Apple Crisp

What do you do when you pick 40 apples? I decided to make an apple crisp. It was so delicious and so easy to make. Took about 10 minutes to prep and 30 minutes to bake. When we went to Royal Oaks Orchard we bought a mix they had in their country store. The mix brand is called calhoun bend mill. I am sure you can pick it up at any store and if not there are plenty of other brands. For this particular brand all you had to do was wash and skin the apples. Then cut them into small slices and line the bottom of a 9in glass pan.

Once you have all the apples lined you need to melt 1/2 stick of butter and add the mix in a separate bowl. Stir until the mix and butter become crumbly. Spread the mix evenly over all the apples. Bake at 375 and in about 30 minutes you have.......

An Apple Crisp

Like i said before so easy and yummy! Your family will love something new. Try it out! 

Apple Picking

Liv picking apples for the first time!

    I love FALL! This last weekend in Chicago we had a fantastic taste of perfect fall whether! It was in the low 70's and beautiful out. Our good friends the Merks invited us to an Orchard about an hour north of our house. We were so excited because Liv is old enough to have fun and Whit is small enough to sleep on me the whole time. We has a blast to say the least.

    Brad and i have never done it before so we had no idea what to expect. The farm we went to was call Royal Oaks Orchard, it is in Harvard www.royaloakfarmorchard.com. It is worth the trip. Not only do they have apple picking, but they have Pumpkin picking as well. They have hay rides and tons of fun things for kids. They have train rides, a carousel, a bakery, restaurant with amazing food. The market they have has pie mixes and hot apple cider that you can purchase. We loved this place. 

Olivia & Mama on the Carousel

    Once we played with all the kids rides, we went onto the Orchard. The Orchard was huge. It was lined with tons and tons of different kinds of apples. Olivia would pick apples and if we didn't ask her to put it in the bag she would take a great big bite out of it. I didn't even know she knew how to eat apples like that, i always cut them up for her. She had a blast running up and down picking up apples and throwing them. The would pull the apples off with all her might. Whit was asleep the entire time we were there. She missed out on all the fun.

The Gierkes & The Merks 

I defiantly think everyone should take the time to go. It makes you feel like you aren't even in Illinois anymore. The Orchard is so beautiful and quiet. Its a little getaway not to far from home. Check them out!

Whitney was out the whole time, so i got this shot when we got home