Baked Apples - Catching the Last Days of Autumn

Jan here, saying farewell to autumn. We have mixed feelings about the coming weather....

First Snow of the season - September 11, 2014

We've had snow already, so that's an old story.

And when the snow melted, we had a beautiful autumn - warm and sunny, with crisp evenings and beautiful mornings.

But the weather news looks formidable. The current forecast (Sunday afternoon) for the next few days calls for rain, then snow, wind and c-c-c-cold! In fact, the entire north-western tier of the US is expecting this polar blast.

So what do you do when you know it's all ending - that these mellow days are coming to an end?

Catch as much as you can!!!

We went to our favorite place yesterday afternoon, hoping to see some wildlife and soak up the last of the sun.

Whitetail Does - an unusual sighting for us. We normally
only see Mule Deer.

And now you know why they're called Whitetails!

We weren't disappointed!

Custer State Park is the jewel of the Black Hills. Beautiful drives, stellar hiking trails, and lots of wildlife.

We saw close to 300 bison on our two-hour visit to the park. They were busy eating as much of the nutritious grass as possible. I think they know a weather change is coming.

And this little guy is going to have a lot to learn when the storm moves in. His mama and the other cows in the herd will teach him to face the wind, not fear it.

They'll take good care of him.

Our route took us past Baby Mann's grave.

A stark reminder of the fragility of life for those early settlers, and a reminder that this beautiful park we were driving through was once a flourishing ranch.


And then, once we returned to the main road, we saw this sign. They're scattered all through the park. Some people don't believe them though. Every year a few tourists end up in the hospital after they tried to pet a wild Bison. They're faster than you, they're stronger than you, and they really aren't afraid of anything.

Believe the sign.

But then, the Bison don't read, do they?

We came upon this Bison cow right around sunset. Yes, she just stood there and let us drive around her.

But the sun did set, and the beautiful autumn day was over.

Is anyone ready to let go of autumn yet, though? Let's catch a last taste....

Baked Apples

This dish is so simple, there's no recipe :) However, if you're looking for another version, you can try The Fresh Pioneer's recipe from last year. Fall Eats! Warm and Filling Baked Apples, Superman Style!

First, preheat your oven to 350°.

Gather your apples.

Cut them in half and core them, then set them in a baking dish.

Put a pat of butter in each half - about a teaspoon.

Add a tablespoon of brown sugar to each, and then sprinkle with cinnamon, ground ginger, and ground nutmeg.

Bake at 350° for 45 to 60 minutes.

Enjoy! Bee Tee Dubs - these are particularly delicious with a scoop of vanilla ice cream :)