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2010 2nd Annual Apple Smash

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The head count of the 2nd annual smash grew tremendously and along with many new families, we saw most of the Muddy Portage crew in attendance. It was great to see faces we haven’t seen in a while as well as several new friends we’ve met over the summer.

apple-smashThere were enough people who pitched in to make the process go. As you can see, there are parts to fill with such an operation and without diligent help, it can go slow. Those apples didn’t stand a chance.

I had mentioned we try to put together a video so that we can look back at how our families grow over the years. People took the “dressing for the part” quite seriously so I think we’ll have some good you-tube fodder real soon. I have to say that my hat looked rather dumb compared to all the straw and cowboy hats correctly sported by others.

The apples “smashed” more difficult than last year. They were pulpy and it took more effort to extract all the juice. We have a rough estimate of about 28 gallons compared to the 47 gallons last year. While we’re sure the dry weather had an effect, I felt the apples were a little too ripe (along with the fact that we had only a Gala, Winesap and Winter Banana mix – Not completely ideal for cider) Still, everyone had cider to take home and Glenn and I had plenty left over to make sure our other loves ones got some.

Thanks so much to Glenn and Mary Burris for not only providing a great venue, but going above and beyond to make this look like an event coordinated by a committee. The hay rides were an exceptionally nice touch and the kids loved it. A little background… the smash wasn’t going to happen this year just due to how busy everyone has been. Glenn and Mary stepped up and said they were planning a fall party of some sort anyway and this was just the thing.

The apple smash means a lot to me because as a kid, I attended a number of these with my dad, along with steam-engine shows, berry picks, you get the picture. My dad refurbished this press and made all the wood parts, painted it and got it all ready to use. But, he never got to use it before a stroke in 2001. So, last year was its maiden smash… and this year was its second run. I hope to keep this going so that our kids can remember such things. I truly believe that by instilling the spirit of our fathers in them will make them remember, and even aspire to push it further… ultimately to become better contributors to society. I can still see and remember my first apple smash, and my dad heading it up, all to only be sure there was enough cider for everyone to take home. So, my heartfelt thanks go to Glenn and Mary for making this happen.

We’ll be shooting for the first or second week of October next year. If you liked it, you might mark your calendar. The food this year was stellar. Thanks to all who brought something. That really made the food easy! We’ll be thinking of ideas to completely eliminate the monetary apple overhead for the next time. It might be nice to get everyone to bring a sack or two of apples so that the apple purchase doesn’t lie on one or two people. Bring apples, take cider! We’re open to ideas. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

How I season my cast iron cookware

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I have all kinds of cast iron that I’ve been needing to clean and re-season. There are a few key pieces that sit on my stove top and I’ve decided that it was time to break out some additional pieces. Particularly, a nice saucepan with a lid and a double dutch oven (for lack of a better term). In all, there were two No. 8 skillets, a No 14 skillet (yeah, the big daddy) two waffle irons, two regular dutch ovens, the double dutch oven, an egg poacher, a cornbread pan, a muffin pan, and a star-shaped muffin pan.

I cook with cast iron daily… and rarely use anything else. Having your cookware properly seasoned and maintained only increases the performance of cast-iron. Here’s how I do it:

Seasoning your cast iron

  1. Clean your cookware real good. It’s OK to use a mild soap as you scrape off any junk. I used a wire brush and scouring pad to get it as clean as possible. A wire brush is good for rust (also a clue that your pan is not properly seasoned.)
  2. Dry everything off real good and then place it in the oven heated to 200F. We’re warming the cast iron up at this time…. completely drying it out and opening the pores per se.
  3. After 10  minutes or so, get your mitt and bring it out.
  4. Take about a teaspoon of 100%, flaxseed oil (organic, or the best you can find) and add to pan. Use a paper towel to distribute all over the pan, inside and out, getting the handle and everything. You can add more if you need, but know that you will be wiping it off as dry as possible before cooking. So, it doesn’t make sense to waste the oil since good flax seed oil is expensive.
  5. Once completely wiped down, put the pan back in the oven, inverted upside down and heat to 500F. Again, it’s important that the oil is wiped off real good and not dripping from the pan. Drippings can harden and create and uneven surface. As it cooks, we invert the pan to avoid pooling of the oil and allow slight dripping. So, you may want to catch them underneath.
  6. Once heated to 500F, set a timer for 1 hour. After an hour, turn off the oven and leave the pan to cool in the oven. This could take up to two hours. Remove the pan, and polish with a cloth.
  7. Repeat this process immediately… adding another teaspoon of oil, wiping off, and starting over. Repeat as many times as you have the energy for. The more times you do it, the better the season will be. It actually evens out the surface and makes a natural hard, non-stick surface. As you cook foods with grease and fats, it adds to the quality of the surface.

Notes worth mentioning

  • In the past, I have tried all the oils, Crisco vegetable shortening, lard, and even bacon grease. Today, I use flax seed oil as there’s a lot of documented science behind fat polymerization. Think of flaxseed oil as the food-grade equivalent of linseed oil (the ‘drying oil’ that painters use to create a protective layer on their paintings).
  • Not all flaxseed oil is created equal. Good flaxseed oil needs refrigeration and can go rancid quickly. Any that don’t need refrigeration means it has something added to it to hinder rancidity, and you don’t want that.
  • If your cast iron comes out sticky, it could be the result of leaving too much oil on before you put it in the oven. Be sure to wipe it down dry. Don’t worry, there is oil left in the pores. This is a process that can’t be rushed, and iterative coats are required. Be sure also that your oven temperature is at 500F and bake for a full hour at that temperature.
  • Flaxseed oil has one of the lowest smoke points at around 225F. When we heat oil above its smoke point, it releases its free radicals. This is not good during cooking, but really good for seasoning cast iron cookware. Open some windows and turn on the exhaust fans when you’re seasoning.

Cleaning your cast iron

Try not to soak your cast iron in water. Quite honestly, I’ll leave my pan with the grease from the morning’s bacon in it sitting on my stove until the next day. Then, I’ll scrape out the gunk with a metal spatula and reheat using the remaining oil residue. Otherwise, I clean mine right away while the pan is still warm. If I need some scouring action, I throw a little coarse kosher salt into the pan and wipe with a damp cloth to grind up the junk. Then rinse under the faucet.

When done washing, give a quick towel dry and then put it on your stove burner to completely dry it out. Don’t overcook the pan here! A minute or two should do it. Leave it on just long enough to dry it out. That next batch of sausage or bacon can lube it up again.

Jim and Jay’s 2009 Elderberry Wine

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This year, I was able to get not one, but two batch’s of Elderberry wine going. There’s a 3-gallon batch and a 5-gallon batch both made in dramatically different styles. I’ve always wanted to make Elderberry wine, mainly because my dad always told me that it was one of his favorite wines. As a typical apprentice might do, I wanted to “copy the master,” so Elderberry was on my list. But, where to get them?

My good friend Jimmy told me about his moms berry bush and how it was always busting with produce, so naturally, I urged him to allow me to help harvest them. Busting with produce is an understatement… After the de-stemming and washing, we had a cool 10 pounds of elderberries around 1am. We got that 3-gallon batch going that night.

Only days later, Jimmy called and said the bush was ready again. He brought over enough this time to make a total 18.5 pounds, so there was the start of the next 5-gallon batch.

Elderberries are small, about the size of a BB, these were a little larger. It’s a job to get 18 pounds! So, thanks a bunch to Jim for making it all possible this year and the reward will be sweet.

The second batch was really something special. The 18 pounds of berries were macerated by boiling sugar-water and allowed to steep overnight. The next day, I hand-strained through straining bags to get a dark, inky elderberry juice. The is the first batch of wine that I didn’t allow the berry pulp to ferment in the primary with the must. The result has been a vigorous fermentation and it worked over the course of 7 days. I’m  preparing to put this in the secondary already.

This is a real treat to have two  good-sized batches going both processed in their own style. Of course, the logs have been maintained so I know what process is better. We’ll just have to let next years cellar event do the talking.

It’s officially summer when you make ice cream

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On Sunday, we’ll celebrate Hannah’s birthday a little early before we go on vacation. Strawberry ice cream was our test run Friday night. We’ll do it again on Sunday with all the other kids and chocolate and butter pecan is on the agenda.

We used this same ice cream maker when I was a kid. Yeah you have to hand crank it, but that’s the point. The kids tend to tire out a little early, but when I take over to finish it off, I think back when my dad did this same thing with us. Our electric maker just collects dust. They make things so shitty now days. Plastic and thin metal for the canister. This ice cream maker has a solid, heavy metal canister with a lid. The point is so the ice and slat can cool it so cold, that the ice cream actually sets up. It gets harder to crank and you know, it’s almost time. We added in the fresh-cut strawberries and cranked it some more.

Finally, on a sultry, sweaty hot night, the whole family about busted in to song as each of us felt the essence of summer.

Thinkin’ this thing is going to come out a lot this year!

My man, Felix Eboigbe

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When you get a voicemail that sounds like this, what else can you do but post it for everyone else’s enjoyment.

This is my man Felix, a VERY incredible Nigerian sculptor. About 6 or 7 years ago, I was introduced to Felix by another entrepreneurial client who was always looking for ways to invest his money. He most enjoyed investing his money in people that he believed in and especially the creative types. Felix is one of those types. And he brought Felix to us to make him a web site that showcased his work.

We ended up going over to his house and shooting a bunch of his life-sized pieces of sheer BRILLIANCE to build him the web site. We also got to shoot a bunch of pics of him in action with his wood chisels and blocks of wood that quickly became something of a miracle in front of our eyes. This article made it into my ‘homesteading’ area because Felix makes his living, by hand. I stand inspired to say the least.

Felix has sold his work to the likes of Bill Cosby, David Hasselhoff and many others. I was so in love with Felix’s work. I remember wanting to work out a barter to maybe trade a sculpture for the web site. But alas, since his work was bumping six figures, it was obvious that wasn’t going to happen.

The point of this post? Nothing more than to introduce you to my man, Felix whom I loved working with and still admire. He still puts on the occasional exhibition and updates his site for the next one. Visit his site to see some of the most fantastic wood sculpture you will ever witness and tell him Jason Morgan sent ya!

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The queen bee doesn’t decide what happens in a colony. The workers do. They adjust her feeding to make her do what the majority says. The queen can’t feed herself.