We stopped at Frecon Farms this afternoon and picked our own Roma and Granny Smith apples. Frecon Farms is located in Boyertown, Pa. The weather was lovely, the breeze was cool and the sun warm. The bugs were out, apples were ripe, and the view along the orchard field was beautiful. It was the first time I went apple picking.

We had the opportunity to pick Rome, Stayman, Red Delicious, Granny Smith apples and pumpkins at Frecon's. We picked Rome and Granny Smith apples. We left with nearly 3/4 of a bushel combined and one pumpkin. We also purchased four bottles of their hard cider and one quart of their sweet apple cider.

We came home and I made baked apples with a side of roasted pumpkin for dinner.

Baked Apples with a Chestnut Bulgur Stuffing
Serves 2-3 (as a side)
Small oven safe casserole dish to nest 3-4 apples comfortably

20 dried chestnuts
2 cups water

1 tsp dried ground ginger
1/2 cup bulgur wheat
1/2 small onion chopped
salt and pepper to taste

4 small apples (Rome), tops cut off, cored, and middle removed (save editable apple scraps for stuffing)

Rehydrate the dried chestnuts in the 2 cups of water on the stove top. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer until the chestnuts have softened. The water will slightly reduce. Reduce water to no less than 1 cup. Remove from heat, remove the chestnuts, chop. Place the dried bulgur and chestnuts back into warm water, bring the water back up to boiling point, add the dried ginger, stir briefly and cover. 1/2 cup of bulgur to one cup of boiling water is the working ratio. If you have more chestnut water, add slightly more bulgur according to the ratio. Reduce heat. Check after 11 minutes to see if all of the water has absorbed. Set aside.

Place your chopped onion, salt, pepper, apple scraps, into the cooked bulgur. Over stuff each apple with the bulgur stuffing. Place each stuff apple into the baking dish. Place extra stuffing around it and top each apple with the top of the apple. Drizzle with olive oil. Cover with foil.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Remove foil during the last 5 minutes of baking.

Alternatives: drizzle with maple syrup instead of olive oil before baking.

I found that Matt liked melted sharp cheddar cheese on top of his baked apple. It's a delectable addition to the recipe.