Apple Day Goes Way Back

Apple day is a time honored tradition at our house.  It’s a series of two days set aside in the 🍂fall 🍂 where we do two things:

1. Go to the local orchard and pick tons of apples
2. Spend a day making all sorts of apple goodness

• apple butter
• apple sauce
• apple crisps
• dried apples
• caramel apples
• apple pies

Sometimes we do all of the above, sometimes we only do a couple.  It depends on the year, how much help we have, and what people want to make. Honestly, it doesn’t really matter what we do – it’s simply that we do it.  And we’ve been doing it since the kids were very small.

With teenage boys in the house these days, some shenanigans have been added to the day (see video at the end of the post), and after a while they end up on the couch while I’m at the counter finishing (this is motherhood).  

When it feels like no one cares about the “family fun”

When it comes to family fun, things don’t always turn out the way we envision them in our minds. We work so hard to plan special activities and traditions, and when kids are younger, 75 % of the time they end up fighting or with bad attitudes.

And we think WHY DO I DO THIS????? NO ONE EVEN CARES!!!!! 

I can’t tell you how many times this exact scenario has played out in our home over the years.

But we don’t do traditions so the moment is perfect, we do them to build long term family identity, and that can look a bit messy along the way.

And one day … when it’s least expected… those same kids circle back & start holding down the fort of those traditions. And they even bring their friends. 

And suddenly there is a realization that something rooted in their hearts that was important and meaningful, even though we couldn’t see it at the time.

Apple Day has come to mean as much to my kids as it does to me. It’s part of fall – a piece of our family story – who we are and what we do.

For all of you mamas out there doing the hard work of memory making, stay the course. The effort is worth it!

Apple Day Tips

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• The apples do much better if you pick them and process them within a week (a few days is ideal). If left longer, the apples get soft and will be prone to falling apart in the peelers.
• We love this dehydrator for making dried fruit and fruit leathers. It works so well and it has a self timer on it. It can dehydrate anything, but we mainly use it for fruit.
• This Kitchen Aid peeler attachment is amazing if you have a Kitchen Aid mixer. It easily cores and peels the apples. If not, you can go old school with this manual apple peeler (which is the one we used for years before the fancy one came along).
• Don’t wait until canning season to buy lids and jars. They will be sold out. You can get these canning lids online, and the jars here or here. I also think these gold lids are fun and look unique, and don’t forget the matching gold rings.
• If you are going to freeze and not process your jars, then these black Mason jar lids are really sharp.
• If you are new to canning and need the essentials, this is a good kit with the basics.
• These disposable 9x 13 pans are helpful for making crisps and freezing.
• The heavy duty pie pans are so much better than the flimsy ones that fold under the weight of the pie filling. Order ahead!
• Peter’s Caramel is the absolute best for making caramel apples. See my blog post for the full caramel apple tutorial.
• Toss the peeled apple slices with a little fresh lemon before drying. They are so simple and delicious!

Be sure to check out my Pinterest-viral Amish Crockpot Apple Butter recipe

I posted this Apple Day video on Instagram a while back

I’d love to hear – what are YOUR favorite fall family traditions?

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