Apples are the quintessential fruit of fall, and caramel apples are a must-have. For a new way to enjoy this sweet and tart autumn treat, try adding a spicy kick. Coat caramel apples with a bit of chile-lime seasoning. To get the seasoning to stick, spritz the apple with a little bit of water. Once the caramel is a little tacky, roll it in the seasoning and enjoy. Ah-ha!

Next up, add a punch of apple to store-bought barbecue sauce. We pumped up the sauce with apple butter! Add 1 part of your favorite BBQ sauce to 1 part store-bought apple butter. (You'll want to avoid apple butters with added sugar.) Mix things up and use the apple-y sauce to dip chicken tenders, or brush onto salmon fillets and pork chops. You can use it any way you would normally use BBQ sauce. To really kick things up for the adults, stir in a splash of applejack brandy. Ah-ha!

Our last brilliant apple idea is for the birds! It's a D.I.Y. apple bird feeder. This fun craft is a great way to use up some of those bushels of apples you get at the pick-your-own orchard. Making the feeder is easy, and when you hang it in your yard, you'll attract all kinds of birds for prime bird watching.

Start by coring an apple and cutting around the top. Next, you'll need 3 chopsticks and about a yard of twine. Tie the end of the twine around the center of a chopstick and trim both ends of the chopstick with kitchen shears, short enough so that you can thread the twine through the core of the apple and the chopstick remains on the outside of it, horizontally, with the apple sitting on top. This will be the base of the feeder.

It's time to give the birds a perch. Carefully pierce two more chopsticks through the lower third of the apple, crossing them horizontally, resulting in four spokes of the chopsticks sticking out. Now in a bowl, stir together a couple spoonfuls of bird seed with a couple spoonfuls of peanut butter. While holding up the twine in the center, spackle the mixture down into the hollowed core and across the top of the cut apple. Now you're ready to string your delicious bird feeder up in the backyard. Ah-ha!