Wednesday night was Allandale Farms antique apple event Cider in the City. The event was packed with lots of kids running around and filling up on apples, cheese, cider donuts, and cider!
Cider in the City featured some great apple related products:
Farnum Hill Cider was on hand offering samples of their Semi-Dry and Extra-Dry sparking ciders as well as Extra-Dry and Kingston Black Reserve still ciders. Located at Poverty Lane Orchards in Lebanon, NH they believe in the traditional meaning of cider, - an alcoholic beverage fermented from apples, similar to wine, but replacing grapes with apples. Gail and I preferred the sparkling ciders. I ended up coming home with a bottle of the Semi-Dry sparkling cider which I will be enjoying on thanksgiving.
Also on hand were cider donuts from courtesy of local bistro Vee Vee. I've never met a cider donut I didn't like. Though I prefer them warm and fresh the offering from Vee Vee was more dense then usual but utterly satisfying. The extra's made for a great companion to my morning coffee yesterday and today!
The real highlight for me was the Scott Farm (Dunnerston, VT) antique (heirloom) apples such as Ashmead's Kernel, Hudson's Golden Gem, and Roxbury Russet paired with savory cheeses like 2 year aged Grafton Cheddar, Valdeon Blue, and a truly delicious Chevre Noir from Fromagerie Tournevent of Chesterville, Que Canada. What is Chevre Noir? It is a goats milk cheese made in the cheddar style! Unique and delicious.
Speaking of cheddar, while at Allandale I grabbed a 7 oz. wedge of Ford Farm traditional farmhouse cheddar. While not local, Ford Farm cheese's are made using traditional slow production methods and bear the EU Protected Designation of Original seal.
Cider in the City obviously also featured both hot and cold cider as well as a cider press demonstration which many of the children were mesmerized by. Not to mention a delightful barrel fire which would have been nice to warm up next to had it not been a balmy 60 degrees all afternoon.
All in all it was an excellent way to wind down after work and enjoy a variety of cheeses and apple products. A wonderful celebration of the fall harvest, we came home with a bottle of hard cider, a bag of antique apples, a pound of cheese and half a dozen cider donuts.
"Life has been pretty good. Who am I kidding it's been grand." ~Al Schnier - moe.
How have YOU been celebrating the fall harvest season??
