Lyman Orchards’ Apple Barrel

Lyman Orchards has been a destination drive for as long as I can remember. It is a sprawling, picturesque fruit market with pretty views of the lake and picnic tables outside to sit and eat at. People come here to pick their own fruits in season…blueberries in the summer, apples in the fall. If you are like me (rather lazy), you simply go inside Lyman and fill your shopping cart with wonderful produce ready to take home.

Even if I go here for a pint of blueberries I can never leave without a cart full of everything else. Lyman sells local products that you can’t find elsewhere, their own and some from local businesses. I adore the cheese pirogues from the Pirogue Queen in nearby Enfield, easy to brown Polish dumplings that I serve with sour cream and a slather of Lyman’s dark delicious apple butter.

In New England people make strawberry shortcake using shortcake biscuits, fresh berries and whipped heavy cream. A proper shortcake biscuit is savory and not sweet. They are also a big pain to make, so I applaud Lyman for selling packages of freshly made shortcake biscuits ready to go. I have never seen these at other farm stands or grocery stores. As I get older I get lazier. I do remember picking my own berries years ago, and slaving over a hot oven to make decent biscuits. Maybe I am not lazy, just wiser, and I know not to sweat the small stuff when Lyman does a better job than I can.