cidering

We’ve been dreaming of making apples cider for several years. Squirreling away empty gallon jugs in the hopes we’d fill them with cider. This year seemed to be an abundant apple year and with Andy home, the year to do it! So, on Tuesday, after collecting over 8 bushels of apples from our pasture trees, we headed over to our friend Karen’s, who had kindly offered up her cider press for our use.

Cidering seems to work best as a ‘party’ affair and we were lucky to have my dad and some friends on hand to help. Kids ‘helped’ too of course, sorting apples, tasting cider, blowing bubbles and reading in the shade. It was a most amazing late summer day, exactly the kind I’d dreamed about for pressing apples. When it was all said and done, we went home with over 15 gallons of cider.

The cider is now frozen and canned and waiting for when the weather turns crisp and a glass of hot apple cider by the wood stove brings back the taste and memory of this perfect day.