Scrumping!

Today, Scrumping means something sexual. But once upon a time, it meant to steal apples from someone else's orchard. This Past weekend, Jose, Herbelicious and I went Scrumping (NOT the sexual scrumping , the apple stealing!) - Well not really, we paid so it wasn't stealing.

The first time I ever went apple picking I lived in Akron Ohio. It was when I first left Hawai'i in 1997. It had only been a week since I left Hawai'i and I was home alone in my apartment, depressed. Both my roommates had found jobs, and I was still living off credit cards. There was a knock at the door and when I opened the door, this overweight couple introduced themselves as our next door neighbors, knew that I was new; home alone; and wanted to know if I wanted to go apple picking with them in the orchards. Being from Hawai'i and having never experienced a true autumn, I jumped at the chance. They could have been murderers looking to dump me on the side of the road, but I trusted my gut and went anyway. I had a blast picking and eating apples, and drinking cider. When I got home that day, boy did I have to go, and boy was I sick of apples. Later that night, the neighbor who invited me brought over two apple pies that she made. Apples baked in a pie I could still do. Yum!





11 years later, I convinced some friends to go apple picking with me. There are several Orchards north of New York City. We drove 42 miles into the beginnings of Connecticut and then out and back into New York State to the Outhouse Orchards in North Salem where the temperature of the air is a few degrees cooler, and the leaves on the trees have turned beautiful red, yellow, and Orange.
Why we chose to go to a place called the OUTHOUSE orchard was simply because it was close. Other Orchards were twice as far and we really wanted to spend the day "scrumping" not driving.

When we got there, a fall festival was in full bloom. It was so much fun. Fresh fall produce was being offered (Corn and squash) and there was a pumpkin patch!
Beautiful Orange pumpkins in every shape and Size everywhere! We were not in NYC anymore, but rather it felt like we were in Kansas!
Of course Herberlicious and I, being the Naomi and Tyra that we are, turned the whole experience into one big photo shoot.

We had a blast posing in the pumpkin patch, holding pumpkins, and sitting on pumpkins.

I think a lot of people like posing in the pumpkin patch because in the pumpkin patch the Orchard put up cut-outs that you put your face into.








They even set up a tractor so that you could take your picture on it (at least we think they did, maybe we were just climbing all over it and wasn’t supposed to).


Beyond the pumpkin patch was a forest of tall sunflowers. Naomi wanted her picture taken there in hopes of re-creating another Dolce & Gabanna Ad.
I was reluctant to pose in the sunflowers because they were full of BEES! I’m allergic to Bee stings! But like a girl on America’s Next Top Model who wanted to win the challenge,
I carefully walked into the sunflower patch and posed without disturbing a single bee (because my life depended on it!). I think Naomi won that challenge anyway.

Just beyond the Sunflower forest was a field of Mums that was reminiscent of the field of poppies in The Wizard of Oz.

Of course Naomi and Tyra had to pose there too. I think Jose was getting annoyed as I tried to figure out how to pose with the goats in the petting zoo.

Into the general store we went. While posing for each other modeling the homemade jam and jelly jars, a woman approached. “Y’all not from around here are you?”
“Can you tell we are from the city?” Naomi replied.




“Hahaha yes” the woman replied “but its okay, city folk do this all the time. Do you want me to take a picture of the both of y’all together?

“Great!” we shouted. The general store offers a variety of homemade jams and jellies, Honey (still in the comb), Real Maple Syrups, Homemade fudge, and other seasonal items such as apple cider.


The Apple Orchards were across the street from all the fall festivities.





It costs $20 for a large bag. We purchased 2 bags. “On the right are McIntosh apples and on the left are Cortland apples, both are ready and both are good for cooking too” said a man.
We decided to get a bag of each. In the McIntosh orchard we realized that everyone had a “picking stick” And all the good apples were at the top of the trees. Where do we get these sticks? Lucky for us we found one on the ground in the grass.
We grabbed it quickly before its real owner noticed. Jose immediately began using it to pick apples. Naomi and I took this as an opportunity to sample the apples as we did “America’s Next Top Model at the Orchards.” Jose wanted help with the picking, we wanted better lighting. Jose then made it his mission to ruin my photos by jumping in them. The final straw for Jose was when we asked him to give us the stick so that we could pose with the stick, and fake picking the apples for the photos.


Once we had taken the stick, Jose did not want it back. In the Cortland Orchards, he just watched and laughed as Naomi and I struggled to pick apples.
This was hard work. This is why I go to the grocery store to “pick” apples. It’s so much easier. But the apples here tasted so much better. After about 30 minutes of struggling, Jose finally came over and took the stick from us. He had the second bag filled in no time.


After loading the apples into the car, we headed back to the festival side of the street. We purchased some smoked turkey legs for dinner, and Herbelicious could not pass up the funnel cake.




We headed back into the store, bought some fresh donuts; some jams and jellies, and then headed off home into the sunset- which happened to be a beautiful orange sunset that evening. What a beautiful way to end the day.


UPDATE: We split the 2 bags 3 ways. In the last 3 days I have been to both Jose’s house and Herberlicious’s house to teach them how to make apple pies. I have also made apple pie for my roommates. Using Fresh apples makes the most DELICIOUS pies you have ever tasted. We still have tons of apples.


Learn Spanish! Manzana- Apple
Sentence: La Manzana Roja es una fruita prohibida por ser tan jugosa!!!