Watch your honey sticks, can't keep away

Last Sunday Lapacek's Orchard had their first batches of apples ready for sale. My ladyfriend and I were sure to make an appearance.

The drive there was lovely. As we drove down a county road lined with farms and full of gentle hills we passed a field with a sedge of sandhill cranes nibbling away. They've gotta build up their strength for the journey south soon. Arriving at the orchard we found many cars already parked out front. As usual, the first treat in store was cats. This grey one greeted us but was not keen on posing for photos and preferred to do some grooming instead.

We wandered out back to see the goats. And they were happy to see us. So happy, in fact, that they licked our palms and those of other visitors mercilessly. The kids were cute as the dickens.

Would you like to live appliciously?

The chickens were all relaxing in the shade provided by the tall grass and thusly were hard to find.

Eventually we wandered back towards the store and ran into moar cats. This orange boy was more amenable to pets.

This tuxedoed feline was all feisty. "Back off, hooman..."

It being opening day for apples, there weren't many varieties available. Nonetheless I consulted the big board.

My ladyfriend knows Kim Lapacek who was behind the counter as she always is when we visit. They hugged and chatted for a bit as I wandered the store. Apples for me. Check. Apples for my friend's daughter. Check. Apple cider doughnuts for her. Check. I nearly bought an apple cookbook. Nearly. Instead I opted for the bounty of recipes on the internet and figured I'd check a cookbook out from the library before committing to purchasing one.

It's hard for me not to want to cook up a million dishes all with apples when I wander Lapacek's. A pie or a crisp would do my friends some good but I also want to learn to include them in more savory dishes.

I love the Up North soap from Suds & Harvest for its wonderful piney scent. It smells so nice that I probably wouldn't notice if the soap had no cleaning properties. I took many whiffs of a bar of it before finding the strength to put it down. Normally I'd buy one (or more) but my lady has kept me stocked with soap so I have 2 bars, including one made by Yoopers, waiting for the one in my shower to be depleted. And the soap I'm using now is one of those mega-bars from Duke Cannon which apparently makes me manly and virile. It is huge. So big, in fact, that it's stretching my soap scrubber pouch to its limit. In my defense, I got it on clearance at Target. Yes, it's the requisite pine scent.

My basket was getting full so it was probably a good thing that there was no fresh cider available. However, there was still room for a few honey sticks.

Last season my ladyfriend and I seemed to go to Lapacek's every week. Every other, at most, and I had apples coming out of my ears. Time to start putting apples into everything I cook. Next up: apple cheddar scones. That's the plan, anyway.