This weekend was our mini applefest. We didn’t intend it to be such, and we didn’t advertise it, although a few more hands to help might have been nice. . . .

Over the past month we’ve been gathering what must have been several hundred pounds of apples from our neighbors trees, abandoned orchards and our own few apple trees.

We have no idea what most of the apple varieties are. Some date back to the 1890’s. Some were cider apple varieties like Kingston Black and Cox Orange Pippin from our own orchard. We gathered for taste, presumed keeping qualities, and availability.

On Saturday I borrowed our neighbors’ cussed Cider Press. I curse it each time I use it. By now I’ve repaired so many parts of it, and spilt so much blood with the thing I feel it should be mine–except I don’t want it! I am sure I am abusing it’s very nature. It is a small press, meant for at most a few gallons on a crisp, sunny autumn day, where friends are gathered more intent on socializing than making cider–their probably also drinking beer or cocktails. . . .

It was certainly never meant to churn out almost 20 gallons of juice from hundreds of pounds of apples. And yet it does, with the only whimper coming at the end of hours from me as I try to crank the stuborn press down one last time.

Nevertheless, feeding the beast is enough of a challenge to make it interesting. Anyone who has seen my Cider Making Video will know why.

While I was keeping the cider press going, Kathy was busy making 24 quarts of apple sauce and several pints of Apple Butter–both of which used a few of the gallons of cider. She also embarked on a two day project of making a favorite Norman-style Rye & Apple hearth-bread. It takes about 32 hours and we got 22 loaves.

When I wasn’t peeling apples for her or feeding the maw of the apple crusher, I was keeping the wood oven stoked. It was a busy weekend all around. Busy, but worth it. We have frozen the bread, and the canned apple products will last all winter. And what did we do with all the cider? 10 gallons of it are fermenting in the other room, 3 gallons were drunk and used for cooking, some went to the owner of the press, some to relations, three gallons remain in the refridgerator for fresh drinking and cooking, with a further 3 gallons set aside to cure this winter’s ham. I may take a gallon of it and set it on the back of the woodstove in a wide kettle and let it cook slowly down to become cider syrup–a brilliant sauce or ingredient for all kinds of things. It goes especially well with duck and venison!

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