Today I grabbed my daughter and headed out in the convertible for a nice
drive as far away from the city as I could go and still get back in time to
tuck her in on a school night. Which is to say, we popped the top and headed
for Julian, where apple season has officially kicked off. Calico Ranch was
closed, but Meyers orchard was in full swing, and wow did they have some
gorgeous apples and pears. I wound up with Earligolds, Jonagolds, Jonathans,
and a few pounds of crab apples for my mom to make jelly. They also had
Bartlett pears, red pears, and Asian pears, so I bought 5 lbs of pears too.
Rounded things out with some cucumbers, spicy garlic olives, pimento olives,
fresh roasted peanuts, and a coupla pounds of pecans (a favorite of my
parents).

Loaded everything up in the car and it was mere minutes from there to
Julian. Rather than stick to main street we went off down farmers road to a
pick your own orchard where they have all pesticide free organic fruits and
veggies. And an art gallery. Odd combination, but it works. More Jonathans
there, as well as some red delicious. My daughter had a blast picking those,
since the branches were within her reach, and they're small, so perfect for
her lunch. They had a giant blackberry bush that had a few berries left too.
Small, but oh so tasty.

In town, it was heritage days, so there were some pretty awesome costumes to
be seen, and a bluegrass festival to boot. After lunch, we took a nice
peaceful break at the Julian Pie Shop, which I like because they have
Mountain Berry Apple pie, and a big porch swing out back.

When all was said and done, we ended up with about 4 of the 5 pound bags of
apples and 5 pounds of pears. I know I'll be making apple butter, since I've
been hounded for months....but I thought I'd get some ideas here for other,
new things to try. So....any ideas?? ;-)


kimberly