This morning is 9F (minus 12 C). Clear and cruely cold. All the animals are fed and watered and I have opened all the barn doors as the sun is shining. A juxtapostition of the senses that I could not hang in a gallery. It is a stunning, fiercely cold, bright and sunny day. But no wind – no wind is good.
I took my hammer with me today to break the ice and as we rushed about doing the chores my face burning with freeze, I kept saying to the animals ‘ The cold is only relative, after minus 10 it is just more cold not colder.’ They weren’t even cold. Just hungry.
No pausing to watch the golden sunrise filter through the cracks in the barn this morning.
Back inside and all is well now. Here is a tip to remember on these below freezing mornings. If your hand is wet from the dish cloth and you have to quickly pop outside to grab a piece of wood for the fire, DO NOT grab the metal door handle with your wet hand on the way back in. Your hand will stick to the metal door handle. I hate that and I NEVER LEARN!
OK. Yesterday we bottled appler cider vinegar. This is How to Make Raw Apple Cider whilst pretending that this is what you wanted to make all along.
Take the bottles of home made apple cider (before we switched to pear cider) and put them in the basement then forget about them for a year. Then take the top off one, cover with a cloth and forget about it again for another year.
Then rediscover it when searching for a bottle of apple cider in the basement. As you remember that the apple cider was so horrible that you left a jar open just in case it decided to turn itself into vinegar. It being half way there already.
And it had turned into vinegar. So strain it through a coffee filter, bottle it and write on the bottle with a black sharpie in a casual and trendy manner as though this had been the plan all along. 
If you want to know how to make really GOOD apple cider vinegar on purpose, go and visit Ms Misks. Hers looks sharp and delicate. Her vinegar is so educated it keeps a diary.
Now I am going to fry up a couple of those eggs I collected this morning. The chooks are laying again did I tell you? My old people are pleased. They miss their good eggs.
c
The Kitchen's Garden 
84 responses to “How to make Raw Apple Cider Vinegar whilst pretending that this is what you wanted to make all along!”
happy accidents are the best. It just seems you can never repeat them 🙂
very true, I hope i can repeat this tho as it is a tasty wee vinegar! c
You won’t mind if I only come visit in summer hey C?
You are so clever making apple cider by mistake – how many other people can say that!
🙂 Mandy
If I had a choice I would only visit in the summer too! Cold without snow is a bit dull!! I am now trying to make the vinegar on purpose which may not work so well.. sods law or something.. c
That is a hard winter. In my book 0Centigrade is a hard winter and -12C is, so far thank God, beyond my imagination. Love the cider story.
it can get colder, but so far we have had quite a mild winter.. for which i am very grateful.. c
Miss home but not those temperatures! I used to go outside in short-sleeves and jeans at -10C, that was a nice day 😉
really? what a toughie! I wear so many layers i WADDLE about the farm.. c
I once did sort-of the same thing with a bottle of lovely wine, that became the most hauntingly eloquent salad vinegar I have ever tasted…I love the spirit that can welcome happy accidents, and I love the blog. Thanks!
The red wine version can be divine. Eloquent is a lovely description for a vinegar!! c
You’re so funny! Careful with that hand, though, it makes me cringe just thinking of being stuck like that. I’m so glad your vinegar turned out to be tasty at least, even if the cider wasn’t!
the cider is truly horrible and you are right the vinegar has some lovely notes.. who knew!! He had been making vinegar all along.. c
It’s been very cold here, too! I seem to be in catch up mode! No particular reason except perhaps the holidays have taken a little more attention than I thought! But I can’t let great blogs go without reading them! Have a great day, Cecilia!
Run fast then Phyllis and catch up with yourself, this year is rocketing along.. c
Two things, in my opinion:
One, below ZERO, it’s just cold, not colder. Above 30 it’s warm! 🙂
Two, a wet hand on a metal doorknob? Try a tongue on just about anything … as every kid must learn … not … to do! (Poor Daisy – I hope she knows this! Ah yes, she’s in the barn ….)
Ah, memories of the cold zone …
Well let us hope that Daisyu is not using her tongue to open those latches on the gates.. hmm.. best i warn her!!
my first introduction to apple cider vinegar was my father-in-law daring me to drink a glass straight. interesting flavor to say the least… (reminds me of the time my dad dared me to drink straight buttermilk).
I am really learning a lot on your how to posts! And whats cool with this is it happened by accident, most of the good stuff are made by accident anyways.
Sounds like it’s really starting to get brisk there, but the cold is all a state of mind…that is until you freeze. 😉