Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Apple cider and plum jam


Laborday weekend we pressed 62 gallons (237 liters) of apple juice. Day's before, Bert, Maya and Cameron picked the fruit from the tree's and placed the top filled cans under the carport next to the apple press and tables for processing. It was a very nice, partly clouded day with a temperature hovering around 78 degrees. After Bert picked up the press in Eugene we started pressing at 10 AM and found ourselves cleaning up around 8 PM. Several of our guests made their way to the canopy that day for a taste of fresh organic juice or to give a hand with the press by loading the apples in the hopper or to crush the fruit with the manually operated press. Many topics past for great conversation especially when Mike (tennis teammate of Bert) and his wife joined the action. After making breakfast and routing the cleaning ladies to the cabins and rooms Ellie joined the fun in the afternoon. Bert returned the cider press the next day.

The following weekend Hubertina and Ellie (with the help of Cedric and Isabelle) made jams and sauces from the fruit of orchard. The kitchen transferred from a decent looking cooking facility into a sticky and sweet fruit smelling bubbly damp canning factory and avoidance was the key word if you did not participate. The end result was another year supply of preserved fruit that was nicely displayed with the dried fruit on the table in the dining room of the lodge. When we open a jar this winter it will remind us of the hard labor everyone put in these two weekends of September. We are sure our guests will appreciate the taste of a blend of five different kinds of plum on a Belgium hazelnut waffle or English muffin or the with blueberries and cinnamon topped off pears as an opener for breakfast.