This past weekend was Toronto's 5th annual Nuit Blanche event. Being a night-owl and creative type, the idea of a dusk-to-dawn massive public art-party event naturally excites me. And when I received Not Far From The Tree's call for volunteers for their "Cider Making Spectacle" as part of the event, I couldn't help but join in on the fun.I showed up at 3:30am at the Gladstone Hotel's Art Bar, along with 3 other volunteers. For the event, Not Far From The Tree brought in 400 lbs of apples, which was a small portion of the thousands of pounds of fruit they collect from trees around the city each year. For the last 3 hours of the event, we turned these unloved apples into steamy hot cider, which sold for $2 per sample.
The cider-making process was simple, but labour intensive:
Wash apples. Peel-off skin (using neat-o peeling device). Slice into quarters.
Crank slices through manual grinder.
Press. Collect cider (i.e. unfiltered juice).
Heat with cinnamon sticks. Pour into little cups, and sell.
By 6:30am, our little operation/performance/installation served out many little cups of cider, and a little cider-making know-how, to many happy people.
2 comments:
Hey Not Far From The Tree! Thanks for including this post on your website (notfarfromthetree.org)!! It was definitely a night to remember!
Hi Minda. I found your blog through the NFFTT link. That was a fun night pressing apples. Your other projects are inspirational!
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