Apple Cider

I “learned” some important life lessons last year, some of which I blame for my prolonged vacation from writing about the no doubt fascinating life episodes herein contained:

1. I need to learn how to say “No!” Seriously. Like, I think I need a life coach (like the scene from 27 Dresses where the dude tries to get Katherine Heigl to say “No!” I need that).
2. Maintaining any kind of personal writing activity while completing the portfolio writing requirements of the National Board application for teachers appears to be virtually impossible. And what could be better than replacing self-expression with formulaic adherence to a script?
3. Experimenting with eliminating my major source of stress relief from my life (i.e. running) leads me to be, well, stressed. The best way to deal with this: sign up for races so I will be forced to run and/or coach cross country (with the lovely and talented Stephanie! So fun!). Anyone want to convene for a race in some lovely location?

(It remains to be seen if I actually learned any of these. . . certain family members of mine like to point out that sometimes my learning curve seems to point straight down. . . assuming that up means actual learning has happened.)

All of these are important life lessons as I head into yet another season of recommendation and narrative writing. At the moment, I have written 19 letters of recommendation (with a few more on the horizon, tear.) And I will be spending the next week writing a paragraph about each of my lovely students and their academic progress. Before I head into the writing space that involves providing palatable feedback to teenagers in such a way that their parents wont think I’m completely incompetent, I thought I would briefly share my two new favorite culinary delicacies, both of which involve apple cider (the kind available at your friendly neighborhood “I-am-trying-to-shop-locally-but-have-no-idea-where-this-farm-is-located” farmer’s market).

I love apple cider, but for the life of me I cannot seem to get it together and actually drink a whole half-gallon when I buy it from the farmer’s market, but consistently refuse to buy the smaller size that would be more reasonable for a young lady keeping house for herself. Science teacher that I am, there are really only so many refrigerator fermentation experiments I can do before I totally gross myself and everyone else out.

As a result, I’ve been exploring various uses for apple cider that enable me to enjoy the taste without the “will-I-be-drunk-or-have-some-weird-disease-after-drinking-this” qualms that are generally associated with the apple cider in my fridge.

Recipe 1: Apple Cider Caramels.

            Step 1: Go to the Smitten Kitchen site.

            Step 2: Make this recipe.

            Step 3: Buy her book immediately.

            Step 4: Make everyone you know think you are a brilliant cook because her recipes are SO GOOD!!!!

Recipe 2: Apple Cider Jelly. (This one has similarly complex directions.)

            Step 1: Buy a gallon of (unpasteurized) apple cider.

            Step 2: Bring to a boil in a pot.

            Step 3: Reduce heat and cook on medium-low until the liquid coats the back of a spoon.

            Step 4: Cool, pour into a jar, and spoon directly into your mouth. Or be slightly more classy and put it on something that needs a bit of apple cider flavoring.

Mine made about 2 cups (not the 1 cup claimed by the research I did. Of course, the research I did also involved temperature measurements and a statement about the time required that turned out to be wildly incorrect). There are many other recipes out there for apple cider jelly, most of which involve buckets of sugar and pectin, but I consider this to be wildly unnecessary owing to the fact that apple cider tastes awesome already and there is already plenty of pectin in the apples to make it gel if you cook it enough. In the future, I may experiment with “flavors” (like cinnamon and so on), but the basic version is so delicious I’m not sure it’s worth it.

Both of these taste like condensed apple cider. Which is more or less what they are.

Happy holiday season! As always, this is my favorite time of year because it gives me an excuse to bake in disgustingly large quantities for people I love. Woo!