So, we’d never eaten a hot apple cider doughnut.

Either of us. Here, surrounded by apples and farms and bubbling, oil-sputtering vats. As injustices go, this one was small, largely self-inflicted, but begging to be rectified, nonetheless.

And, well, in doing so, we’d spend a morning soaking in L-A countryside, expensing doughnuts and licking sugar off our fingertips, so there was that, too.

It’s a tough gig.

Come Tuesday morning, Bag Lady and Shopping Siren sidled up to the window at Wallingford’s Fruit House and tried not to breathe too hard on the glass while a cook ladled the dough into a hissing, blitzing fryer. We waited. We stared. We may have pounded a fist on the counter impatiently. It’s all a blur now. Finally, we grabbed napkins and raced back to the car.

Whoa.

They were still a little gooey inside. Gooey inside!

Then we shopped. Two doughnuts, two hours, four farm stands. Welcome to fall.

Wallingford’s Fruit House, Auburn

Quite a family-friendly, inviting hilltop spread. Pick-your-own pumpkin patch in front. Sheep to feed out back. Three painted farm-theme cutouts for photo-taking opportunities (the pig farmers were our favorite). Lots of variety inside: toy tractors, kids’ books, fudge, apples and apple accessories.

* Colored decorative corn, $1/ear

Playing with your food, bad. Decorating with your food, good. Fine line.

* Salsa, 16 oz., $4.99

Apple salsa. Cranberry salsa. Cherry salsa. Hot green chili salsa. So many salsas, so little lime. You know, for the accompanying margaritas.

* Pure honey crisp cider, half gallon, $5.99

Great glass jug, intriguing name, a little milkier in appearance than other ciders. We think it’s for sipping at dusk, in front of a bonfire, beau and blanket wrapped around you, while counting fireflies. We could be wrong.

* Apples, various kinds, $1.99/pound

Mac, Cortland, ginger gold, gala, Bliss Thru Shop … sorry, we were on a roll.

Pair with:

* Caramel or candy apple kit, $1.99/10 pack

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. No one ever said you couldn’t put caramel on that apple.

* Apple cider doughnuts, 75 cents each

Mmm. Warm, sugary, amazing. Only, not much apple or cider taste. A modest complaint, really, because Warm! Sugary! Amazing!

Farmer Whiting’s, Auburn

A classic. Low-key, loads of vegetables and tons o’ mums.

* Maine wildflower honey, 8 oz., $3.39 

 Maine bees, keeping bee jobs in Maine. Also great on English muffins. Win-win.

* Maine Jams & Jellies Inc. pepper jelly, 10 oz., $3.35

Such a curious flavor. We’re not sure it’d go well on toast or with peanut butter (generally how we use our jams and jellies). But we’re adventurous! We’re willing to try!  Um, someday.

* Gourds, 99 cents/pound

Because a good gourd is hard to find.

* Cherry tomatoes, pint, $2.29

In oranges, reds and yellows with free samples offered to entice at the counter. Who knew tomatoes came in so many colors? Not a pair of lycopene-starved shopping columnists.

Greenwood Orchards, Turner

We could smell the fresh-baked bread from the parking lot. Nice mix of vegetable variety with pre-packaged finds.

* Maine maple syrup, medium or dark amber, one gallon, $59

When you need a gallon of maple syrup, you might want to re-evaluate your diet. But not before we come over for pancakes.

* Homemade sweet applesauce, $3.49

Like the kind you’d make for your kids if you were a settler 100 years ago and had time to labor over such things. Now, you have a full-time job and there’s a half-dozen “Real Housewives” shows to watch on Bravo. Enter someone else’s homemade sweet applesauce.

* Homemade bread loaves, $4.25/white and $4.50/oatmeal

Single loaves of bread split into two sections within the package to facilitate easy freezing/thawing. For people who feel the need to freeze fresh-out-of-the-oven bread. We just eat it.

* Seven-layer bar, $1.95

Chocolate, nuts and five other layers-the-size-of-our-hand beckoned. Oh, seven-layer bar, if we hadn’t just eaten a pair of doughnuts each, you would have been ours.

Ricker Hill, Turner

Deep in the country, great views with a pair of raucous donkeys next to the pick-your-own field down the road and a deep baked-goods selection.

* Apple cider doughnuts, 55 cents each

Undeniably fresh, still not so much with the apple taste. What the heck? Are we missing something here? Maybe we just need to try another …

* Apple brownie, $1.25

Finally, some apple! And it was good. But if we’re going to eat something called a “brownie,” we really want chocolate somewhere within. Call us crazy.

* Apple whoopie pie, $1.99

Shopping Siren is a traditionalist when it comes to whoopie pies (chocolate only, please) but she’s willing to give these whoopies the benefit of the doubt. ‘Tis the season.

* Apple crisp, $1 a scoop (add ice cream for 25 cents)

The crisp was out under a heat lamp keeping it warm and ready to chow. Warm apples and ice cream. Now that’s what fall is all about.

Bag Lady and Shopping Siren’s true identities are protected by a pair of stylish, sweater-wearing Doberman pinschers (who like all doughnuts, fresh from the fryer or sitting on the ground) and the Customer Service counter at the Sun Journal. You can reach them at baglady@sunjournal.com and shoppingsiren@sunjournal.com.

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