Apple Picking and Pumpkin Lattes

We've had a stellar weekend here in Connecticut. Cool, crisp and chilly mornings give way to afternoon warm and sunshine. Fall is definitely upon us and this is the season at it's best. Yesterday we headed to one of many farms in Fairfield county. Silverman's Farm in Easton, CT is where it's at this time of year! We don't venture anywhere near there as we near Halloween and pumpkin season as the crowds and parking are out of control. People from all over Connecticut, New York and parts of New Jersey come for the apple picking festivities at this bucolic and charming site. Many a celebrity head there as well.

I plan to hit a lot of farms this year and this year we started off apple picking. So I left Daddy in charge of getting the bags. (You buy your bag and then bring it to the top of the orchard and fill it to the brim with apples.) Little did I know he would insist on getting one bag per child. I would have settled on one bag for all of us! At $15 a bag this was no cheap trip! Furthermore, I have now a good 30 pounds of apples on our kitchen counter. I do wonder what I will do with all of them. I mean, how many apple recipes can there be!

We picked Golden Delicious and Red Delicious. I was fairly disappointed in those. We moved aisles and rows and found ourselves among the Macouns. Crispy. Huge and juicy and positively bursting with flavor. Still what do you do with nearly 30 pounds of Macouns!

We did make apple pancakes this morning and they were simply yummy. This afternoon, as a snack I microwaved 1 tablespoon of peanut butter with a half a teaspoon of honey for 25 seconds to make an incredibly sweet dip for our apples. But I'll need some more ideas fast. Come Tuesday I know no one is going to want apples for their afternoon snack!

If any of you live near Fairfield County, CT a trip to Silverman's Farm will prove fun for your entire family! For more information visit http://www.silvermansfarm.com/.

And yesterday I had a hankering for another Pumpkin Spice Latte. But after blowing nearly $50 on apples I decided not to splurge on my fancy coffee. I tried something else instead. I made my own. And dare I say, I like it! A lot! It's not as sweet (though you can control the amount of sugar you like) and a whole lot less fattening. Here's what I did:

You'll need a milk frother. The one I used for this was the aerolatte which is like a mini immersion blender. (But you can use any kind you wish.)

I fill my mug, or carafe with milk, sugar (or sugar substitute if you wish) and just less than 1/4 of Pumpkin Pie Spice. I warm my milk in the microwave, about 40 seconds, and then froth the milk until it can get as thick as possible. When the milk is sufficiently frothed I very carefully pour in the coffee. Smells and tastes like Heaven without that orangy color!

If you try this, let me know what you think.

I hope you all had a lovely September weekend!