A busy but delightful first weekend in October is complete! Friday evening, work continued on a project to refresh our bathroom — new paint, fixtures, baseboard, etc … . Plus it was homemade pizza night — one of my favorites kinds of Fridays!
Apples, raspberries and lots and lots of people
Saturday, after applying another coat of paint to the bathroom, we were off to the extremely busy Afton Apples orchard. This was the fourth time we’ve visited, and in 2012, we took pictures there on our wedding day! The orchard will likely always be one of my favorites for that reason. And here is a snapshot from each of the three last years at the Orchard.
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You can see Mackenzie has grown some since her first trip there in 2014! She sure loves to pick raspberries. And for how many she ate versus how many made it into the pint container, I won’t even venture a guess. This year at the orchard we were joined by Aunties Elizabeth and Linda (Smoosh), Uncle Jayme, Grandma and Boppa Jim.
Hello, Hudson
Linda and Jayme kept Mackenzie overnight on Saturday and we headed to Hudson, WI, for dinner and a friend’s cocktail party. We grabbed a tasty dinner at the Smiling Moose in downtown Hudson. We wandered after dinner and grabbed an ice cream cone for a walk along the Saint Croix riverfront. It was a beautiful night for a party too! After the party we stopped at Volstead House, one of our favorite establishments near home. It was so much fun to have a date with my hubby!
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Sunday I was going nonstop from the time I woke until my head hit the pillow. I shopped for groceries, ate a yummy Dutch apple pancake bake Chris made (Pannekoeken!! anyone? — recipe here), and a trip to Home Depot. Then, after picking up Mackenzie at Linda and Jayme’s house, a quick stop at Target.
Lunch was a delightful meal of skewered and grilled vegetables, seasoned pork and pineapple. We’d been meaning to make kabobs all summer, but they were just as delicious on a beautiful fall afternoon.
Make-ahead meals
When we have time, we like to make meals for the week (and the freezer) so dinners are hassle-free and lunches are quick to pack for work. So, with Mackenzie down for a nap, it was time to get busy in the kitchen:
- Chris made gyro meat for a meal this week;
- We vacuum sealed and froze three bags of beautiful fresh-picked raspberries from Afton Apples;
- I made a batch of stuffed peppers to freeze;
- I made a double batch of bourbon apple sauce that filled the slow cooker;
- And even made an apple pie.
Once those were rolling I started on the jalapeno poppers we would be having with our smoked chicken wings for dinner. The apple pie for dessert capped off a great weekend with my family!
The Family Thompson 