Sunday, Sari and I hit the Illinois highway on a GORGEOUS day to go apple picking. I swear, everyone and their dog decided to do the same thing on that very day. We went to a large orchard about 1 1/2 hours outside of Chicago, Kuiper Family Farm, and were amazed to see the how big it actually was and how many people were there. On one side of the country road was a enormous pumpkin patch and things going on for the kiddos and on the other was a huge parking lot (field) of hundreds of cars that lead up to the main barn and apple orchards. Apparently this was a very popular place. The line was probably about a 2 hour wait to pay and get your apple picking bag.
Luckily we were sly and took a shorter route which I won’t go into greater details about. You can ask me in person ;) (We didn’t hurt anyone nor did we cost the farm any money). They had a large variety of apples such as honeycrisp, golden delicious, empire, and roman. Families were all over the place and there were plenty of apples to be picked. It was such an awesome experience that I recommend to anyone. You get to get out into the field, spend time outdoors in the fresh air, be active, pick fresh fruit, and take part in a piece of nature. LOVE IT! We spent a couple hours filming and playing around before we hit the road again.
Next up, was the Long Grove Apple Fest. We decided to take the back roads about1 1/2 north-east-ish and appreciate the two-lane quieter roads with a little but more countryside scenery. BUT along the way I saw a sign that we were driving through Bartlett, Illinois and remembered an article I had just read about a movie thriller that was being created based on the urban legends of this road in Bartlett, Illinois called Munger Road. (Check out the story: http://news.yahoo.com/chicago-movie-munger-road-inspired-local-myths-murders-161600009.html ). I told Sari to google map it on her iPhone to see if we were close. Well, we were only a mile away and decided to drive the quiet eirey road over the railroad tracks just to say we did. I can definitely tell that it could be very creepy at night. Sari loves that stuff and wants to go back in the evening some time. Me? Not so much!
The Festival!
Back to the apple-day..... we made it to Long Grove and like many festivals I have experienced lately, I was disappointed. You would think that when something is called Apple Fest, there would be tons of booths selling apples and apple things. Well, there was one booth with apples and cider, another one with apple martinis and one bakery, the Applehaus, selling pies, donuts, and apple treats. The rest were crafts and tons of carnival-like JUNK food. And this was not just some tiny festival. That drives me crazy! Make it about the apples! The two lines for the Applehaus, one on each side, were probably a 2 hour wait. Do you think we waited? NO! Do you think we still got something? YES! Man, we are good! Sari slipped a guy in front of the line a 20 and asked if he would buy us a pie :) No problem. The pie is called a brown bag pie but it comes in a box. When we opened it, we were in a little shock but no longer wondered why it seemed so heavy. There was a huge carmel dome over the top that protected the flaky crust and apple filling and it was half wrapped in brown parchement paper.
Wow! Someone was actually selling apples at AppleFest!
But, what seemed to be one of the most popular things to buy at the Fest was a big let down. I am so glad we didn’t wait in line. The flavor was pretty blah and the filling was not well gelled together because you could see all the little clear pectin chunks mixed in with the apples and cinnamon. Total bummer! Oh, well, I was going home soon enough to make some fresh apple recipes of my own that I knew would be much better. We were late told by passersby that we should have tried the Apple Donuts but we were NOT about to wait in line. We could see them cooking them up though and of course they did smell pretty tasty. After a quick walk around we saw all that we cared to see and hit the road again. Back to Chicago!
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