On this Day - October 7, 2018

Amy Proctor and Woody Meiszner hosted their annual cider press party on Sunday, October 7, 2018. Many hands made light work as  folks quartered apples,  cranked the grinder and pressed the juice into a bucket.

Amy and Woody provided the apples, hot mulled cider and ribs. The guests brought salads, baked beans and desserts. The food was delicious.

Raw Materials

https://flic.kr/p/2bKBr9Y A wheelbarrow of apples

Preparation

Apple seeds contain Amygdalin which is converted into cyanide by digestive juices. It is prudent to not have cyanide-laced cider.

https://flic.kr/p/PFYH87 Removing Apple seedshttps://flic.kr/p/2bPWicT Chopping, coring and quartering was a group efforthttps://flic.kr/p/2arqvT8 Removing some (but not all) of the bruises. They add a little tang to the cider

Uninvited Guest

https://flic.kr/p/PFZ4Yq When you have apples, you also have yellow-jackets

Apple Pressing

This is the hard part, Cranking the mill to  shred the apples.

https://flic.kr/p/PFYDDo Woody cranks the mill as Stan adds appleshttps://flic.kr/p/2bPWmpK Everybody helpedhttps://flic.kr/p/2bPWnN6 Debbie captures the momenthttps://flic.kr/p/2bPWkZB The youngest helper

Food

A delicious potluck meal after all that cider pressing.

https://flic.kr/p/N4SpQB Ribs, beans and greens

And Dessert

https://flic.kr/p/N4SmLa Too pretty to eat, cookies by Blueberry Hill Bakers

Socializing

Socializing with the locals with a glass of cider and other libations.

https://flic.kr/p/2bPWjJa Dave and Davehttps://flic.kr/p/N4Szte Tom Hawkins and ?https://flic.kr/p/2arqqhi Chilling out on a garden swinghttps://flic.kr/p/2arqptp Cider, coffee, wine and spiritshttps://flic.kr/p/2arqts6 A serious discussionhttps://flic.kr/p/2arquk8 I would guess this is a political discussion

Aftermath

The spent apple mash will either be food for pigs or compost. The yellow jackets would love it.

https://flic.kr/p/2bKBHcj Compost or pig food[jetpack_subscription_form show_subscribers_total="false" button_on_newline="false" custom_font_size="16px" custom_border_radius="0" custom_border_weight="1" custom_padding="15" custom_spacing="10" submit_button_classes email_field_classes show_only_email_and_button="true" success_message="Success! An email was just sent to confirm your subscription. Please find the email now and click 'Confirm Follow' to start subscribing."]