My husband is not a gambling man. We’ve been to Atlantic City only once in our 17+ year relationship and while I enjoyed playing the quarter slots, I can’t remember if he did ANY gambling at all while we were down there. (Not that we were there for that long.) As far as I know he’s never been to Las Vegas (I’ve only been twice…and in the same year and although I would like to go back and visit again, it’s not on the top of my list of things to do). So I guess you can say we are not a big gambling family.
But just a couple of weeks ago I was pulling my husband away from a potential new “addiction” as he was saying he needed just wanted “one more”.
What did he want one more of? Where were we? We were apple picking at Riamede Farms. With all the trees and searching for the “just right” ones, it was tempting for “just one more.” As a matter of fact, this family of three came home with six pounds of apples. (And a variety too: Gala, Macintosh and Cortland.) I had to put a stop to it, otherwise between my son and my husband we would have had at least double that! (While I wanted to do some picking, my “two guys” were having such a blast that I knew I’d better restrain myself. I think I only picked one apple.)
What did we do with six pounds of apples? We gave quite a few away to relatives. I made an easy apple cobbler from a recipe that I found on the internet. And then I ate alot of apples. (I think of all the apples we picked my husband only ate one and my son might have eaten two. I say might, because they went in his lunchbox with him to school and you never know what happens to a packed lunch!)
I have to say that despite coming home with 6 pounds of apples, we “escaped” relatively lightly. We went with a group of friends and one couple came home with 12 pounds! (And that was after they ate at least 2 apples a piece while we were out picking. Riamede has you on the honor system, so you don’t have to pay for what you eat before you bring them in to weigh. Although the way some people were eating, they should have added another dollar or two to their weigh in bill!). Some other friends of ours visited several weekends later and also came home with about 12 pounds (for a family of three)! It seems like no one can withstand the allure of “just one more.”
Unlike gambling, however, apple picking is something we can only do seasonally and WILL only do on nice days. With the reasonable pricing at Riamede (when we went it was only $1 a person to get in which included a hayride and the cost per pound of apples being about $1.77), it’s a “gamble” that I can afford. Riamede does not have all of the “extras” that some other farms do (no corn mazes, pumpkin tosses, etc), but instead just offered us a lovely day out walking, getting some fresh air and sunshine, and of course, lots and lots of apples. In my book, it’s money well spent!
Beth Shorten is a life-long Verona resident from a long line of Verona residents. She blogs about what life throws at her at Bfth’s Boring Blog. If you also have an apple addiction, try Tracy Bermeo’s slow cooker recipe for apple butter.
Come give us a try……. you will love it!