This is disgraceful. Here it is, mere days before Halloween and far too close for comfort for the November 2nd election and there has not been one single post on apple picking in Central New York. Apple picking up here is a lifestyle. It means days of apple cider donuts, spiced cider in a steaming paper cups, and baked apples with cinnamon perfuming the kitchen. If you're a canning freak like myself, it also means churning out quarts of the best complement to Hanukah latkes- pure handpicked and home made apple sauce goodness.
Now, there are exactly twelve million places to go apple picking around Syracuse. My favorite is Abbott Farms. Abbott Farms has something for everyone. Fresh, hot apple cider donuts (for me), spiced hot apple cider, local meats and cheeses, regional food specialty items and gifts (kid's tea sets, cook books, popcorn, New Hope Mills pancake mixes, etc), pies, ice cream, locally made fudge, and burgers made with their own farm-raised beef (beware, the fries are terrible). They have a pumpkin patch, petting goats, kids amusements and haybales to tumble on, a cider press for voyeurs like myself...oh and loads of apple trees.
Of the regional cider producers, you will hear two names consistently: Beak & Skiff and Red Orchard. Beak & Skiff cider is available at all local grocery stores, and they have recently pioneered a vodka made from apples, but you have to go out to the orchard store to get that. You can also pick there BUT Beak & Skiff is like the Disneyland of apple picking: clean, sanitized, and overrun by screaming children and tourists. Red Orchard cider is available from multiple vendors at our Regional Farmers Market. Rumor is they're organic.
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