So have you ever decided that it would be a great idea to host about fifteen people for breakfast on a Saturday morning in your rental that you hate that barely has enough room for your family, bright an early the morning after you've worked until midnight the night before?
No?
Only me?
Hmmmmmmmmmmm.....
So yeah. A bunch of fruit loop locations were hosting events for the Heirloom Apple Days in Hood River this weekend. If you don't already know this fun little fact, an heirloom apple is a variety that has been around for 100 years or more. You rarely see them in stores and orchards work hard to make sure that they don't just disappear. Neat huh? Don't say you never learned anything form my blog. Anyway, we decided (okay, because I know Skippy reads my blogs, *I* decided) that it would be fun to host an early morning breakfast this weekend, before we all formed a caravan out to the loop for some fruit filled, tractor riding, apple pressing, goat petting fun. We told everyone to come on over with some juice or some fruit or some breakfasty type contribution, and we'd have hot cinnamon rolls ready and waiting.
Which of course, brings me to the cinnamon rolls. Oh god the cinnamon rolls. They are a Skippy-specialty. Little fluffy spirals of cinnamon and sugar goodness topped with a little bit of cream cheese heaven. Soooooo damn good. Soooooo not fat free. Two dozen rolls disappeared in about ten minutes, along with copious amounts of potatoes, apples, juice, milk, and homemade applesauce. So now, thanks to Skippy, our Google breakfast clan is all walking around with a little bit of cinnamon happiness glued to their hips or thighs or ass. But good lord it was worth it. I mean really, they deserve their own blog, but I digress.
Breakfast, and then the loop. That was the agenda. I left the baby with Skippy and loaded up the girls (who were of course bouncing around in their car seats all hopped up on that cream cheese heaven I mentioned) and we hit the road, four cars, eight grown ups, and four kiddos geared up and ready to go. A half hour later we arrived at our first stop - Cody's Orchard. There, the kiddos got to each pick out a piece of fruit and have it washed and ready to eat while the grown ups shopped - I picked up some pears to embark on some more baby food making craziness. Then we took a tractor ride through the orchard - which was actually really fun. By the time we got back to the fruit stand, the were getting ready to make cider using an old fashioned press and all of the kids got to take turns giving it a whirl, and then trying the result, which they thought was just about the coolest thing ever.
After Cody's we lost one of our carloads to the kiddo-nap-Gods, (which was a bummer) and the remaining three continued along our merry way to Draper's Farm. At Drapers we got to peruse numerous fruit bins, including several full of the famous Heirloom apples, we petted goats and pigs, swung on the swing, admired the mountain - which was absolutely stunning I must admit - and took one slightly terrified trip to the leaning port-a-potty of doom. Then, I admired Ami's leg of lamb that she purchased, which I myself would have no clue how to prepare. Then I looked at Ami with a bit of awe, because apparently *she* knows what to do with a leg of lamb. But then again, I have a husband who makes kickass cinnamon rolls and I'm slowly learning to cook stuff that doesn't come out of a box, so I suppose it's all a wash.
After Drapers we lost yet another carload full of nap-bound-kiddo and moved on past pear trees and alpacas to Mt View Orchards, where a Germanfest was in full swing. From music to brats and potatoes and all-you-can-drink cider, we were happy that we had decided to make the trip. We indulged in a German-style picnic lunch - with decidedly American hotdogs for Banana and Kbear - and took a breather while my girls did everything they could to destroy the (thankfully) indestructible playground equipment and then I bought yet MORE apples (plus some Asian pears) and at long last, we began our backtrack.
No trip out to the loop is complete until you've stopped off at Packer's Cookie Stop and Bakery (lucky number 13) and pick up their dinner-plate sized cookies - a steal at five for five bucks - and indulge in a peach smoothie or huckleberry ice cream cone or in my case, a caramel apple cider. And yes, you guessed it, I bought more apples. But in my defense, these were different. Feeling adventurous, I invested in a few "winter banana" apples: a new variety that is supposed to taste like a banana. I thought that Skippy might enjoy them because much to his chagrin, he has a fairly serious allergy to bananas despite the fact that he loves them. He hasn't tried one yet but we'll have to see what his official review is when he does. I'd be curious myself but I brought home a bunch of golden delicious for my own personal stash.
At that point, the cinnamon induced haze had finally worn off and it was time to leave the valley and return to The Dalles. Laden with cookies and at least six different types of apples and pears, we got back home around three.
And we took naps.
Can you blame us?
Now it's time for a bath and bed. I've earned it.
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