About 30 minutes from Southern Westchester or an hour from the city lies the ultimate apple picking experience. Outhouse Orchards is family-operated and happens to be open all year. But a visit to the orchard in the autumn is very special. I had heard about Outhouse for years and been curious about it but stayed away due to stories about massive crowds. For some reason, we decided to brave it yesterday as I decided a visit was finally in order.
It was the right choice. It was one of the larger orchards that we’ve been to, and it offers a unique kind of experience. Once we got through the crawling traffic to the parking lot ( I admit my husband was getting anxious and did consider turning around, but I said that there must be a reason so many people want to go to this place, so let’s stay with it), we purchased a half bushel bag for $25. Then we started heading up the hill of the orchard. It was about a 10-15 minute walk. Ahead of us were higher apple trees than we’d seen before, so we were grateful when someone offered us their apple-picking pole to help maneuver the apples from the trees. Then we got right to it.
We all had a ball picking apples. My husband is really tall, so he managed to raise the pole quite high go get the roundest and juiciest ones. Outhouse has a good selection, but Cortland apples were in abundance. We managed to get a good variety, in any case, filled our bags and then went back down the hill to see what else the orchard was all about. My son recently lost his two top teeth and could not bite into an apple while we were picking them, so he made me promise to get a knife as soon as I could to cut it into slices for him to eat.
We had no idea what kind of treat was awaiting us. Across the street, we headed into the food area, where they have vendors of all kinds that makes their own scrumptious food including pumpkin cheesecake (out of this world!), turkey legs, pie, funnel cake (a hit in my family), BBQ, pizza, curly fries, ice cream and some kind of donuts that a zillion people were standing in line to buy.
At the market, you can also buy home made jams, jellies, fudge and cider or pick up fresh flowers direct from their farm. They also have a store that was selling Halloween items. It will turn into a Christmas store in early November.
After we filled up on goodies, we headed toward the rest of festivities and found ourselves in an enormous pumpkin patch.
There was also an animal farm, a bouncy pumpkin ($3 each), a duck pond, a playground and hayrides. This was a real apple-picking experience for us all, that is for sure.
So, now I have a bag of 50 apples waiting for me to cook them in a pie or some other type of apple dish. Here is the first apple dish I plan to make below. I watched my sister-in-law make this when we were last in England and I didn’t always write down the measurements so you may have to make an estimated guess for certain ingredients. It serves 25 people and uses a lot of apples.
APPLE CRUMBLE for 25 people
You need:
20 baking apples
12 ozs or 1-1/2 cups water
8 ozs. or 2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
4 tablespoons lemon juice
Drain apples and divide between dishes available about 2-3 inches deep. The apple should be about 2 inches deep. Scatter with sugar mixed with cinnamon and sprinkle with lemon juice.
Topping:
3 cups white flour
1-1/3 cup porridge oats,
2-1/4 cups soft brown sugar
1-1/2 cups margarine
Put all ingredients in mixer – margarine in chunks-and rub together until crumbly. Divide this crumble between the dishes, putting a thick layer on each and patting it down well. Bake at 350/180C for 1 hour until crumble is a rich brown color and crisp to the touch.
For directions, go to the Outhouse Orchards site and head to the directions tab. They’re located in North Salem.
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