Making Apple Cider

 My husband wanted to make apple cider this year, so he started gathering apples from various apple trees in the valley. We had read that cider is best when it's made from at least three varieties of apples.

We had never made cider before, so it was a bit of an experiment. We started by washing the apples and cutting the worms out of them (apparently that's not a necessary step, but some of the apples were very wormy, so it made us feel better!)

Then it was time to put the apples through the meat grinder to make an apple mush.


The next part was to put them into the cider press, and waalaa (you've got to say this word out loud, I have no idea how to spell it!), apple cider comes out the bottom!).

It turned out to be easier than we thought, although maybe that's because we were all working on it together. Having an outdoor workspace was great--it made cleanup so much easier.

The kids love cutting, so they also got a chance.

We froze some apple cider, canned some, and also carbonated some and capped the bottles with a special capper.

I think this is something we'll make an annual tradition.

What are your favorite fall traditions?