The season of apple picking is here! Okay, so it's a bit late in the game at this point but I did go on a day picking-trip in early October without thinking I'd actually post this on my blog. But I had a great time and thought some of you might find it useful for your own trip out to New Jersey. And since I'm awefully late on my post for this time-sensitive subject, please call ahead and make sure what's available to pick when you plan your own trip.
As much as I am all for apples and the picking the fruit itself, I have to say my favorite fall fruit is the Asian pear. Since the apple and Asian pear seasons start around the same time, I randomly searched for 'Asian pear picking' and eventually came to learn about Evergreen Farm and Lee Orchard Garden. Evergreen Farm seems to be a big scale farm that allows picking your own fruits only on Sundays. I was going on a weekday, so we went to Lee Orchard Garden. Needless to say, it was fun to pick our own pears. It's a quiet and relaxing place with a smiley grandpa sitting at the storage (?) house with a few vegetables on display for sale. We picked pears (I think $2 per pound) and bought some very fresh chestnuts. (Please note that the bathroom situation is not the best at Lee Orchard Garden.)
The area seems to have many orchards along the way, so after picking pears, we stopped at two more places. The first one wasn't even open yet, but the pumpkin display got me in the mood for the fall festivities. We also picked apples and corns at Lee Turkey Farm.
To stay true to the Korean fashion, we made it a full day by stopping at H-Mart for late lunch and spending the rest of the day at King Spa Sauna. Check King Spa's website for the discounted e-coupon you can print and bring with you.
We came back late at night completely relaxed with bags full of Asian pears, apples, chestnuts and corns. What happened to them?
Many apples and pears that were just eaten fresh. Some apples were made into pies. Pears were steamed with honey, ginger and cinnamon. Some chestnuts were roasted on a stovetop, and the rest was peeled and frozen. Pears were also used as a marinade for braised short ribs (갈비 gal bi), which adds natural sweetness and tenderizes meat. Peeled chestnuts, along with potatoes, carrots and dried jujubes were also added to the braised short ribs.
I made a very good use of everything we picked that day.
KOREAN WORDS
배 (bae) Asian pear, stomach, boat/ship
밤 (bahm) chestnut, night
사과 (sa gwa) apple, apology
