Oak Glen Excursion

Hi friends! 

I am back from blog hiatus today and have a lovely post filled with all kinds of fun pictures for you.  I also have posts lined up for the rest of the week so be sure to check them out.  Lately I have been bad about blogging but the last few weeks have been busy ones for me so I have had to be a bit neglectful (not by choice of course...if I could throw loveliness at you everyday despite my schedule I totally would).  

Today I am going to recap on my fun Sunday excursion to Oak Glen, which is apple country here in Southern California.  Last year, my bestie Elysse and I headed up there for apple pie and other apple-related shenanigans and we decided to do a repeat this year (the only difference this time was the added company of Elysse's friend Mr. Tea - she picked that nickname and I rather like it so he will be referred to that from here on out).  Although there is not that much to do up in Oak Glen (especially for adults who are no longer intrigued by fake gun shows, wild west costumes, and petting zoos), I like the mountain woodsy atmosphere and with all the fall foliage, it definitely felt like autumn had arrived.  But for the most part, I go for the great company (thanks Elysse and Mr Tea!!) and the apple pie!  Last year, we got pie from Los Rios but on Sunday we decided to be adventurous and try something else in hopes of finding the best pie Oak Glen has to offer.  We chose Law's and were very happy with our choice.  The pie was really good, so good in fact that Mr. Tea and I both bought whole pies to bring home to share with others.  Here are some pie pictures:

Pie must be accompanied by ice cream.

Quickly devoured!

And the Law's sign...it is very retro but I like that about it.

Another stop on our journey was Snow Line Orchard for apple cider donuts.  Now these little donuts have kind of been a big deal to Elysse and I and we have been talking about them for awhile.  See Elysse's in-depth analysis on the apple cider donuts here.  The donuts were really good, mostly because they were super fresh (we watched them being made) and because they were covered in cinnamon and sugar (never a bad thing in my book).  There was a line out the door to get the donuts (like the country bumpkin version of Sprinkles) which we of course waited in.  Along with some cold apple cider, it was a tasty treat and we all enjoyed it.  The only downside was that Elysse wanted the donuts to taste more appley.

Cutey Elysse with the pie and then the show stopper...the apple cider (mini) donuts!

I do love them...they are delicious!

Old apple farm signage.  

The donut line...it had shrunk by the time I took this picture.

So that was our little excursion, or snack trek as Elysse would call it.  It wasn't too eventful but the company and food were great so I couldn't ask for more.  Maybe this will be a yearly jaunt that Elysse and I make and one day down the road we will be the hipster families sitting at the picnic benches with our flock of children (last year we enjoyed observing a group of families just like this and wondered if it was a sign of our futures).  

Here are some more images that capture our pleasant afternoon:

Chilled apple cider, yum!  After getting this shot I was scolded by the teenager working the cash register for taking pictures inside.  Yes, because clearly this picture is giving all of their secrets away.  How ever will they stay in business now that this picture is loose in the blogosphere?

I wanted to include these last two pictures for a couple of reasons.  One, I like all of the fall leaves and being able to see the seasons changing.  But the real reason for including them is because the picture on the right totally reminds me of Lord of the Rings.  I feel like that path exists in the Shire, no?  To me it has the same feeling as the road the hobbits are traveling on in the first movie when the ringwraiths are after them.  In that scene Frodo stares down a tree-lined path and it seems like the path is converging around him.  Ok, nerd enough for you?

Do you have any fall activities that you like doing?  Any places you escape to?  Have you tried delicious apple cider donuts?       

My First Seder

Yes, I haven't written in about a week, very bad I know.  It is not really my fault though so I will plead my innocence.  My brother was home this last week for spring break and he confiscated my computer to load Pro Tools on.  I cannot be too mad at him because over a couple of days he was able to mix some awesome sounding stuff.  He was working on a school assignment and working on some recordings he did for his band Mojo Stone.  (Find awesome stuff on my brother and his band here, here, and here....seriously, they are ridiculously talented...and my favorite is this video of a newer song that I'm obsessed with right now) (Ok, this post isn't about my brother...I'll leave that for another day).  I just got my computer back so that is why I didn't write last week.  To make up for my absence, I will be posting all kinds of fun stuff this week, pictures, DIY stuff, and inspiration boards.  YA! 

This post is about my first Seder dinner that I got to experience this last Saturday.  My good friend, and former roommate, Elysse invited me and a few other friends to her family's Seder.  I was so excited.  I love spending time with her family and because it was a holiday, a Jewish holiday, I knew I was in for even more fun times.  Elysse told me that she wanted to create cute, crafty place cards and she asked me to come up with something we could make quickly before dinner.  After pondering for awhile and searching through my database of inspiration, I decided to incorporate apples.  Why apples?  Well, two reasons: (1) Elysse loves apples and (2) Elysse's last name has the word "apple" in it (which probably makes her partial to them, therefore reason #1).  The rest was simple.  We stamped text onto manila cards (I love rubber stamps...nothing says crafty like stamps) and adorned with yellow fabric.  Easy!  Here are some shots of our place cards:

The last shot is of our Seder table.  We ate off of plates that had been decorated by Elysse and her sisters when they were kids, adorable, and the tablecloth had the family's hand drawn illustrations also.  So cute!  I loved the family casual atmosphere.  My favorite had to be that big lamb bone hanging off of the Seder plate.  The food was really delicious, minus the gefilte fish.  I guess it could have been delicious but I didn't try it because fish is not agreeable to me...meaning I loathe it.  We read from the Haggadah, sang Passover songs (some are really goofy, like this one about a cat eating a goat?...wah!?), and we ate matza, matza ball soup, and hard-boiled eggs.  I particularly enjoyed the symbology of the different foods on the Seder plate.  The yummiest was the charoset, an apple, almond mixture that was sweet.  Even though we ate things like horseradish and bitter herbs also which aren't as delicious, I enjoyed the whole ritual behind it.  Overall, I had a great time and I cannot thank Elysse and her family enough for including me.  

Another thing I must mention and post pictures of are the crazy animals that Elysse's family decided to get...alpacas.  Yes, they have mini llamas, in their backyard, in a residential neighborhood.  It is a crazy sight but one that always gets plenty of attention (good or bad?).  On Saturday we spent some time outside with the alpacas and despite their oddities, everyone agreed they are strangely cute.  Introducing Pacho and Nacho, the alpacas:

My first Seder experience was a good one and I hope it was not my last (hint, hint Elysse).