Its the MOST wonderful time of the year.
With the leaves all a-turning
And everyone yearning to have apple beer.
Its the Most wonderful time of the year.
Its the hap-happiest season of all
With the apple trees calling, they'll be bushels for hauling
and cider for ALL
It's the hap-happiest season of all.
With the leaves all a-turning
And everyone yearning to have apple beer.
Its the Most wonderful time of the year.
Its the hap-happiest season of all
With the apple trees calling, they'll be bushels for hauling
and cider for ALL
It's the hap-happiest season of all.
Granddad dropped off a bag full of apples last week.
Feeling inspired, I decided to try making my own cider.
Feeling inspired, I decided to try making my own cider.
The end result: a snappy little cider that makes you dream of turning leaves and warm scarves and crisp fall evenings.
Homemade Apple Cider with a Blender
Ingredients
blender or food processor
bag full of apples (30 smallish apples gave me a pitcher full of cider...not an exact science)
1. Since I didn't have a food processor, I used a heavy-duty blender...which worked okay, but there was a lot of apple chopping involved. Also I had to grind the apples in batches since the blender couldn't accommodate them all. Handy trick: if you pour a little apple cider or apple juice into the blender with each batch of chopped apples, the blender handles them a lot more easily.
2. The goal is to grind your apples up as fine as possible-- they should be applesauce-like for best results. The finer the grind, the more juice you can squeeze out of them.
Once you've got your apples nice and saucy, lay a cheesecloth (or kitchen towel) over a bowl and dump in the applesauce. Then fold up the edges and SQUEEZE. The juice will come out and the apple remains will stay in the towel.
Ingredients
blender or food processor
bag full of apples (30 smallish apples gave me a pitcher full of cider...not an exact science)
1. Since I didn't have a food processor, I used a heavy-duty blender...which worked okay, but there was a lot of apple chopping involved. Also I had to grind the apples in batches since the blender couldn't accommodate them all. Handy trick: if you pour a little apple cider or apple juice into the blender with each batch of chopped apples, the blender handles them a lot more easily.
2. The goal is to grind your apples up as fine as possible-- they should be applesauce-like for best results. The finer the grind, the more juice you can squeeze out of them.
Once you've got your apples nice and saucy, lay a cheesecloth (or kitchen towel) over a bowl and dump in the applesauce. Then fold up the edges and SQUEEZE. The juice will come out and the apple remains will stay in the towel.
The next day, Dad and I took a bike ride to the apple tree down the road, which was simply brimming with apples. Before plucking any fruit though we decided we maybe should check with our neighbor, who owned the property on which the apple tree grew. So we hopped back on the bikes and headed farther down the road.
Our neighbor has a beautiful old brick farmhouse hidden behind creeping vines and unruly gardens. Its the kind of place that some people might call unkempt, and others (me) might call a little wild and a little magical. Its the kind of place that makes you wander what you will find if you stray off the path.
Lucky for us, we had our neighbor as a guide. After I explained to him that I wanted to make apple cider, he told us we could pick as many apples as we wanted, and then led us to an old shed full of gidgets and gadgets and whatchamacallits.
Lucky for us, we had our neighbor as a guide. After I explained to him that I wanted to make apple cider, he told us we could pick as many apples as we wanted, and then led us to an old shed full of gidgets and gadgets and whatchamacallits.
And guess what we found?!
An old apple cider press.
There'll be apple cider for all this fall!....(if I can figure out how to put it together)
Apple Cider Adventures Part II coming soon....
An old apple cider press.
There'll be apple cider for all this fall!....(if I can figure out how to put it together)
Apple Cider Adventures Part II coming soon....