Travels with Laurie: Fall

Enjoy the last rays of Indian summer at outdoor festivals. In early October, there's the Medieval Festival in Fort Tryon Park, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.. See the Festival website or call (212) 795-1600. If you love raptors, you won't want to miss the Hawk Watch, 1-2 p.m.

Halloween

pumpkin Read about the history of Halloween, see what's happening in New York, and remember safety tips for trick-or-treating.

Build a Boat

The Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, CT, used to offer an all-weekend boat-building workshop where families each built their own 7-foot seaworthy pram. Now, you will have to settle for their 20-minute toy boat-building workshop (at a cost of only $5 instead of $1,250). They also have afternoon fall foliage cruises for about $20/person (passengers must be over 42"tall). For info call (203) 852-0700, ext. 2206

Explore the Parks

Autumn arrives late in the Big Apple, so you can still collect leaves in November. Aside from Central and Prospect Parks, favorite leaf-picking trails include Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx. Park at the north end of Orchard Beach and try the trails on the adjacent twin islands. You'll find good bird-watching there too, wild pheasants and more.

Just across the Hudson River is Fort Lee Historic Park. Take the GW bridge to the first exit in NJ, Fort Lee. Turn back towards the Hudson to Edgewater Road, and turn right (south). Directly under the GW bridge you pass the original Fort Lee, with old Revolutionary War fortifications still intact. ($5 parking fee in season.) Revolutionary War reenactments are held on the weekend closest to November 20th.

Further south, just before you pass the big shopping malls along the river, two stone pillars flank a road to the left. This is the southernmost entrance to Palisades Park (closed in winter), a magnificent drive along the Hudson, with picnic spots, marinas, and loads of maples and pines that offer colorful leaves and huge pinecones perfect for holiday decorations. This is the closest park to NYC that is truly wild and unspoiled.

Autumn is Apple Season!

Apple Picking / Suggested Books for ages 3–9 / Suggested Books for adults / Apple Craft / Laurie's Favorite Apple Recipes

Apple Season An apple a day is said to be good for your health. For me, it is also the symbol of a happy family life. Nothing makes me feel cozier than the smell of an apple pie backing in the over, or spiced cider warming on the stove. One of my very happiest memories is going apple picking with my children. Every year our kids would ask if it was time — if the apples were ripe yet, or if the fruit was still hanging from the trees and it wasn't too late to go. On a perfect autumn day, with the sky a bright blue and the air as cool and crisp as a new apple, we would pack a lunch and drive upstate. Farms provided bags or baskets and picking poles. We paid by the volume for what we took away, but while we worked we ate all the apples we wanted for free. Those days sparkled with laughter and energy as the kids climbed trees (sometimes forbidden) and we filled our car with the bounty of autumn.

Apple Season For weeks afterward we made apple pies and applesauce; baked apples stuffed with raisins and walnuts; cobbler and brown betty; sliced fresh apples served with cheese or nut butters; added to smoothies; tossed into soups or stews or salads or sautees; and apple slices dipped in honey for Rosh Hashanah, a symbol of sweet times to celebrate the Jewish New Year. If we couldn't find the time to go picking, we would settle for a morning trip to a nearby cider mill, maybe stealing a short walk in the autumn woods, and coming home with gallons of fresh-pressed cider that seemed to get sweeter every year, and a sack full of ever new varieties of apples. Even their names were a delight: Pippin, Granny Smith, Winesap, Macoun, Golden Delicious, Jonagold, Braeburn, Ida Red, Courtland, Crispin, Empire, Gala, Macintosh, Gravenstein, Rome, Northern Spy, Fuji, and so many more. Each offers up a different color, flavor and texture. Some are better in pies, or better in applesauce, or better baked in cider. Experimenting to find out which were best in which dish was our annual pleasure!

It might surprise you to know that there are 2500 varieties of apples grown in the US, 7500 in the world. Find more apple facts.

Have your kids do apple math by halving or doubling a recipe, figuring out how much a bushel or a peck is, how much the average apple in your basket weighs, the round-trip mileage to a u-pick farm, etc.

Apple Picking

Here is a list of u-pick farms and cider mills suitable for a half- or full-day trip.

Cider Mills:

The Thompson Cider Mill in Croton-on-Hudson, NY is open just on weekends during the fall season through Thanksgiving. This is a real old-fashioned cider mill with a wide variety of fresh apples for sale, about a 45-minute drive north of NYC. Cider is made Saturday mornings at ten a.m. and you are welcome to come and watch. The cider mill is located adjacent to the Teatown Lake Reservation Nature Preserve, where you can take a lovely walk in the woods. Note: no apple-picking.
See (and make!) Laurie's Spiced Mulled Apple Cider

U-pick apple farms (most also have farm stands selling cider and other items). Note: call before you go to check their hours and find out which apples are ripe and what the picking conditions are like.

In Westchester County:

Just under an hour from NYC is Wilkens Fruit and Fir Farm in Yorktown Heights, open weekends (Fri-Sun) through October. Like most u-pick farms, they have a page on their website saying which apples ripen when. If you don't have a car, you can take Metro North to Croton Harmon. Call a taxi in advance so they're waiting for you at the station.
Stuart's Farm in Granite Springs, open daily 9-5 through the first week in November.

In Orange County:

A bit further than Wilken's or Stuart's, but perhaps less crowded and more family friendly, is Masker Orchards in Warwick, NY. (Note: Warwick is accessible by bus from Port Authority and you can call a taxi to take you to the farm).
Applewood Orchards, in Warwick, also has a winery with a tasting room.
The Warwick Applefest, a free fair, takes place on a Sunday in early October.

In Dutchess County:

Fishkill Farms is a low-spray orchard. They are open seven days a week through October. If you don't have a car, take the Metro North Hudson Line to Beacon station. Then take a ten-minute taxi to the farm. This farm is about a 1½-hour drive by car.

In NJ, approx. an hour from NYC:

Alstede Farms in Chester, NJ, open seven days a week.. They have hayrides, pony rides, a corn maze and more.
Sun High Orchards in Randolph, NJ is an old-fashioned farm open seven days a week.
Wightman's in Morristown is maze-crazy, and a popular destination for pumpkin picking as well as apples:

In Ulster County, further north, near New Paltz, aprox. 1½ hours from NYC (also accessible by bus from Port Authority):

Stone Ridge Orchard (using sustainable agricultural practices)
Mr. Apples is a low-spray orchard in High Falls, NY.

Apple Basket New York Apple Country has heaps of information, including more farms in Westchester County.
PickYourOwn.org lists farms on Long Island.

Suggested Books for ages 3–9:

Amazing Apples by Consie Powell; a delightfully illustrated book of acrostic poems on apples, such as: Absolutely the / Perfect fruit to / Put in your / Lunchbox and / Eat later.
Applesauce Season, by Eden Ross Lipson. Beautiful illustrations of apple varieties and a recipe for applesauce at the back.
The Apple Pie Tree, by Zoe Hall, with collage illustrations and an apple pie recipe at the end.
How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World, by Marjorie Priceman Pie ingredients provide a fun geography lesson, recipe and activities included. (She also wrote How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the U.S.A.)
Apple Fractions, by Jerry Pallotta. Just take a few of your freshly picked apples and do some hands-on demonstrations.
An Apple a Day! — over 20 apple projects for kids, by Jennifer Storey Gillis
The Apple Doll , by Elisa Kleve. This book includes instructions on how to make your own apple doll. Elisa Kleven is also the author of the much loved book, The Lion and the Little Red Bird.
Johnny Appleseed, a poem by Reeve Lindbergh, tells the story of John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, a quiet missionary man in the early 1800s who planted apple seeds in America's frontier.
Johnny Appleseed, retold and illustrated by Steven Kellogg, explains the tall tale aspect of this famous folk hero's story.

Suggested Books for adults:

Apple Cookbook, by Olwen Woodier, with tons of apple recipes, apple history and more.
In Praise of Apples, by Mark Rosenstein -- recipes and information including apple lore.

Apple Craft: How to Make an Apple Doll (a pioneer activity)

A fresh, firm apple must be peeled and carved in the shape of a face, and then dried, to make a doll's head. Here are links to instructions and videos.

How to Make an Apple Doll (pdf format)

With photos and better illustrations:

Laurie's favorite apple recipes

Laurie's Spiced Mulled Apple Cider
Empty one quart of freshly pressed apple cider into a large saucepan. Add the following (if you don't have all of the ingredients, then just add what you have):

five whole cloves
two cinnamon sticks
a few strips of fresh orange peel (or lemon peel)
three pieces of star anise
three pieces of allspice

Heat through for 15 minutes, on a medium-low flame. Don't let the cider boil. When you can smell the spices it's done. Serve by ladling the hot cider through a small strainer into mugs. Leftover mulled cider can be refrigerated and reheated later.

Laurie's Favorite Apple Cake: Cinnamon Whole Wheat Apple Cake
(adapted from Sinfully Vegan, by Lois Dieterly)

2 cups whole wheat flour (or white whole wheat flour, such as King Arthur)
1-½cups unbleached white flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon sea salt
2 tsp. flax powder (or ground flax seed)
1/3 cup apple cider
1 cup maple syrup (or maple flavored agave)
¾ cup vanilla soy milk (or substitute yogurt or sour cream for a richer cake)
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 cups apples, peeled and grated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a rectangular baking dish (like a lasagna pan) or a bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray (preferably canola oil).
Soak the flax powder in the apple cider, mixed well.
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well.
Combine wet ingredients in another bowl. Tip: Put the oil in your measuring cup first and then the maple syrup won't stick to the cup. Add the applesauce and mix well. Pour wet ingredients into dry and combine together, adding the grated apples.
Pour batter into pan and bake for 45-50 minutes. Cool for ten minutes and then glaze with a heated mixture of 2-3 tbsp. maple syrup and 1 tsp. ground cinnamon.