Last Sunday, we participated in a truly lovely fall tradition -- a cider pressing party hosted by family friends in Willow. It was a glorious day - brilliant blue skies, sunny, and that unique autumn mix of warm and brisk.
The party was fun, yummy, and wonderfully photogenic. It was also perfectly suited to our little Will since it featured both apples AND tractors, two of his current passions. You'll see that he's holding either one or two apples in every picture. And we left with a gallon of fresh cider which is DELICIOUS!
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here goes. I've also included a few great recipes that feature apple cider after the photos if you feel inspired.
A basket of apples, bound for the press
Will weighs his options
Vintage Ford tractor used to haul a wagon-load of apples up to the press
A picturesque wagon-load of apples calmly await their fate
Two girls filling a bucket with apples to press
The apples get a bath before pressing
Will's new friend, Jasper, puts all four teeth to work
Gears whirring above the mash bucket
Feeding apples to the hungry American Cider Mill
Our wonderful hostess, Oona in front of classic American apples poster
A line of bottles & jugs snake up to the press, waiting to be filled
Cranking down the press
Will walking around a tree, holding a "bib" apple and a "lille" apple
Cider, fresh off the press!
Apple mash from the pressing headed for the compost pile
Apple Cider Recipes
And here are a few other tasty-sounding recipes from other blogs and sites that have caught my eye.
