Deer Follies

Who is that sleeping under my family's trampoline? (Picture taken through my bedroom window).

The newest mama deer that's who. I guess it counts as shade. But it is funny that they crawl under there to hang out. I haven't gotten any good pictures of the baby fawn yet, she moves around too much to get a clear picture.

Here she is, she just loves to pick apples. Amazing to see them balance on their hind legs as they stretch up to grab the green apples off the tree.

Pshew, got one down. Guess they like sour, because those apples are pretty far away from ripe.

Pretty cute huh? Noisy when they're romping around at night, but I am getting used to it.

And very very thorough, they don't leave any green bits or apples behind.

Apple Tree Time

One of our apple trees is gone crazy with blossoms. The other three trees have half as many blossoms.
I can see it out my window and it just shimmers with all that collected and processed sunlight.

The bees are of course very very happy
.
Just seeing these blossoms open, open, open make me happy also, even though I'm not a bee.

This is my favorite picture of all. It makes me think of a dance of apple blossom fairies.

Apple Surplus

We have too many apples around here.
I shouldn't complain, but I can only eat so many fresh apples.
They are taking over the kitchen.
They fill an entire drawer in the fridge.
They fill several big bowls out on the counter.
There are still more on the trees in my yard.

So what to make with them?

I'm not up to making applesauce (not this week, hopefully that will change soon), so I thought I'd bake something, that wasn't a pie.

I chose a cinnamon roll dough recipe from my breadmaker cookbook, it is a simple sweet dough recipe. I love making dough in the breadmaker, so easy. This dough turned out really lovely. I rolled it out into a big rectangle, and filled it up with sliced apples which had been mixed with cinnamon and brown sugar. Rolled it up into a big loaf pinching the edges closed. Brushed the top with a beaten egg, sprinkled some more cinnamon and sugar on top.
After baking, here is what it looked like. Pretty gigantic, and man did it ever smell good.

Here's what it looked like inside.

Yummmm.

Alex said "Mom this smells better than Cinnabon at the mall." High compliment indeed.

It only used up six apples though.

Halp!

Oppressive Apple Influx of '07

On to the topic of the month, relationship with food for Self Portrait Challenge. I have a love/hate thing going with apples at the moment. We are absolutely overflowing and overrun with them, and I feel oppressed. Imagine that, oppressed by apples.

Our mini apple orchard (5 trees) decided to overproduce this year, and so did our weekly CSA basket from Camp Joy. Guess it was good apple production weather. The blossoms bloomed, and then we didn't have the usual storms blowing off half of them before they could be pollinated. And maybe the bees all came over here to escape the sudden bee hive death syndrome happening everywhere else. Who knows. All I know, is that I have a hellauva lot o' apples. They are taking over my kitchen, in piles, boxes and bags.

Just make some pie you say? I don't particularly care for pie (call me weird, I know). And I'm not up to making applesauce.

What to do...I am going to dehydrate some in my dehydrator. I can sit down while I do that. And my friend Bitter Betty, recommends preparing enough for a pie filling, and then freezing them in bags, which I can also manage. That will get rid of most of them I think. And then the family won't get sick of having apple pie every freaking week. "Oh man, more pie!?" sheesh, spare me people!

So, there it is, I am feeling rather Evil Queen-ish (note the mug) about apples which represent beauty truth and sweet life. Poison apple anyone?