Hard Cider

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away."  Many of us have heard of this saying.  I think that most of us just don't know that "the apple" is referring to a tall glass of hard cider.  Hard cider or fermented apple juice was the most popular drink during colonial times.  It was more common than water because the fermentation process killed all of the bad bacteria often found in well water.  Also, apple trees were originally planted for the purpose of making cider not for eating apples.  Surprising I know.  I learned all of this on our drive with our friends up to Julian, a small town east of San Diego famous for its apple orchards.  Vila, our friend from Finland gave me this little history on apples in the US.  His plan was to juice 10 gallons of cider.

Cider making production line:  apples ground up, then pressed and poured into five gallon glass jars.  By the end there were happy bees everywhere.  Took two hours to press 10 gallons of cider and will only take 3 wks. minimum to make hard cider.

This is the owner of the apple farm showing us how to run the juicer.  The boys thought that he was a pirate.  While Vila worked, the boys and I went on mission to find the hidden tepee where this "pirate" sleeps.

We picked apples for eating.  The boys loved the simplicity of food growing on trees.  Imagine that!

Apple Orchard Ninja Gang....watch out!