It feels like fall in the southern highlands of Appalachia: Chilly mornings and glorious blue sky afternoons with the mountains every hue of orange-yellow-and red you can imagine.
Granny’s making hats-telling us they’re for Christmas but we should wear them now. She does that every year-then by the time Christmas rolls around she’s forgotten she even made the ones she gave us back in October.
The feeling of Fall has made Chatter wish she had some apple cider. I’ve been looking-but my goodness who knew it was so expensive! Maybe one of you have a recipe to make your own cider with store bought apple juice?
I came up with one that pleased Chatter’s craving-and satisfied my pocket book as well. Drop back by tomorrow for the recipe-and please bring your recipe if you have one to share.
Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win one of Granny’s hats-you might need it this winter to keep your head warm.
Tipper
Appalachia Through My Eyes – A series of photographs from my life in Southern Appalachia.
Apple cider sounds great for the cold weekend we are about to have. If we don’t win a hat can we just buy one from Granny ? She sounds adorable.
Thank you, Wanda. I googled your info. and found out that really thats only the first part of that poem.
B. Ruth..Sure, have at it.
As others have already talked about, there was a terrible freeze this year here in Michigan. The reason it was such a killer was that we had a really warm spell for more than a week and everything thought it was time to wake up. What a sad surprize. Cider is going for $13 – $14 a gallon up here. I have bought some apples though because all the ones up here now come from home! (NC, GA, TN!!!!) Imagine! The apples came to me.
It is going to be beautiful here all week, too. But this weekend I think we will be back to being cold. A good time for apple cider drinking.
Don’t know why I always forget about hot apple cider. It is so good. It definitely felt like autumn on the 7:30 a.m. dogwalk today. The puppy wanted to leap up and attack every leaf that blew in the wind (that was a lot of leaves!) and my hands got very chilled and the baseball cap didn’t keep my head warm. One of Granny’s hats would sure be nice to have this fall and winter to keep my noggin warm!
For Kerry of Georgia: Enjoy! There might be more than one you will remember. 🙂
Amazon Books:
Turtles Too
By Jean Elizabeth Ward
aldis had some good cider 2.99 cheaper than any other store around i love your blog lola
I second Pat-I love mine & can’t wait to wear it!! That Granny is soooo talented-I think you family got an over dose of the talent gene lol.
Tipper,
You painted a great landscape with your words in that first paragraph!
Rockin on the porch looking out over the beautiful fall leaves, drinking apple cider and wearing one of Granny’s hats sounds like ideal evening.
The beauty of fall is in the air and Granny’s up to covering everybody’s hair. She does beautiful work!
While in Walmart last week I decided to buy a pack of Spiced Apple Cider, Sugar Free because I’m diabetic. I didn’t look to see what it had in it. Aspartame was the next word I saw. This isn’t good for animal or human, so I’ll have to make my own. I’ll be looking for your recipe.
We have seven apple trees and they all got killed by the frost on their blooms except one that was close to the house. Cherry, grapes, black & blue berry also were killed or the blooms.
I love apple butter and I’m going to go to the store and buy some apple sauce and make it. We fed bushels of apples to Fred, our ground hog who lived in a hole by the creek. He has lived here for years. I liked to see him get an apple and stand up and roll it around as he ate it. He came back in the spring and low and behold he had his friend and the babies. We heard gun shots one day across the creek. Several people own that land so I don’t know who shoot them, we never did see them again. Made me mad and sad.
Have a happy day!
Peggy L.
There you go Tipper. Ken can make you some pear cider.
Love hot apple cider and make up a big batch in the crock pot when guests come. Of course, I add rum throughout the day, and keep tasting it to make sure it is just right.
The poem about the leaves is by George Cooper & is called “Leaves”,. I think–Mama used to say it to us.
I would love to have one of Granny’s hats.
Tipper,
I’ve never acquired a taste for
apple cider. I know its good for
you, but my tastes are still
changing. For the past two years
I’ve been craving orange juice.
That stuff use to upset my stomach
and I could never seem to get it
all swallowed. Like other commentors, out apple trees were
all killed by the frost. However,
in that same area, my pear tree
has more than you can count and
they’re so juicy…Ken
I feel shame to tell you this but I will anyway. Eric’s mom is coming to visit from Michigan after the election and is bringing a bushel of HoneyCrisp apples. Wish you were here.
Interested to read the comments on apple cider. In the UK I live on the margins of cider country and cider here is cheaper than beer. In many community people have an apple pressing day where householders bring their apples for communical pressing with a community owned press and then take the juice home to brew into their own cider. Or some times they brew communially and share out the spoils once the brew is complete. It can be pretty potent stuff. Its not often we spice it up though!!
I think I’ll try one of those cider recipes tonight. I LOVE Fall!
Mmmm! Hot cider does sound nice! I’ll try to remember to bring my recipe tomorrow.
Love you for all the time you put onto your blog every day! Thank you.. The weather here in West Texas is still guit warm but the mornings are cool and that is the way I like it. But this weekend it is supose to cool way down so one of Granny’s hats would be ideal. I have never made apple cider before, but do enjoy it when I can get it some where. Thanks for all the wonderful pictures of your mountains and trees and flowers! West Texas is very flat and open so I often look at pictures of the beautiful fall leaves and wish I were there.
I’d love to sitting out on a mountain looking at the wonders of the leaves, sipping some apple cider and probably needing one of Granny’s hat! 🙂
Tipper,
and Barbara…I would gladly ship you the correct containers for shipping me a gallon of your apple cider…53 gallons yummm!
But something tells me that yours just might be the variety that has to have one of those funny little stickers to cross state lines…Just pondering…
At any rate, when I was ‘tween graduating high school and marriage I was so “naive” that I thought “hard apple cider” was made from hard apples…and where did they get those lovely, crunchy hard apples?.Because all the ones we picked up at grannys were already soft on the ground…duh!
I don’t make my cider anymore since it is so easy to buy those little containers to make a cup or a gallon. I fell in love with Russian Tea that my aunt in Canton made from scratch years ago..She also made good Cider not hard cider from hard applers…LOL
Then along came the instant Russian tea, with tang, tea and sugar, spices in the 60’s…and now instant Cider…
I guess I would rather crunch my apples or dip them in peanut butter or caramel…than drink them…but I do love it during the holidays…Our apple trees had fewere apples this year…
But I can’t say there was a shortage here..not as high as NC apples…We had a lot of “deer apples”…Crab apples..LOL
Anyone want a little venison with there cider…
Thanks Tipper looking forward to the recipes that post!..and Kerry in Ga, may I borrow your poem to use in my Fall journal?..I love it!
I heard that apples and apple cider are high this fall. Not sure why, but it is a luxury that I might just have to indulge in. I love fall!!
My wife taught my Grandaughter Sara to crochet and tat this summer and she crocheted a hat for my birthday. It’s a little small, but I’ll wear it when the weather turns cold.
Cider made from dropped apples really is the best. Must be all those worms that give it that special flavor!
Warm apple cider sounds perfect for these fall days…lots of good ideas in these posts, can’t wait to see your recipe!
I only have three apple trees left after several were taken out by the ice storm of ’09. I didn’t have any apples this year. Just small ones that fell early and green. I can’t wait until my Yellow Sheep Nose tree produces. It’s a sweet antique variety that is supposed to be good for eating as well as preserving.
Granny could get rich selling those hats to teenagers this year. What’s with them wearing hats on warm days? Maybe just a local fad? The girls will know.
This is my favorite recipe.
INGREDIENTS
•1 quart apple juice
•2 cups water
•5 cinnamon sticks
•4 cloves
•1 orange, sliced (leave skin on)
INSTRUCTIONS
In large pot combine apple juice, water, cinnamon sticks, cloves, orange and bring to a boil
Reduce and simmer for 15 minutes or longer
Serve
We use apple cider to make a hot drink called Wassail. The recipe calls for brandy, but, we don’t drink and make it virgin. It is served hot with various spices and the aroma fills the house.
It FINALLY got cool here yesterday and cold enough for a blanket last night. Cider might be just the ticket today! I take 7 or 8 apples, quartered, cover with water in the crockpot along with 7-8 cloves, 5 allspice berries,2-3 cinnamon sticks and a dash of salt. Cook on low all day and strain…winter heaven in a jar!
Wish you could mail apple cider. We made 53 gallons of cider last week. We paid $40 for a 4X8 trailer of apple drops. Oh, it taste so good. Here pick your own apples were $32 a bushel. Wondering what they are other places. Barbara Gantt
I never made apple cider – real apple cider is not really available. Regulations require the cider to be processed and I guess that is for our own good. My husband always asks me to get some for him, but he remembers the cider of old. However, I am thinking of trying to make some apple cider donuts. Yummy! to say the least. Glad you satisfied Chatter’s craving.
These last couple weeks have made me think of a rhyme my great aunts used to say.
“Come” said the wind to the leaves one day. “Come o’er the meadows and we will play. Put on your dresses scarlet and gold, For Summer is gone and the days grow cold.”
I wonder now if they learned that in school or from somebody older when they were young. I wish I had asked them.
I love this time of the year. I love apple cider and apples fixed any way. I am shocked at how expensive they are in the stores here right now. Usually apples are on sale this time of the year. My mother used to have an appe tree that had the best apples, but it was destroyed during hurricane Rita. I wish that we had apple orchards here, so that I could go pick the fresh ones. Looking forward to your recipe.
I think a hat would be just the thing on these cool, cool mornings. Don’t ya just love this time of year.
Margaret
We recently visited our cabin in TN. It is during this trip that I always bring back home bunches of apples to take to the cast members at Epcot to eat as a healthy snack. Unfortunately, when I called the TN apple orchard this year, they told me about the late freeze and the unfortunate result, no apple crop. There were a lot of disappointed people, including me. Haven’t made apple cider but am very interested in your recipe. By the way, our rental cabin in TN is called “Apple Jack Hollow”. We named it after Dolly Parton’s uncle and the song she wrote. We love apples in any form.
I just bought an apple press to make my own cider. I would love a handmade hat. Maybe we can work a trade.
Back in the day when I felt like I had to cook for everybody I knew when it got cold outside I would put a jug of apple juice with a little water, brown sugar, some whole cloves, cinnamon sticks and a diced up apple in the crock pot and let it simmer all day. It not only warms up the chilly guest but it makes the house smell happy.
I may be the only one who doesnt’ care for hot apple cider or hot chocolate. Not sure why. Hot tea I love! with some honey. We go to the Drip’ every year when we have our parade here in Black Mountain. Dh always gets their hot apple cider with whipped cream on top. I just get coffee.
Yes, indeed, it is fall of the year and the air is cooling. The leaves are in full color and soon to be gone. My cats get frisky when the air cools. This is their favorite time of year.
I don’t know much about cider. I do know that the apples this year are high and small at the farmers market. My friend Saleh, lost all his apples and pears to the late frost and the local apple growers lost some of their crop too. My favorite apples, Mutsu are almost nonexistent this year.
Remember this was the year for tomatoes, cucumbers, and water melons!
Tipper, I sure will be glad when your apple trees get big enough to feed us.
Yummmmm Apple Cider sounds wonderful, can’t wait for your recipe! Would love to win one of Granny’s hats, would keep my head warm when out wandering the hills!
With all the fall events here at the cabin —indeed I’d like to know a way to make home made cider from apple juice as well- even when I went to a bulk food store it was very expensive but it is part of the program here so—-I had to pretend it was not so much $$$.
Tipper I have been buying the apple flavor drink mix that taste almost like regular cider, mine is the Alpine brand Spiced Cider sugar free, it satisfies my craving for cider.
Hot apple cider and a warm wooly hat–perfect start to another gorgeous fall morning in Cherokee County!
I would love one of granny’s hats. We are still waiting for fall, but even though the temperature is still “up there” I can smell it in the air bringing memories of starting school, carving pumpkins and finally the chance to wear that beautiful sweater.
The weather was very bad for the apple crop this year. That’s why it’s so expensive. I’ve heard the harvest was 1/4 to 1/3 the normal size.
Hot apple cider sounds wonderful this morning! Wish I had some too! I’ll be waitin for your recipe.
I was lucky enough to win one of these hats last year, and absolutely love it and have gotten several compliments on it. To whoever wins it, you’ll be pleased.
PS Tipper … Don’t enter me in the contest.