A Beautiful Day for Apples

{Sweet brother pulling his sister}

I had mentioned earlier that we went to the apple orchard.  That was a few weeks ago, but due to constant colds, respiratory problems, and ear infections, I haven't had a chance to post some pictures from our trip.  

The weather was absolutely perfect.  The morning started out a little chilly and warmed up as the day progressed--it actually felt like a Fall day.  We decided to try out a new orchard, Grandad's Apples in Hendersonville.  

We have a lot here in Charlotte, but there are two things we don't have that I wish we did: a zoo and an apple orchard, both of which you must drive a couple of hours.  Thankfully, the drive to the orchard is through the mountains for half of it, so it felt even more like Fall.

I loved that they were able to see from where an apple actually comes.  Owen loved being our big helper, picking every apple he could reach, so we had to start giving him some guidance.

Owen has a thing about smells. Thankfully, the apples smelled "delicious."

These kiddos love to dance...anywhere, any time.

They had a cute cow ride pulled by a tractor.  It went through a corn field and down by the peach trees.  They both loved it, but I think Owen was slightly more thrilled.  

We wore her out.  She was asleep in five minutes after getting in the car.

Apple Buttermilk Pancakes

We went apple picking this weekend at an apple orchard in the mountains of North Carolina a couple of hours from us.  We came home with some delicious apples and I could not wait to start making some delicious recipes. 

Breakfast seemed like a great way to start off the recipes, so I tried a recipe my mom had--yum! The recipe below is one that I slightly tweaked. Hope you enjoy!

Apple Buttermilk Pancakes 

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon (or 1/4 tsp for less cinnamon flavor)

2 cups buttermilk

2 large eggs

2 T. butter, melted

1 lg Granny Smith apple, peeled & chopped

Directions

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in the center of the mixture.  Stir together the buttermilk, eggs, and butter.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened.  Fold in the apple.  

Pour 1/4 cup of the batter for each pancake onto a hot, lightly greased griddle.  Cook until the tops are covered with bubbles and the edges look cooked. Flip and cook the other side.

Yield: 16 (4-inch) pancakes