SESAME STREET TUESDAYDon't get me wrong - I love that it was 75 degrees outside yesterday and I never tire of the sight of palm trees. But I feel pangs of nostalgia every time I log on to Facebook and see my Michigan friends all tagged in a photo like this one:
They are participating in one of my favorite Midwestern autumn traditions: the cider mill trip. There are lots of places where you can get fresh apple cider, but as this photo illustrates, there are three key components to a classic Midwest cider mill trip (romanticized ever so slightly):
1) A scenic drive with friends out to a sequestered, barn-red mill situated on the edge of the woods near a lazy stream where laughing children feed the ducks.2) Apple cider, of course, which is so fresh and pure that it tastes like you are drinking a liquid apple.*
3) Homemade donuts (regular, pumpkin spice, and apple flavored) fried up so fresh that you have to let them cool off in the crisp autumn air before eating them at the picnic tables out under the blazing red and yellow leaves.
Well, if I can't actually go to a cider mill, I'll have to settle for the next best thing - spying on my Michigan friends' cider mill trips on Facebook. Or I could settle for the third best thing - this old Sesame Street clip about how to make apple cider:
*Line borrowed from a similar post by a fellow Michigan expatriate who has experienced similar cider mill pangs.
5 comments:
I love this post. When I went to Michigan for Rachel's wedding a few weeks ago I made Kara go sit with me at a cider meal between the Temple and reception. It felt lovely.
One of my college roommates from upstate New York used to make sure we had apple cider and homemade donuts every fall, and as much as I enjoyed this, I never understood why she was so insistent about it, or why we had to get the jugs that said Apple Cider and not Apple Juice. This fall I am finally understanding about the intense desire to try to replicate the experience where it can't really be replicated.
I remember watching this on Sesame Street! I'm sure it didn't mean much to me then, a kid in Vegas. And Brian, I would say your description fits our cider mill trip as pictured to a T. Not romanticized at all :).
Aw, this is sweet. And I'm glad you used the picture I took. :)
We didn't realize that New York is second only to Washington State in apple production. We loved to drive through the orchards (they stretched for miles and miles) and stop at the apple tasting booths. Never knew there are so many varieties. We loved the freshly squeezed cider. Mom just yesterday bought a gallon and its in our fridge. Good memories we all have of apples.
Dad
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