Sunday, October 13, 2013

Caramel Apples at The Elegant Farmer

I'm still soaking up what's left of our warm and sunny October! Today mom and I went for our yearly caramel apple at The Elegant Farmer in Mukwonago, WI. We had a perfect day for this. Here's my caramel apple, looking all gooey and shiny, resting in its pile of chocolate and Halloween jimmies. It's wearing almost a hat of peanuts and Packer jimmies. I basically tossed on scoops of whatever was there and hoped it would stick! Caramel dries pretty quickly, so I got to eat all those jimmies up with a spork later.


Mom was more sensible and had her apple cut into pieces.

 
I learned recently that The Elegant Farmer actually started as a working dairy farm in 1947. Now it is a shop filled with high end cheeses, fruit, and pretty much any kind of comfort food you can think of. This place is known for its brown bag pies. 


It's also known for the smiley face barn out front. I remember sharing photos of that previously.


Aside from picking up lots of tasty treats, you can also buy a pumpkin at The Elegant Farmer. As you know, I've got pumpkins covered already, but I still wanted to pose with some of theirs. They had some huge pumpkins and piles of warty gourds.



Behind the shop is a working train that still gives rides. This little girl ended up in most of my train pictures. She's covering her ears in every picture, because the train's whistle was so loud.


I love this photo I got of the train conductor. It's so colorful and wholesome with that American flag, and he looks like a jolly Santa Claus type figure.


This train happens to be riding along the last electric tracks in Wisconsin. I ran across a video that will give you an idea of what it's like to ride this train through the area.


I spotted some of these flowers in front of the barn. Does anyone know what these are? I think they're beautiful.


The ride home provided lots of colorful fall foliage! October is an awesome time to be driving through the country.


This Saturday is our annual Witches' Gathering, so you can expect some photos from that soon! For those who missed the announcement about my annual Halloween blog party, that's happening on October 25. So send me your costumed photos!

14 comments:

  1. OMG!!! I was hoping for an Elegant Farmer post!! I'm having a very nostalgic Sunday night over here. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Marisa ~ Haha! I wondered if you might see this post! I knew that you'd be one of the few people reading this who had been to The Elegant Farmer. It is one of those nostalgic places because it's such a tradition. The shop was surprisingly packed today. I guess the beautiful weather really drew people out. Is there a place around where you are to get caramel apples now?

      Delete
  2. That apple looks delicious!!! Looked like a great day!
    Can't wait to see the pictures from your Witch's Gathering :) Hope ya'll have a wicked time!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Heidi ~ It sure was delicious! I think that was the best caramel apple I've ever eaten. The girl who dipped the apple was pretty generous with the caramel. It was a super great day! I love being out in the country during this time of year. I should have those party photos up some time after the 19th. If I'm feeling at all awake on Sunday, I'll post them then. :) I'm sure we'll have a fun time. As for now, I'm busy preparing!

      Delete
  3. I bought warty one yesterday at the patch to go with my home grown goodies. The flower looks like a dhalia. That apple made me drool a bit. :0 )

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Old Fashion Halloween ~ I think the warty gourds look good as part of an autumn display. They add a little texture. I like the striped gourds too!

      Oh, a dhalia! I can see where you're coming from with that. I've never seen one with those little bits coming out of the center. It's like there's a whole mini flower inside each petal. They're such cheery flowers.

      The apple was as good as it looks! Maybe it was even better... They always end up decorated a little funny. I'm glad if even a small amount of sprinkles will stick to the caramel!

      Delete
  4. The caramel apples are killing me. I have given up sugar and carbs until I lose all my weight. 14 more lbs and I can eat them again but not like I used to.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Julie ~ Oh, caramel apples really pack on the calories. Yeah, that is probably a treat best skipped for anyone on a diet. Hey, at least you can still eat the apple part. ;) Good luck with your weight loss! I bet by next year you could be eating those caramel apples again. Giving up both sugar and carbs is pretty hardcore. I gave up sugar for a month once. I sure learned how many foods sugar is snuck into during that time! Giving it up for awhile will end your cravings. I was eating chocolate all the time before that month off, but after that experiment I didn't feel I needed to eat it. Not that I don't enjoy chocolate anymore, I just don't crave it. There's something freeing in that!

      Delete
  5. That place is a beautiful example of Americana in the Fall. Places like that seemed to be everywhere when I was young. Now they are a rare find, at least where I live. Envious!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mark ~ Definitely! It was a Norman Rockwell looking day. I'm not sure where you are. I'm thinking you're in the Midwest, but I'm not sure why I'm saying that. There are a lot of places you can do the caramel apple/pumpkin patch/corn maze thing around here, but this is the best one I'm aware of. I like that it's out on old farm land where there's some space. You get the feeling you really went somewhere!

    ReplyDelete
  7. That looks like a fun place! We have some nice orchards around here, but nothing with a train! And the flower is beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lisa ~ It is really fun. I look forward to this outing every autumn! The train probably is an unusual addition. It happens to be the last train on electric tracks in Wisconsin! If you're interested in the experience of riding this train, here's a video from inside:

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF_FrNr845o

      I hadn't realized how far this train traveled until watching this video. Now I want to take a ride on it!

      I'd like to find some of those flowers or their seeds for sale. They'd make a cheerful addition to a garden.

      Delete
  8. Well that is the most elegant looking candy apple I've ever seen! Almost too pretty to eat. I love those knobbly gourds too. Nothing like a sunny day out in Autumn!

    Ali

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ali ~ Haha! Really? I felt like I'd more or less tossed those sprinkles on in the hopes that some of them would stick. I'm glad the apple still came across as elegant. :)

      Yeah, sunny days in autumn are the best! There's so much color around. I'm glad we went when we did because we've had mostly cold, damp, cloudy weather since that day.

      Delete