I’m just going to throw this out there. Apple cider is delicious. If I really want to break down the rhythms of my life, drinking apple cider is an essential fall experience. As explained in my previous post, fall means a lot to me. Fall holds one of my favorite days of the year… cider-pressing day. Cider-pressing day is an epic day each year where my family gets together with old friends and we turn 1000 pounds of apples into gallons and gallons of gorgeous cider. It is a day of community. We catch up with people we don’t cross paths with on a regular basis. We eat good food and drink good beer. We work hard grinding and cranking on a hundred year old oak cider press. It’s a great tradition.

My daughter Kate has been coming to this shindig since she was a little girl. She knows where cider comes from and takes pride in her part in making it. It is very interesting to think back on her years of pressing and hanging out. By nature she is a very shy girl. She is shy until she gets comfortable. She will watch and learn, but when she feels ready she will talk to whoever will listen. The first couple of years she was hesitant to get in there and let herself be seen. Now, she knows her jobs and loves to do them and loves showing newcomers to the pressing operation how everything works. She brings buckets of apples to the cutting table. She washes the apples and even likes to take a couple of turns on the crank. I think her favorite part is tasting. She has given herself the official title of apple cider taster, and she takes this job very seriously. Every year she happily tells everyone that this is the best batch yet. In the end, we usually bring home seven or eight gallons to freeze and drink throughout the year. When we decide to thaw out a gallon to enjoy, my wife and I have to race her to the cup cupboard or we won’t get a drop. It is really cool to see her take ownership of the process and enjoy the fruits of her labor. As Lila grows older, I am confident that Kate will play a very active role in teaching her the finer points of cider pressing and taste testing.

I don’t want to get too food philosophical, but kids should know where their food comes from. I know that people don’t drink cider all the time. It’s not meat or vegetables or dairy. Cider pressing is a small step that we take so that Kate and soon Lila stay a little bit more connected with their meals. It walks together with our tiny vegetable garden and small fruit trees on the path towards clean and healthy living. Pressing cider and picking vegetables you helped grow is also fun. A kid is more likely to taste new things if they had a hand in making it. It also connects the girls with people. Preparing a meal with friends and family is an amazing way to build a strong community.

Busy schedules and living in different cities and life often times get in the way of connecting with people you care about. I don’t want to lose touch, but it happens. Everyone has their own thing going and that is as it should be. We are all having kids or flourishing in various careers or going on adventures. The days and months roll on by. Cider-pressing day is that fixed Saturday in fall that draws us all back together. It is a day of community and catching up. It is an important part of our family culture. I want my girls to see for themselves the importance of having a community of friends and family. I very much appreciate all those who host, attend, and make it happen.

As the apple crate begins to slowly diminish, someone will inevitably jokingly chime in on how much easier this would be if the press had a motor, or how we could just go to the store and buy a couple of gallons to enjoy without all the hassle. I agree, we could do that, but that would be missing the point completely. There is a great bond that forms when people work hard together on anything. I feel that it is more so with food. There is great tradition in food and the celebrations that unfold. In the end, the cider is great, but that’s not really what its all about.