Hello everyone!  Can you believe that the 11th Hand Crafted Hoedown for the Holiday is less than a month away!?

I know I can’t!  I definitely need to start creating some more fun things! I’ve also already started my Christmas shopping list which will definitely be shorter after the sale!

WHEN? 
Friday, November 17th from 9am to 6pm
Saturday, November 18th from 9am to 5pm

WHERE? 
At Lapacek’s Orchard of course!
N1959 Kroncke Road
Poynette, WI 53955

608-635-4780

Don’t forget to tell everyone about this fabulous event!  AND to make that even easier for you I already have an event created on Facebook HERE.

I’ll keep updating this post as I find out more definitively what everyone is bringing and get more pictures of the sneak peeks!

Elaine’s Simple Soap

Upcycled Sweater Wreaths

Hand Knit items and felted acorn ornaments from Pointelle Designs.  Start your wish list by keeping an eye on her beautiful instagram feed!

Children's items, Crayon bags, Baby clutch balls, Fabric books, Tooth Fairy pillows, and Seek and Find pouches by Donna F

Hand-knit Doll and Chicken Sweaters!  (Yes – no joke – chicken sweaters!)

Adorable piggy banks, classic, clean signs, and “WI”no glasses from the Hammer Factory!

Upcyled Mittens from Karol T and Cindi H

Cora H – Bath Bombs

According to Lucia – 11 year old Lucia Lindner brings you –amazing handmade bracelets and more!!!!  To see more of her fabulous creations check her out on instagram – AccordingtoLucia!

Alpaca survival socks, shoe inserts, and mittens from Hillsboro Alpaca Ranch

The Painted Daisy – upcycled sweater scarves and arm warmers

Janet K – Hand sewn bags, pillows, quilts and aprons

Mill Diilly- rustic wood items: bottle openers, picture frames, birthday boards, photo holders, coasters, etc.

Cheryl S - fun wine bottle decorations, tutus, and more!

Cora – bath bombs!

Another Man's Treasures - Custom Upcycling and Woodworking

Bow’s and Skirts by Autumn Raindrops!

Crocheted items from Dianne H

Persimon Dreams – quilted and sewn items, pillows,  jewelry, ornaments, christmas trees, and more!

Dean Piehl - Woodworking 
Diane Lapacek – quilted and sewn items, gourds, hand painted items
Hwy 22 Naturals – Soy Candles

Creations from Capri, Cedi & Pip! Just wait until you see the Hot Chocolate Snowmen they’re putting together!

Woodburn ornaments and sign from Waterbead

Stained glass by Betty D

Jim Muttini - Wood Turnings

Aprons, wreaths, ornaments, decorative plates and other assorted goodies from Judy Schultz

Jared’s aunt Becky is bringing her amazing baskets and adorable log snowman again this year!  Yeah!

Christmas wreaths from Miller’s Tree Farm!

Fabulous Knit items from Rose & Rows.  be sure to check out her facebook page for more photo’s!

And so much MORE!!!!!

Winesap apples can be eaten fresh but it primarily used for cooking.  It is popular for juice and cider production.   It‎ can be eaten fresh but is primarily a culinary apple, also popular for juice/cider production. It has a sweet with tangy finish with a tart start.

I peeled, cored and sliced the winesap apples and cooked them in my mini crock pot for just over an hour.

It cooked into a textured pureeed sauce … not smooth but not chunky.  The flavor was sweet with a tangy finish just like the description said it would be.  It was not my favorite apple for applesauce – something was definitely missing and I’m guessing that’s 2 to 3 other varieties of apples mixed with it.  I could see how it would work great for making cider though … a very unique flavor. 

Stayman is another new apple at Lapacek’s Orchard.  It’s a crisp, hard, tart apple and is very popular in the state of Virginia.  We heard about it because my sister-in-law lived there for about 10 years and told us how good it was.  After watching customers try a sample, I’m sure many folks will agree with her.  Let’s see how the Stayman apple does when cooked into applesauce!

I peeled, cored and sliced the stayman and put it into my mini slow cooker. 

After just over an hour I had a smooth, tart applesauce.  Definitely flavorful but a bit too tart for my taste.  It would add a perfect element of flavor and texture though mixed with other apples.

We had our very first crop of Keepsake apples at Lapacek’s Orchard this season.  The verdict is in – it’s definitely a good one!  It’s crunchy, hard, juicy and sweet.  While it’s not the prettiest apple – the flavor and texture makes up for the aesthetics. 

The Keepsake apple also happens to be a parent to the Honeycrisp (Keepsake x MN1627)

I had to see how it work out in applesauce to continue my great “Saucesational Analysis” experiment.

So, I peeled, cored and sliced up a few keepsake apples and put them in my min slowcooker.

After just over an hour, I had a chunky, juicy, sweet applesauce.  They cooked very similarly to the honeycrisp (which makes sense) – the apple holds its shape but all the juice comes out and it’s amazing!  Definitely mix this one up well before you eat and enjoy … if you just get a chunk of apple the flavor will be absent as it’s all in the juice at the bottom of the pot.

Last Friday we snuck out to the pumpkin patch to pick pumpkins for our family.  We have three pumpkin patches for you to go through to find the perfect.

The pictures I’m sharing with you here are just from one of the patches.

There are seriously some gorgeous pumpkins out there.It didn’t take us long to find our perfect pumpkin for carving!

Here’s Cedi’s pumpkin!

It took her some effort to carry it back.

Capri and Pip worked together to find their pumpkins.

And it wasn’t long before Pip had hers …

and Capri had hers …

Pumpkin picking at our orchard is a pretty laid back experience.  You can either bring your own wagon or use one of ours.  You find your favorite pumpkins and bring them back to the lean next to the shop.  We have a “Pumpkin Weight Station” set up there.  You take a sheet that’s right by the scale and fill out how much each of your pumpkin and gourds weigh, put your pumpkins into your car and just bring the sheet into the shop to pay for your pumpkins.