quinn
I finally figured - it out! LOL
Just wondering about 'cider'.
Here, in Europe cider ( French: cidre, German/Hessian: Äppelwoi) is an aclcoholic beverage, bottled or you get it on draught - fermented apple juice.
Hi, Walter!
Over here, "Apple Cider" is generally just particularly flavorful apple juice. There is "Hard Cider", which is rendered alcoholic by means of controlled fermentation ... then there is "Apple Jack", which is a distillation of Hard Cider, rather as brandy is distilled from wine. A north country variation on AppleJack is "FreezeJack"; Hard Cider is left outside to freeze for a few hours. A hole is poked into the ice and the unfrozen liquid is poured off. The process may be repeated a few times, increasing the "proof" or alcohol content of the decant with each pouring. When the liquid no longer freezes after a few hours out in the cold, the alcohol content is somewhere close to 50%, or 100 proof. It will burn with a clear blue flame.
timber
Many great thoughts and information here on Ciders, thanks for clearing it all up while I was not about!
<must remember to not be so American sometimes>
And thank you, Walter, for the links. We havc a few apple trees of assorted varieties here, and in fact do make cider, applesauce, apple jelly, apple butter, and lots of apple pies, apple bread, apple cobblers. We do much the same with pears, plums, and cherries from our own trees as well. The waste and squeezed pulp goes into the compost pit (along with just about all organic waste, kitchen and yard) for use in the garden the next year.One thing we have found is that "netting" the cherry and plum trees is the only way to get any fruit. The birds don't seem to bother the apples and pears, but the plums and cherries draw them in flocks. Deer are not much of a problem, as we have several large, noisy, rambunctious dogs who take "Defense of the Realm" quite seriously.
timber
timber..apple fritters?!
Must not forget those little beauties
Oh, yes, quinn1 ... Puffy, crispy, golden brown fritters dusted with powdered sugar. And just plain baked apples, with the cored-out center firmly packed with a thick, almost crumbly paste of butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. And we mustn't forget apple pancakes and apple muffins and caramel apples, and dehydrated apple chips, and even apple icecream! We have lots of recipes for the other fruits, too. Its special fun to eat or give as gifts goodies home-made from home-grown!
timber
That's kind of what prompted my early question, Walter. I've always heard of the distinction between cider and hard cider, yet, I've never heard of hard apple juice.
hummm..home brewed cider, could be dangerous
All kinds of apple recipies and concoctions..gotta love that.
Certain proceedures and precautions must be followed to the letter if one is to successfully brew cider at home. Some years ago, I was a bit less scrupulous than was required in the matter of providing for the venting of gasses of fermentation. Three one-gallon jugs of cider had been prepped and been tucked into a corner of the basement to be left to undergo the magic of yeast and sugar. In the wee hours of a winter's morning, we were most rudely roused from a sound sleep by a concussive blast from the basement, followed almost instantly by two more in quick succession, and the sound of tinkling glass. In a few moments, our sleep befuddled confusion and puzzlement was dispelled by an emminently explanatory heavy-sweet odor of apple. I now pay much closer attention to the details of the method and have incurred no further such disasters. There is still a noticeable aroma of apple in the basement. For some reason, Mrs. Timber is compelled to rehash the tale every time we serve hard cider to guests.
timber
I just bought a little kit for coring apples and then 'baking' the apples with fillings in the microwave - almost instant baked apples. Yum.
I recall a fine day in grade 13, when we took the day off to go to the beach en masse. Ian McKay had some of his mother's home made hard cider along for the trip. A few hours later, a rather large group of lads was sleeping the afternoon away in the shade of the beach shrubbery. One was to later spend the evening sleeping in the local 'clink' - potent stuff, Ruth McKay's hard cider.
oh, husker, there have been some studies on the chocolate milk. it is much easier to digest than regular milk - it has to do with the way it is processed. I learned about it when a friend's young daughter was having difficulty digesting her quota of milk - the dr and nutritionist had lots of hand-outs for the parents about chocolate milk - she wasn't lactose-intolerant, just sensitive to a particular way of processing milk.
Maybe you should toss that one into Health and Medicine, Beth. I have a friend who can't drink milk and this may be useful to her.
good idea, roger. I'll look for a link or two on this when i get back in tomorrow.
Timber, lovely story to add here, safety first you know!
At least its apple scent though, that cant be all that bad.
Eggnog
I had a recipe for some eggnog that was on a bottle of Seagrams I bought a couple years ago. I know it contained Seagrams, Captain Morgans Spiced Rum, Vanilla ice cream, and I used 2 gallons of Oberweiss Dairy prepaired Eggnog. Not sure how much of these items I am supposed to use. Anyone familular with this recipe?
Definately a good one. Might just have to wing it.
