{"id":4427,"date":"2013-10-14T13:00:37","date_gmt":"2013-10-14T13:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/foodietales.com\/?p=4427"},"modified":"2013-10-14T13:00:44","modified_gmt":"2013-10-14T13:00:44","slug":"wilsons-orchard-iowa-city-iowa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/foodietales.com\/?p=4427","title":{"rendered":"Wilson\u2019s Orchard – Iowa City, Iowa"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nWilson\u2019s Orchard
\n2924 Orchard Lane NE
\nIowa City, Iowa 52240
\n(319) 354-5651
\nhttp:\/\/www.wilsonsorchard.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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Spend the Day at Wilson\u2019s Orchard in Iowa City<\/p>\n

I always feel like fall has officially begun once we\u2019ve made our annual trip to Wilson\u2019s Orchard in Iowa City, Iowa.\u00a0 Our family loves spending the day walking amongst the trees, taking photos and of course, eating apples as we pick!\u00a0 Follow along with me as we go apple picking and then I\u2019ll show you our very favorite ways to use those apples at home.<\/p>\n

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My husband and I have visited Wilson\u2019s Orchard every year since 2001, the year we got married.\u00a0 We lived in Iowa City for the first two years of our marriage and we had friends who worked at the orchard.\u00a0 It was a much simpler operation then, but it was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.\u00a0 We would load up our baskets with what we thought would be enough apples to last us through the winter, but inevitably, we\u2019d run out too soon, because we couldn\u2019t stop ourselves from snacking on them.\u00a0 The quality of an apple straight from the orchard can\u2019t be beat!<\/p>\n

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After those couple years, we moved two hours away, but like clockwork, we still returned to Wilson\u2019s every fall during apple-picking season.\u00a0 Our favorite apple varieties have changed over the years, but we\u2019ve always loved Blushing Golden and Jonagold, and our newest favorite is Honeycrisp.\u00a0 Our kids look forward to our trips and I love looking back through old orchard photos to see just how much our family has changed over the years.<\/p>\n

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We found out that it was peak Honeycrisp season, so we loaded up the van and set off on a family road trip.\u00a0 The orchard opened at 10:00 and it was game day in Iowa City (those people love their Hawkeye football!), so we thought it wouldn\u2019t be too crowded yet if we arrived at opening.\u00a0 We were wrong!\u00a0 We pulled in at 10:17 and joined the line of cars looking for parking.\u00a0 I think the public has finally discovered the hidden gem of Wilson\u2019s Orchard.\u00a0 The first thing we noticed was the main store building \u2013 it was a lot bigger than last year!\u00a0<\/p>\n

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We went into the store to get some baskets and stopped to look around at all the offerings.\u00a0 Even though it was busy, it\u2019s such a homey place.\u00a0 In addition to the apples for sale, you can also browse through a variety of jams and jellies, popcorn, soaps, t-shirts and fresh baked goods (more on those later!).<\/p>\n

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We picked up our baskets, our kids took their yearly photos in front of the giant apple growth chart and we hopped onto the trailer for a tractor ride down into the orchard.\u00a0 This ride is free, unlike at many orchards.\u00a0 The kids loved it, especially when the driver pretended to be stuck in the creek.\u00a0 Once we were dropped off in the Honeycrisp section, we had about half an hour until the tractor would come back around, so we set off through the trees.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Our 5-year-old, Jonah, made it his mission to fill up his basket as quickly as possible.\u00a0 He got right in there, looking for the biggest and reddest apples he could find.\u00a0 He was so proud of how full he filled his basket and wouldn\u2019t accept any help to carry it.\u00a0 Lydia picked a couple apples, then just ate while following us around.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In total, we picked 44 pounds of apples, which, surprisingly, is not the most that we\u2019ve ever picked.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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After paying for our haul, it was time to eat!\u00a0 There\u2019s a great picnic area overlooking the orchard.<\/p>\n

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Wilson\u2019s makes some amazing apple treats.\u00a0 Our absolute favorite is the apple turnovers.\u00a0 We always buy some to eat there, then we buy a dozen (or two) frozen to bring home.\u00a0 This year, we also bought two frozen apple pies, a few apple cider donuts and an apple cider slushie.\u00a0 Looks like a great lunch to me!<\/p>\n

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I\u2019ve already made several different treats with our apples from the orchard: German apple cake, mini apple pies, apple chips, applesauce and our favorite \u2013 apple crisp.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to share the recipes for applesauce and apple crisp with you.<\/p>\n

This was the first time I\u2019ve made applesauce, but it was so easy!\u00a0 I made mine in the crockpot, because I think the crockpot is one of the best things in my kitchen.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure what size mine is, but it\u2019s a fairly standard size.\u00a0 The great thing about this recipe is that you can very easily change it to whatever size you need.\u00a0 Using my handy dandy apple peeler\/corer\/slicer, I cut up 12 medium apples.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Don\u2019t worry if you don\u2019t have one of these, just cut your apples up by hand.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter what your apple pieces look like, because they\u2019re just going to cook down.\u00a0 It also won\u2019t hurt if you accidentally get some peels in there, the applesauce will just get a little bit darker brown.\u00a0 Put all the apples in your crockpot, and over the top, sprinkle on between \u00bc and \u00bd a cup of brown sugar (white sugar can be used if you want).\u00a0 If your apples aren\u2019t as naturally sweet, go closer to the \u00bd cup of sugar.\u00a0 Sprinkle on a good amount of cinnamon over the top and set the timer for about 4-5 hours on high (no stirring necessary!).\u00a0<\/p>\n

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When you can\u2019t handle the smell anymore without eating some, open the lid and smash it up a little until you have the consistency you like.\u00a0 I used a potato masher, because we like ours chunky.\u00a0 If you like a smoother consistency, wait until the applesauce is cool and put it in your blender or food processor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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My kids said this was the best applesauce they\u2019ve ever eaten and they want to know when I\u2019m making more!\u00a0 I did make one more batch while they were at school one day and froze it in smaller portions so we would have some left this winter.\u00a0 After we got done tasting the fresh applesauce, I had about 5 cups left for the fridge.<\/p>\n

Our absolute favorite fall treat is apple crisp.\u00a0 We got this recipe from my family\u2019s church cookbook, so you know it\u2019s going to be tried and true!\u00a0 We\u2019ve been making this recipe for years and always make a double batch, because the original recipe only makes an 8×8 pan; a double can be made in a 9×13.\u00a0 The top gets very crispy and the apples get caramel-y and delicious.\u00a0 A winning combination!<\/p>\n

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Apple Crisp
\n\u00bd c. sugar
\n1 tsp. cinnamon
\n1 c. brown sugar
\n4 medium apples, sliced thin
\n\u00bd c. butter or margarine
\n\u00be c. quick cooking oats
\n\u00be c. flour<\/p>\n

Fill 8×8 pan \u00bd full of apples, cover with white sugar and cinnamon.\u00a0 In a separate bowl, mix brown sugar, butter, oats and flour; press mixture down on top of apples.\u00a0 Bake at 350 until brown or until apples are fully cooked, about 45 minutes.<\/p>\n

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What are your favorite fall recipes?\u00a0 Does your family have any fall traditions?\u00a0 Let us know in the comments below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wilson\u2019s Orchard 2924 Orchard Lane NE Iowa City, Iowa 52240 (319) 354-5651 http:\/\/www.wilsonsorchard.com\/   Spend the Day at Wilson\u2019s Orchard in Iowa City I always feel like fall has officially begun once we\u2019ve made our annual trip to Wilson\u2019s Orchard Continue reading Wilson\u2019s Orchard – Iowa City, Iowa<\/span>→<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":4435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,331],"tags":[1642,1638,1637,1639,1644,1645,337,1635,1636,1630,336,1643,1631,1647,1640,1646,1633,1148,1628,1629,1632,1641,1634,1627,1626],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/foodietales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4427"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/foodietales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/foodietales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/foodietales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/foodietales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4427"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"http:\/\/foodietales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4427\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4588,"href":"http:\/\/foodietales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4427\/revisions\/4588"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/foodietales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/foodietales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/foodietales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/foodietales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}