Later the hand crank ice cream machine made its appearance and we turned the handle until we froze that homemade peach ice cream.
* * *
Had a similar experience visiting former neighbors who owned a small apple farm. They had an apple press that required turning. Lovely autumn day. Kids running around. Parents chatting and laughing.
Something about squeezing juice from fruits brings back the simpler and more soul-satisfying family time that Americans of an earlier age enjoyed.
For the past few years, we’ve been watching “Midsomer Murders”, “a who done it?” filmed in Great Britain. The series has its own channel which plays episodes around the clock.
Your mention of apples and presses reminds of one episode:
“Night of the Stag”. Murder, apples, apple cider, a machine known as a tree shaker.
Murder: man was found in a keg of apple cider after being killed with that tree shaker. The addition certainly gave a ‘tang’ to the homemade apple cider. Most unusual way of
disposing of the body.
Never having seen such a machine (powered by diesel), watching as the job was done was a unique experience. Vices grab the tree trunk and shake it like there was no tomorrow.
Apples fall to the grand, covered by netting, which is then lifted, apples processed. Watching that machine in action was certainly a unique experience. No hand picking of Eve’s favorite fruit Of course, there was no hand cranked presses to be found. Squeezing juice from an apple must certainly be
similar to squeezing blood from a stone. And progress marches on.