Laugh at the Days to Come: Apple Hill

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Apple Hill

Apple Hill, a place in the foothills near El Dorado Hills. Ten years ago before we moved to El Dorado Hills one of Tim's co-workers advised us to go see this place called Apple Hills. We all made our own preconceived picture of the place. It took us many years before we finally convinced ourselves to go to Apple Hill. The place did not come close to that mental image I created - I imagined a green hill that is lined with apple trees and there around that hill is green grass where people can watch the apples on the hill.

Apple Hill is a community and an association of growers. The association probably started with apple growers only but now you'll find wineries, pumpkin fields, and Christmas tree farms featured in the area. It is a seasonal place of attraction as they open only late in the year when the apples reached a certain level of maturity, when the pumpkins are ready for picking, and until the Christmas trees are ready to be cut and all sold out. It is a fun place to spend a day with family. Some of our friends go to Apple Hill every year to find and cut their own Christmas tree.

Of the many things that you can do in Apple Hill, our family has chosen two activities as our favorites:
First of all we like buying apples in bushels. They are very freshly harvested and inexpensive (much cheaper than Costco apples). We were there last Saturday and got half a bushel (30 lbs) of extra large Fuji apples for $12.00. Maybe we will go back later to get Granny Smith apples for pies, apple sauce, and apple crisps. Secondly, we like eating BBQ-ribs with the apples laden-with-fruits for the view. We enjoy clumping together on a picnic bench as we eat delicious Apple Hill ribs. This year however, in keeping with the economic-crisis (frugality) theme, we decided to cook our own ribs and packed it carefully so that it was still warm when it was time for us to eat them. Tim made them so tender, you could tear the ribs apart with your fingers. Not only did we bring ribs, we also brought our Lewis-version of garlic bread. To complete our calorie consumption, Tim ordered a dozen of apple donuts. Everything was delicious. And most of all, we had fun!