Today we helped Uncle Dan pick the apples from his trees and then take them to a cider mill to watch them turn them into delicious apple cider.
We started by working together outside to get all of the apples off the trees. It was harder to do than we thought! We had children up high in the trees, which made this Mama heart a little nervous, but I was proud of the work they were doing.
Dad entertained us by standing high on the ladder and while shaking all of the apples from the trees, singing at the top of his lungs every song he ever heard that had anything to do with apples (and some he didn’t know) or any apple jokes to keep us laughing.
There were many apple casualties as we down below were caught in the crossfires. We finally decided that we should charge dad for every apple to the head, back, or face with only one goose ache to show for it.
After I got over my initial fear of them so high in the trees, we moved along much faster. After a few hours, we counted over 20 buckets full of bright red apples.
With all of that deliciousness, it was hard not to eat everyone.
Look at that beauty (and the apple isn’t bad either)!
Later that day, when Nemo returned home from work, we headed into New York to the Lain Cider Mill to process these beauties into liquid heaven.
We started by loading them onto the conveyer belt and watching them go up and over our heads into the top of the mill.
All while Bubs practiced his apple flying magic trick...
Look at all ‘them apples!
Next, the apples all get rinsed and cleaned.
The kids’ favorite part was seeing the apples get pulverized and the pulp come pouring out of the top of the ceiling.
We have missed field trips with Grandma and Grandpa Julie and Nemo!
The next step for our apple mesh was to get smoothed out and stacked on top of each other
As each layer was added, the kids loved seeing the previous layer get smaller and smaller and all of the juice leaks out the sides.
Once they had 6 or so layers, it was time to put it in the press.
Our guide was so wonderful as he included the kids in every step. When we were ready to press the apples, he had the kids pushing buttons and helping get it ready without touching anything. They loved being involved and I loved to see them follow their work from
this morning turn into cider they can drink tonight.
Our next step was our favorite. Once it had gone through the cleaning process, it was time to taste it! Cash was our first official taste tester. He took his job very seriously and gave us all the thumbs up.
After the green light from quality control (aka Cash), it was time to bottle that goodness. Our 20 buckets turned into over 60 gallons of cider!
The kids kept working as they created their own assembly line to put the lids on and load them to the car. As it got dark, I thought about how we started this morning with the sun high in the sky and now they get to see the fruits of their labors (literally!) as the day comes to a close.
We all had our favorite parts of our field trip to the cider mill, but at the tip-top of our list was for sure the delicious apple cider donuts they make there on-site!
These yummy little guys are made with their in-house fresh apple cider right in the recipe.
We were in heaven as we ate our decedent morsels paired with our delicious cider drink. We couldn’t get more fall if we tried!
As we were enjoying our dessert, Kurt mentioned that he would like to put this whole process in his next newsletter. And he gives the donut recipe a Kurt’s Chronicles thumbs up! He even got chatting with the owner and now has a new recipient to send his newsletter to.
I’d say, all in all, it was a very sweet field trip!
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