One time, a few years ago, Ryan and I went apple picking with our friends Phil and Meg. It’s incredibly easy to pick too many apples while apple picking and I remember thinking, “what can we possibly do with a wheelbarrow full of apples?!” And I think we made pies, and tarts, and ate them raw. But now, I think we should have made apple cider. Homemade apple cider makes your whole house smell like autumn and pie. And also you can use up a ton of apples. In the interest of full disclosure, I didn’t go apple picking for these apples. I just got them from the store. It’s less exciting, I know. 

But let me tell you more about the time we went apple picking – because I do have an exciting story about that time. This is a story that I think all four of us tell a lot. We drove out to a farm in rural Maryland and the place was decked out for fall. There was a little shop, hay bales, and pumpkins. And rows and rows of apple trees. We got wheelbarrows and strolled up and down the rows of apples.

There were all different kinds of apples and we picked out gigantic apples, tiny perfectly spherical apples, and overall we picked way more than we needed. In general, I need like 5 for a week so I can have one each day with lunch. And then for an apple pie I want 8-10 apples. What can I say, I like a fat pie? Anyway I think I went home with over 30 apples – and that doesn’t even count the ones we snacked on during the day.

Now back to the story…the four of us start to walk down this row of apple trees. We’re chatting mindlessly and enjoying the fall day when suddenly we see something we can never forget. One girl is holding up a coat at about waist height to cover her friend. Her friend had dropped her pants down to her ankles and she is peeing. Yes, she is peeing in the apple orchard!!! There are people – families even – all around us picking apples and this chick is peeing in the middle of it all. There was even a portable toilet back by the parking lot. But apparently this girl could not wait.

We quickly turned around and rushed to the next aisle. We’re having way down the row when we hear that girl loudly groan,

“Ugh! Feels so good!”

Most awkward and wildly inappropriate apple picking experience ever. It was shocking and horrifying in the moment, but it’s turned into a hilarious story ever since.

Ok, so I admit it, this post  was mostly an excuse to tell that story again. But if you are going apple picking this year making apple cider is a good way to use up your apples. I haven’t gone apple picking this year, unfortunately. But still, I used 18 apples from three different varieties (Braeburn, Gala, and Pink Lady) for this recipe; and it made a nice big jug of cider for me and Ryan. You can use whatever kind of apples you like, but I choose a mix so I’d have a balance of sweet and tart flavors.

This is also fun to make because it makes your house smell absolutely amazing. Seriously. It smells like pie, and cinnamon, and the best holiday scented candle you could buy at the mall. The end product will be a thick-ish concoction that tastes like liquid apple pie. You can also drink it hot or cold. When warm, I felt like it was fine as is (although a little added rum or whiskey is nice too!). When cold, I think it’s too rich and should be used more as a cordial to be diluted with water. Try it yourself and see what you think, but diluting it is a nice way to stretch the recipe. And don’t just stick to regular tap water, it’s lovely with sparkling water and ginger ale.

Adapted from Food.com

Messy level: Easy and straightforward until it’s time to strain it. Then you have to use a strainer, pour back and forth, use a lot of containers – and even strain it through cloth. It’s a bit oozy and messy and sticky. You’ve been warned.

Apple Cider

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

3 hours

Total time

3 hours 10 mins

 

Serves: ~ ¾ gallon

Ingredients

• 18 apples
• 1 - 1½ cups of sugar (depending on how sweet you'd like it)
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 2 - 3 tablespoons all spice (depending on how much spice you'd like)
• water

Instructions

1. Wash the apples and cut them into quarters. Don't worry about cutting out the seeds or stem, it will come out later.
2. Put the apples, sugar, cinnamon sticks, ginger, and all spice into a large pot.
3. Cover the apples with water. This is tricky because the apples float, but do your best to add enough water until apples are just covered.
4. Put the pot on the stove and turn the heat to medium-high. Bring to a boil and let it bubble for one hour, uncovered. Check it regularly just to make sure it's not bubbling over. You can also stir it a bit if you feel things are rising to the top and should be mixed.
5. Lower the heat, cover the pot, and let it simmer for an additional two hours. Your house will smell amazing.
6. Remove from heat and let it cool to the point that it's safe for you to handle.
7. Put a fine sieve over a large bowl. Carefully pour the contents of the pot into the sieve. The liquid in the bowl is your cider, set it aside for now.
8. Remove the cinnamon sticks from the sieve. Now, take the contents of your sieve and put it all in the blender. Blend it up until it's a even mush.
9. Put this apple mush (which is yummy by the way, take a spoonful to taste) and put it into a cheesecloth or other thin cloth that you don't mind getting dirty (like a tea towel).
10. Squeeze the mush in the cheese cloth over your bowl of cider. Squeeze until you get as much juice out as you can.
11. If you don't like bits of pulp or spice in your cider, then you can continue to strain it through the sieve and/or cheesecloth until you get it as clear as you like. I only ran it through once as I don't mind things settling to the bottom of the glass. Do what feels best to you.
12. Now you have all your cider in a bowl! Transfer it to a pitcher and put it in the fridge to cool. Or heat put it back in your pot to heat it up if you'd like it warm. You're done!

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