“I know the look of an apple that is roasting and sizzling on the hearth on a winter’s evening,
and I know the comfort that comes of eating it hot, along with some sugar and a drench of cream…
I know how the nuts taken in conjunction with winter apples, cider, and doughnuts,
make old people’s tales and old jokes sound fresh and crisp and enchanting.”
Mark Twain
I love this time of year, so very much. Though I must confess that the beginnings of our Autumn feel suspiciously like the roasting hot days of the inordinately blistering Summer we’ve just had. Hopefully cooler days will come soon.
In the meantime, Bear and I are basking in the harvests of Autumn, hauling home boxes full of too ripe pears and perfectly crisp apples as we begin our initial forays into cider-making.
Over the past few months we’ve been collecting all the bits and bobs necessary for brewing our own cider, beer, wine, champagne, liqueurs, and anything else we might think of.
Our outdoor kitchen is still in the dreaming phase, so until then, our breezeway is stacked with demijohns and bottles, packages of lids and rubber seals, and the presses and mulcher Bear has been lovingly restoring and adapting to our needs.
Last week we were finally ready for the trial run of our equipment, so we got it all set up and went to work.
Our cider apple orchard isn’t planted yet, so we just picked up a couple varieties from the market and a box of pears to blend them with.
I was in charge of the mulching, getting the fruit chopped into pressable bits. It smelled amazing!! All that gorgeous apple and pear deliciousness wafting around us while we munched on apples as I fed the machine. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon, I tell ya.
When the fruit was all chopped up, Bear manned the press, turning the handle and squeezing out every last bit of gorgeous juice into the waiting bucket. Then we filtered the juice into waiting demijohns, added Campden tablets and yeast, inserted the air locks, and set them into the Granny Flat to do their fermenting work.
Bear checks them all throughout the day, excitedly reporting back on the rate of air bubbles, frothing consistency, and whatnot. We’re getting rather antsy to get to the bottling and tasting stages. Oddly enough, we keep getting volunteers eager to help with that whole tasting thing. Such good friends we have. 😉
What is your favorite brew? xo
**If you fancy reading about how we got involved in making cider, pop over to our farm blog to read my hubby’s highly exaggerated account: Adventures in Cider Making 🙂
Hello! It’s Nagi from RecipeTin Eats here – THRILLED to have found a blog from a fellow Aussie blogger! Well fellow European / Canadian / American blogger now residing in Australia. Goat farm? My, you have had an interesting life! I had to come check out your cider recipe – how very Aussie of you! I am mighty impressed! Is this actually alcoholic cider?? I’m amazing! Check out that barrel!! 🙂
Hi @goldiegal:disqus 🙂 I’m so glad you stopped by. Yes, it’s really alcoholic cider – or will be in a few days. 🙂
Hi Krista! I am so glad, I have found your blog. Loving your photojournalistic style photos. I can almost feel those warm days and the SUN! Oh boy, I do miss the Australian sun and our beautiful fresh produce. Just takes me back home 🙂 Your cider must be so delicious!
Hi @oanaadorefoods:disqus 🙂 I’m so glad you found me too! I will keep you posted on the cider – today is “check if the fermenting has slowed enough to add sugar” day. 🙂
Hi! This is Mandy from wethreemothers, a fellow blogger from Cake&Whiskey. Your photos are wonderful and I love your blog. I want to live in Australia one day so bad! Never visited yet even, but I always look for federal jobs just in case. I was wondering, on your header, is that second photo of Riva Del Garda, Italy? Looks so familiar, but I can’t quite place it for sure.
Hi @mandybyron:disqus 🙂 I’m so glad you stopped by. Australia is an amazing country and I’m so happy to live here. I hope you find that federal job soon and get to see your dream come true. 🙂 The second photo is of a village harbor on the shores of Lago di Maggiore, the Italian end. 🙂
Hi Krista, how I would love to bite into one of your ripe pears, they look so good! Love that you’re making cider too! Will pop in! And thanks for the very kind words on my post about cloud like wontons! xox
I loved reading your Hubby’s “exaggerated” account on the farm blog. So funny to hear his side of the cider making story lol. I can’t wait to see the end result. Seeing cleanliness is next to godliness in the cider making process how do you go about cleaning the ex garden mulcher?
I’m not surprised that you have lots of willing tasters. What a fun project to do together. Can’t wait to hear how it all turns out.
I love how natural your fruit looks. And I am sure that it will make a great cider 🙂
I can’t believe you make your own hard cider! It’s my favorite kind of alcohol. 🙂 WIsh I were closer so I could taste yours!
I love cider, this post gave me such good memories 😀
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Wow! I’m so impressed with you cider-making efforts. I can’t wait to see the end result. I do hope the fermenting stage is going by without incident xx
Oh wow, homemade cider. That’s always going to get a bit of interest. 🙂 Here you are, loving your autumnal scenes and photographing them, and we’re all excited about the spring scenes here in Fethiye. We’re not making any cider though, unfortunately. 🙂
Julia
What a magical life you lead sweet Krista. I love this, making my own brews is on the bucket list. Bet your cider is sooooo good! 🙂
Your fruit is amazing, looks so delicious and natural. I have really noticed the difference in my fruit and veg since I started buying from the farmers markets.
I’m curious – how much cider are you making? Enough for personal consumption or are you thinking of a market stall? Hot cider in the winter – yum! And cold cider in the summer is so thirst quenching too.