Backyard wildlife adventures and beyond
Hard cider 101 1 Bad Apple...won't spoil the bunch ....ir will just make it better!
by Nancy J Hopping on 12/01/11
What should you do with all the apples laying on the ground. ?... Hard cider is a good quick fix. It is easy to make, high in vitamin C and makes a great adult beverage..it does not matter if the apple does not look perfect or if it is over ripe....it will all be pressed and the riper it is the better it will be!
How should you start? I use my Kitchen Aid stand mixer.. I attach the food strainer..This is a handy gadget. It pushed the skins and pits at the end into a waiting bowl and in another bowl the juices of the apple trickle down.. Once the bowl is full, I transfer the juice to a waiting 5 gallon fermenting bucket. When the bucket is up to the top line, I add 5 pounds of sugar. The sugar will bump up the natural yeast production in the apples that start to ferment with in a day of being pressed.
If you do not have the time time press your own apples you can buy sweet cider. Make sure it is cold pressed preserved. If it has any preservatives in it it may not ferment. Which in this case fermenting is a good thing. I always use a pound of sugar to a gallon of cider. You can use less sugar it will give you a lower alchol content. In some cases the natural sugar in the apple is almost enough. This is not an exact science.
Once you have filled your food grade fermenting bucket or whatever vessel you use,.You need to vent it .( otherwise the gasses will cause the cider to shoot out of your comtainer.THIS.not a good thing You can get a little plastic device that allows the gasses to escape out of the bucket and it allows no air into your bucket. If you can not get one of these handy devices for 1.39 cent you can use a clear soft hose tie it in a knot and stick the open end in water and the other into the vent hole of the fermenting bucket . I buy all my wine supplies at the Dickson City www.vinterscircle.com there are a few of these wonderful stores so take a look around in your area stop by or give them a call they are very helpful. The fermenting bucket is about $23.00 and the 1.39 for the vent including tax 25.00 and, when completed a few months down the road you can get 23 bottles.. Not a bad investment!
If you look around you might find the Kitchen aid food strainer between $40- $70.00. I also use mine when I press tomatoes for canning in late summer early fall.
another option is you can buy a electric food strainer which could start at 79.00 and go as high as 259.00 or you can get a wine press if you are going to go big.....it all depends on how adventurous you want to be !
Happy Trails !
adventurous
Fall mountain sunrise
by Nancy J Hopping on 11/15/11
Here on top of the mountain all the trees have been bare before the October snow storm..That does not been you should hang up your camera till the spring. If you look you can find color every where! I took this photo this morning right before it started to rain AGAIN. When there is a lot of moisture in the sky the sun will give you refracted light ...equaling really cool colors! I took this photo from my front porch. I had my camera set for its fastest setting which will allow for more light to come thru the photo. I was using a canon 28 135mm lens...which is a pretty standard lens. I did not use a filter of any kind I always shoot in natural lighting, unless it is a bright sunny day and I am on the water somewhere fishing. Then I am using a polarizer lens to cut the glare.
When shooting the sun try not to shoot directly into the sun this can cause glare giving your photo a washed out look. Angle your camera so the sun is a little off center in your photo if you are looking for more color in your shot.
Sometime shooting right into the sun also has its benefits depending on what kind of effect you want...try, and explore, have fun looking for and creating color!
Happy Trails!
Backyard birding, kayaking and fishing on Lower Lake
by Nancy J Hopping on 11/05/11
Friday turned out to be a warm 60 degree day. The air was a little misty on the lake which gave me softer photography then what I wanted. But I had my fly rod I was only 5 miles from my house it was a great day to be outside and kayaking the lake.
I was using a sinking marabou fly that I had created a few years ago. I have used this pattern on saltwater as well as freshwater fish with great results. Friday I was catching chain pickerel a very toothy critter that puts up a nice fight. While fishing I tend to keep an eye for movement. That is when I saw the eagle.. He was hunting ducks, that were starting to stage on Lower Lake getting ready to fly south.
Mallard, Wood duck and Canada Geese seemed to dominate the lake. I only saw one eagle that day. Lower Lake at Promised Land state park in PA is known for its breeding eagles. As you can see this eagle is banded..It is my thought that as long as there is a great food supply the eagles won't be leaving anytime soon... So if you are in the area and like to eagle watch .. Promised Land has a great bird blind that you can watch from just make sure you bring field glasses and dress warm.
Happy Trails
snow fun and frolic
by Nancy J Hopping on 10/30/11
When shooting snow do not hesitate to go outside when it is overcast. The falling snow will add more light to your photo coupled with a fast shutter speed setting, giving you more flexibility with whatever you are trying to capture on film.
I took this photo of the doe yesterday when it was dark and snowy never thinking I would get that much clarity so late in the afternoon in heavy snow fall... ..The snow brightened up the photo and I got the detail that I was looking for... so... next time you think it is too dark take a chance ... you never know what you might get!
Fall colors in the Poconos
by Nancy J Hopping on 10/15/11
Here in the mountains of northeast PA our fall colors are fading fast with each passing storm. I shot this photo yesterday in my backyard in a misty rain. You never know what you will get unless you try. On low light conditions such as the MANY rainy days we have been having , set your camera on its fast/or sports mode and go out and shoot! Make the best of a dreary day and capture some of those beautiful fall colors that the Northeast is so well known for!
ISLB state park flyfishing and birding
by Nancy J Hopping on 10/12/11
I just returned from a quick trip to the beach. The bay fished well for Blues and some small Bass. My best fly was a Gurgler. It is always exciting when something big smashes your fly on the waters surface.....
While birding in the area it was easy to spot Monarch Butterflies that are staging in area, feeding on ragweed building their strength for the long journey south.
I also saw Ruby Crowned Kinglets, Commom Yellow Throats, Downy Woodpeckers and Yellow Shafted Flickers, White Throated Sparrows, all in small numbers. Brant and Great and Snowy Egrets as wells as Great Blue herons were also present in small numbers on the bay.
Here in my backyard the Coopers hawk is keeping my songbirds in the bushes, the Bears are fattening up for the winter.
With the frequent rains here in PA I have some of the greenest native grasses around which is bringing in the bears as well as deer , turkey and grouse.
