apple beverages

it's fall! and when it's fall, i feel like having apple cider.

i have a fond childhood memory of apples. one crisp fall day on my neighbour's farm, we took a LOT of apples and put them into a giant barrel with a motor and squisher in it (i think the proper name is an apple press). the machine was loud and we got to feed the not so nice apples to the horses. it was wonderful! and the best part, we had fresh, home made apple juice ... and a little while later, we had fresh, home made apple cider.

i love apple cider. i remember it stewing in a pot in my mom's kitchen .... with all sorts of spice ... of stirring it with a cinnamon stick ... of inhaling the wonderful sweet and spicy aromas. it was like a warm hug. a warm hug enjoyed while gazing out onto a crystalline vista - of snow and white christmas lights. *sighs happily*

so there ... that's my attachment to hot apple cider ... and this is why i'm so utterly disappointed in the "apple cider" offerings in the coffee shops around here.

you cannot make proper apple cider with hot water and powder.

putting a cinnamon stick in apple flavoured hot water does not make apple cider.

hot apple juice is not apple cider.

i wish they would stop selling "apple cider".

we live in a country that has a very definite winter season, one that is cold and snowy. for these reasons, we need to embrace those drinks that warm you from the inside out. the hot chocolates, the coffees, the hot apple ciders.

is it that difficult to heat up apple cider versus apple juice? is it really? *sigh*

yet, i know i'll continue to purchase it, and continued to be disappointed. they say a sucker's born every day. and this one was born on a snowy day about 25 years ago.

hello again

so it's been a bit since the last time i wrote. i've been half away across the world and back since then! well, not quite half way ... but across the atlantic at least. there have been times when i had ideas to write down ... book "reviews" that i was supposed to do .. but, apparently i've just been lazy. but don't worry, i've been doing a lot of opining, internally that is.

i do have an anecdote to share though.

let it be said - melpie is not smart.

she wears contacts. these are silicon contacts or some such nonsense and require this peroxide based cleaning solution. it's an easy enough system... you put the contacts in this little container that has a metal piece at the bottom. once the solution is in the bottle and is touching the special metal piece, it starts its bubbly magic and cleans the contacts. it requires 6 hours to neutralize - i.e. if the solution is not touching the metal magic piece for 6 hours, it will remain as peroxide.

i'm sure you can see where this is going.

so one morning, i get my contacts out so i can see. alas, the bottle has tipped over in the night. i think nothing of it - except for having concern that perhaps my contacts would have dried out during the night. they seemed to be fine though.

i get out the right contact and insert it into my eye.

PAIN. OH SO MUCH PAIN.

yes, that's right, the solution had NOT neutralized. i put a contact covered in a peroxide solution IN MY EYE.

so the next step is to try to get the contact out of my eye. at this time, my eye is not trusting me. it knows what happened last time it let my finger touch it. it squeezes shut, keeping in all the peroxidey goodness.

the final result? one red eye.

boy, did i learn my lesson.

p.s. nba season has begun - and indy better be 2-0 in the next minute or so. or else melpie will not be a happy camper.