Is there any activity that says “fall” more than apple picking?  Janice, Vishya and I went to St Joseph du Lac Saturday, about 45 minutes north of Montreal. The sun was shinning and the air was crisp, perfect apple picking weather.

We went to an orchard called A La Croissée des Pommes. They had a good selection of apples, and their prices were the best in the area. I also appreciated that there was someone in the orchard available to tell us types of apples they had and what those apples were best for. She even explained the best right way to pick an apple; to properly pick an apple pull it up, if you twist it off the stem the bud will come off and no fruit will grow the following year.

There were Lobo, Empire, Cortland, and Macintosh available. Since we only had 20 lbs each we needed to sample all the apples before filling up the bags. They were all delicious, but in the end we went with Empire and Cortland.

Most of the lower branches had already been picked by the time we got there (the directions were confusing, I blame Google maps use of the word U-Turn). Janice took care of all the ladder work.

This is me, picking apples with my purse on my shoulder because I didn’t want to get it dirty. The girls just threw theirs on the ground and they were fine. Mine, although it never left my shoulder, ended up covered in mud.

And then there was the best part of the day. The beignets, made fresh in front of us. The only thing missing was a nice cup of coffee to go with them. Fun fact; Canadians eat the most doughnuts per capita.

Before heading home we checked out a small pie shop. They sold a variety of pies, apples and baked goods made with apples.

This sign says to come in and smell.

Once inside it smells wonderful. They were baking apple bread. Unfortunately I was forbidden from taking pictures. I think they were worried I was trying to discover their secret apple bread formula. I probably wouldn’t have tried to make it on my own, but since they acted all snooty I will be replicating their bread and sharing the recipe with the world. I’ve already had a few slices and I’m pretty sure its just white bread with apples and cinnamon swirled though it and some apple chunks on top. I’ll let you know as soon as I’ve perfected the recipe.