Apple season is here! The weather is cooling off (on some days!) and apples are ready for harvesting. It is always a treat to go apple picking at this time of year! It was a fall activity we did as a family when the kids were little, then it became a school field trip when they started in preschool. When we first moved to Chicagoland from the northeast in the mid-1990s, we lived within 20 minutes of 3 different family owned apple orchards. One of them was literally right across the street from our neighborhood. One by one, the orchards were all sold off to developers, but not until the kids were past the age of school field trips to pick their favorite fruit. It was a sad fall when the last of the orchards was converted to a housing development.

Fortunately, we once again live within a few minutes drive of an orchard that harvests apples (& peaches) and where we can pick our own apples every fall. Now is the perfect time to share our latest favorite apple recipes. Let’s start with a cocktail!

Rum & Cider Sangria

Rum & Cider Sangria (adapted from realsimple.com)

Serves 4-5, Hands-On Time: 10 minutes + chilling time

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 cloves
• pinch of grated nutmeg
• 24 ounces chilled hard apple cider
• 1 cup chilled spiced or dark rum
• 1 tart green apple, chopped
• 1 orange, peeled & segments halved

Directions:

Bring the maple syrup and water to a boil in a small saucepan with the cinnamon stick, cloves, and nutmeg. Let it cool, then strain out & discard the cinnamon stick and cloves.

The maple syrup gets infused with the essence of cinnamon & cloves!

Combine the infused maple syrup with the hard apple cider, rum, apple, and orange pieces.

Mix the fruit into the cider, syrup & rum.

Serve chilled in glasses over ice.

The taste of fall in a cocktail!

It’s time to celebrate fall apple season with a cider cocktail!  ~Linda

Rum & Cider Sangria (adapted from realsimple.com)

Serves 4-5, Hands-On Time: 10 minutes + chilling time

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 cloves
• pinch of grated nutmeg
• 24 ounces chilled hard apple cider
• 1 cup chilled spiced or dark rum
• 1 tart green apple, chopped
• 1 orange, peeled & segments halved

Directions:

Bring the maple syrup and water to a boil in a small saucepan with the cinnamon stick, cloves, and nutmeg. Let it cool, then strain out & discard the cinnamon stick and cloves. Combine the infused maple syrup with the hard apple cider, rum, apple, and orange pieces. Serve chilled in glasses over ice.