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Sunday, August 31, 2014

Homemade Spiced Apple Cider

September and Apples
Those two words just seem to go hand in hand.
The smell of apples in late summer and early autumn
just bring a stirring in the soul 
that conjure up visions of frosty mornings,
falling leaves, bright orange scool busses,
and apples.
Whole apples being kept in whole form
are not my forte.
Keeping in whole form + fuzz + funky odor - I'm a pro.
Needless to say, 
we preserve them in different ways.
This year in addition to our own apples,
we have had three boxes given to us.
One box will be cored and dehydrated.
The other two boxes as well as our own
were juiced for spiced apple cider.
Our neighbor has an apple press that we were able to borrow.
Washed up our apples and the press
then got to 'work.'
As we juice it,
small pieces of apple make it into the juice.
It went into my big ol' coldrun
and my big ol' canning pot.
(Lots of cider:)
Into the juice went
cinnamin sticks
allspice
bay leaves
cloves
dried oranges
nutmeg
mace
Isn't it just beautiful?
I wish the screen was scratch-n-sniff for you.
As it was simmering,
the house smelled just incredible.
As it went into the jars,
it was strained.
We ended up with 18 quarts and 1 pint.
It might be a little work now,
but come winter when the snow is flying
and we are bringing wood in to stoke the fire,
a nice hot cup of cider might just taste pretty good.

The recipe if you're interested:
2 qts fresh squeezed apple juice
2 tsp. whole cloves
2 bay leaves
2 cinnamin sticks
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. mace
1 tsp. allspice
2-3 dried orange slices
1/4 cup brown sugar if your apples are not a sweet variety.
(I also added 1 stick cannella which if you are unfamiliar,
you can find in the hispanic section of the grocery store.)
Heat to boiling then reduce heat and 
simmer about an hour ~ stirring occasionally.
I hot-water-bathed the quart jars 20 min. though I read
as little as 10 min. and as long as 25 min.

Until next time,
Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches





13 comments:

  1. What deliciousness indeed!! How wonderful that you were able to borrow a press!

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    1. These are the neighbors that know where our hidden keys are & we know their's etc. It's not uncommon for them to show up with a can of tomato sauce saying, "I'm returning the can I borrowed," not even knowing it was missing. We all need those neighbors:)

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  2. I can just imagine how good a steaming cup of your homemade cider will taste come winter. Love the photos of the press - what nice neighbors you have to loan their press out. Lovely indeed.
    Have a great week!

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  3. Oh my! I totally wish that my screen was scratch and sniff, too! I am making pear butter today and am using many of the same spices that you used. I need to plant some apple trees soon because I really want to make some of that cider!

    I am so glad I found your blog today while stopping by from the Art of Homemaking Mondays Blog Hop!

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    1. I held on to the spices - not quite ready to throw them away. They smell so good just walking by.

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  4. Oh man, this looks good. I can smell the sweet scents from here

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  5. Thank you for sharing this post on the Art of Home-Making Mondays! It has been featured in our ODE TO AUTUMN ~ LINK UP LOVE column :)

    http://strangersandpilgrimsonearth.blogspot.com/2014/09/ode-to-autumn-link-up-love.html

    Have a lovely weekend and we warmly invite you to link up again on Monday!

    P.S. Thank you for adding my button to your side bar :)

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  6. Very cool post. Very interesting! Speaks of Fall. Come and link up over at The Fall LInky Party!

    http://myjourneyback-thejourneyback.blogspot.com/2014/09/welcome-fall-linky-party.html

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  7. Thanks for linking! I really enjoyed your post. Feel fee to link all your Fall posts! A new link starts each Tuesday.
    Have a good weekend.

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  8. This sounds delicious with all the spices in. I usually don't make mind own apple cider just buy a gallon or so from a local orchard that I trust. Thanks for sharing. Visiting on Home Acre Blog Hop.

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  9. It looks like a lot of work, but it looks like a lot of fun too :)
    This will be my feature post at the HomeAcre Hop tomorrow!
    Thanks for linking up!

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  10. Well thank you. Hubby loves spiced cider & store bought just isn't even close. I'm not sure how they can call it apple:) Good that you have a close source.

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