Have you ever tried fresh apple cider? I love apple cider. As soon as I see it in stores, I buy myself a jug to enjoy. It’s best warm in my option and on cool fall mornings. This year, though we were chatting with some fellow church goers and discovered they had an apple press. Next thing we knew, the truck was full of apples.
We spent one weekend picking apples and one day pressing apples. There were about 4 to 5 families helping with the process. They started around 8 and the final press happened around 3:30! It was a full, busy day. I really enjoyed the process and now would like one of my own! Great birthday gift idea 😉
Our kids were troopers! They made it all day, keeping busy playing outside on the farm/pumpkin patch. Our youngest did take a catnap on a lazy boy chair in the machine shop next to the apple press. They helped load the apple press several times as well.
The Cider Process
We worked in teams. One group prepped the apples while the other group processed the fruit in the machine and then sealed it in bags to be frozen. It worked well and we switched out as needed. It was great to work with people from church.
We think there were around 80 bags of cider. Each bag holds about 2-2.5 quarts of liquid. We brought 16 bags home. So that would be roughly about 40-45 gallons of cider that we pressed that day! We ended up with 36 quarts of cider! I’m so excited to enjoy our labor of love as the weather turns cooler!
Our family doesn’t have that much freezer space at the moment. We spent Sunday afternoon canning our juice in jars so we could store with our other canned goods. Honestly, I would much rather have it canned and ready to go even every we needed. I also love having our canned goods on hand for quick gifts or ready to take an event of any type.
My husband added cinnamon sticks to one batch of 7 quarts so we will see what is the favorite at our home. What are things you would add to your cider?
More things to add
Not only were we busy with apples, but our oldest has a birthday this week! We, of course, wanted to celebrate with her and had family join us for dinner on Sunday evening. She will have a small friend party in a few weeks. We are so blessed to have such a sweet girl in our lives who are growing up to be so responsible and a great helper.
Faith
Do you have your doubts at times and wonder what the big picture is? It’s hard to fully understand so much of why things happen when they do. I know for me that there are times I see why after the fact, but there are other times when I’m still left wondering why.
Just like apple cider, you really have no idea how much you are going to get. The apples can look great and be ready, but give you very little juice. Other times, the juice is plentiful and you can share an abundance. In Sunday school, I taught the lesson of sharing that God will provide. The widow in the story must trust that God provides for her even when she has very little. She can but see the bigger picture, but she trusts Elijah when he tells her that her flour and oil will not run out. She puts her faith in his teachings. We need to put out faith in the stories and teaching of the Bible.
Elijah and the Widow at Zarephath
7Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9“Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” 10So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” 11As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”
12“As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”
13Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’ ”
15She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.
17Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. 18She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”
19“Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 20Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” 21Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”
22The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. 23Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!”
24Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”
1 Kings 17:7-24 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1ki.17.8-24.NLT
