Unusually for me, I have seen a lot of actual apples on trees over the last few months.  It started very early in the apple season when I was lucky enough to put together a photo shoot on an organic apple orchard on the Murray.

As some of you know I recently found myself in Orange , surrounded by autumn leaves and apple trees.  It was picturesque apple heaven.

However, no matter how small the actual quantity, the joy of picking my own fruit is incomparable.  Years ago I optimistically planted two apples trees.  One Granny Smith and one Pink Lady.  I planted them outside of our actual fenced garden area, where they would be watered by our household grey water runoff.

The watering system was, and still is, fairly basic.  The Granny Smith subsequently became overwatered and eventually fell right over.   The Pink Lady survived and has endured constant gnawing from kangaroos, cattle, sheep and rabbits.  The watering regime has consisted entirely of recycled grey water and the pruning and fertilising schedule has been haphazard.

To pick a whole bucket of apples from this brave tree, in our current drought conditions is quite remarkable.  A small celebration in the sunshine seemed in order, involving a heavy cast iron camp oven, hot oil, cinnamon and clouds of sugar.

These donuts were not the perfectly rounded variety that I see in ridiculously large boxes been hurried through airports.  They are not the sort of food that I cook every day.  But, they were squishy and warm with a perfectly crunchy piece of apple nestled between the sugary, doughy bits. The kids loved them and really, that is the reason we all cook, isn’t it?

I adapted my donuts from this easy recipe.

How about you?

Cooking for your crew?

Harvesting or stalking apple orchards?

Happy Friday, friends x