you aren’t up for the larger corn maze, there is also a smaller toddler-sized hay maze and some pumpkins to sit and hang out by to catch your breath. If you bring little kids, I can guarantee that you will be trying to keep up with them throughout all the excitement.
Out of everything to do on the farm, my favourite place to visit is the bakery. Micki makes apple pies, pumpkin pies, muffins, apple cheddar scones, cookies, and anything else you can dream up.
This was my first year trying her pumpkin pie and it definitely does not disappoint!
Also if you want to make your own apple pie at home, you can purchase pre-made pie shells and roll-outs. How handy is that?
Besides apples and baked goods, there is lots more to purchase in the store. Pumpkins and squash, honey and jams, loose leaf tea (Mom bought some chocolate chai latte that smelled so,ooo good!), coffee beans, apple peelers, fudge, candy apples, you name it and it’s probably right there on the shelf!
There’s a few more weeks left in the season, so if you’re in the Southern Ontario area, take a day drive up to Port Elgin and visit the Smith Apple Farm.
Meanwhile, I’ll have to brainstorm what to do with all these apples in my fridge!
Canadian food blogger, baking and eating her way through life. Musical theatre fanatic. Personal finance nerd. Sometimes runner/yogi. Green smoothies are pretty amazing.
