A Fall Tradition

Over the years we have acquired some pretty fun annual traditions. One of my favorites is something we started once we moved back to Pullman: cider making. How did it get started? I heard about it from one of my classmates during my first year of vet school, and finally convinced (i.e. forced) Keith to try it out. Good thing we went - We had a blast! Every year we go back to make a few gallons of fresh apple cider.

Cider making means driving out to Garfield WA, which is approximately 30 minutes north of Pullman. In Garfield is a family-owned orchard, Bishops Orchard. Yea for supporting local businesses!! Bishops have old-fashioned apple presses and huge boxes of apples just waiting for juicing. The owners of the orchard always go over the proper way to make cider and what apples ratios are best. They are always right too...it is the best cider ever!

Everything is by hand, so Keith and I get a pretty good workout cranking the press. We take turns cranking the press, pouring in apples, and grabbing more apples from the crates. It is a lot of fun to watch our apples turn into golden goodness, even as apple juice goes flying!

After we fill our jugs, we go out into the orchard for some good 'ole apple picking. The orchard has so many different kinds of apples; ones that we have never even heard of! Thankfully, the orchard has a cheat sheet (also on their website) of what they are best used for and a map so we can find what we are looking for. We have tried a few different kinds and have learned to really taste the differences. My favorites are Gravensteins, which make awesome apple pies.

So we stroll around the orchard, looking for apples. I always have fun looking at all the apple trees and all the people who come out to the orchard. Keith's real motivation for apple picking...getting a Liz-baked apple pie. Who can blame him? After all I am a baking goddess.

Not only is making cider fun, it also wonderful since we can freeze and keep it for as long as we want. This means we have real apple cider all through the fall and winter. Nothing can beat a couple feet of snow as a hot mug of cider. It definitely makes winter a little more bearable! This tradition is definitely a marker for the end of summer and the beginning of fall.