First Cider with the new Cider House and Equipment

Today was our first cider making of the season.  Ed built a wonderful cider house,

and he and Bry put the press and grinder in place.

 On the left is the grinder.  The press is on the right.  Green boxes are for storage.  You can see part of the large cider container on the far right.

We picked some apples from S's tree last week, and D picked some from one of our trees where the apples were so abundant that they threatened to break the branches!  They will be more ripe in a few weeks, but he hated risking breaking the limbs.

Here is the washing station.  

Apples are in the white bags.

They will be sorted on the table and washed in the trough.

Then they will be lifted to the platform.

From the platform, they will be put on the slide to the grinder.

There is a hole in the side of the building to accommodate the slide.

When the slide is removed, the hole is covered with siding.

When the day's grinding is finished, the pomace (ground apples) fills the wash bin.

The pomace, placed in a cloth, is called a cheese - and several cheeses are stacked. 

We stacked five today.

The press compresses the cheeses and the juice flows.

The end result:  7 gallons of apple juice. 

The containers (5-gallon buckets) are covered, the hole in the lid has an airlock, yeast will be added, and they will ferment over the next few months.  Each batch is an experiment.   For the last couple of years, some were fantastic, some not so much.

Simply Thai

A lovely restaurant in Oneonta, NY

We had errands in Oneonta today, and we planned to go to Brooks' Barbecue for lunch.  Alas, they had a sign in the door saying they were closed today.  So we went back downtown to try the restaurant named "Simply Thai".

We ordered lunch specials.  They begin with salad.

HOUSE SALAD

Fresh Greens Served with 

Warm Peanut Dressing

I ordered a small cup of soup.  It had cute little mushrooms (straw mushrooms?) and chunks of chicken.  It was a little spicy - their level 2 is what we requested.  The soup is a thin sweet/sour broth.

TOM YUM

Thai Hot & Sour Soup

with Lemongrass, Mushroom and Roasted Chilies,

Finished with Scallion

For a main course, D ordered:

SPICY THAI BASIL

NOODLES

("DRUNKEN NOODLES")

Fresh Wide Rice Noodles Stir-Fried

with Onion, Carrot, Bell Pepper,

Baby Corn, Mushroom and Thai Basil

 There were three shrimp and lots of wide rice noodles.  It had a smokey flavor.  The vegetables were attractively cut.  D ordered Level 2 heat.  Spicy but not painful.

I ordered:

MASSAMAN CURRY

Indian Influenced - Massaman

Curry Paste Simmered in Coconut

Milk with Potato, Carrot, Onions

Peanuts and a Hint of Tamarind

Our server suggested ordering Level 1 heat, since curry powder already is a bit hot.

There were three shrimp.  This is served with white jasmine rice.

The lunch and dinner menus are almost the same, with the lunch portions smaller and less expensive.

You can see their menu here.

We enjoyed our lunch very much.  

Just one odd thing.   When we finished our salad, and the server picked up the salad plate, she handed us our fork to save for the main course.  So we sat there holding our fork like at a boarding house dinner, waiting for the next course.