Pippinfest of Jolly ol' Fairfield Pennsylvania

Information about moonshiners can be found in this interesting article from http://thelibrary.org/lochist/periodicals/ozarkswatch/ow502p.htm

Although this is an image from the Ozarks it is meant to be a depiction of the old homemade stills that could be found in the hills in and around Fairfield many years passed.

This weekend as dreary as it may be is Fairfield Pennsylvania's
annual "Pippinfest" celebration!

A "pippin"by the way is a type of apple brought from the old country.

So here is a recipe for some apple jack from http://civilwarinteractive.com/CookbookBuzz1.htm




APPLEJACK

Hard (fermented) apple cider

Take a quantity of hard cider, preferably several gallons at least, and put it in a cold place. Traditionally this is done in a barrel outdoors in wintertime, but improvise as your circumstances require. After it has chilled for several hours (traditionally this is overnight) inspect the barrel and see if a layer of ice has formed on top of the liquid. Remove this ice, as completely as possible, and discard. Repeat process until cider has achieved the desired degree of intoxicating qualities.

The rationale for this process is as follows: Cider, or any other wine, ferments naturally only to a certain point of alcohol content, after which it either turns to vinegar or simply goes bad. In circumstances where mechanical distillation was either impractical, illegal, heavily taxed, or unknown, the procedure above was the only means available to raise the alcohol content of the beverage any further.

The results were not elegant brandy such as distillation would have produced, but achieved the desired result of the biggest drunk for the buck.

To all you folks who like a bit o’ the Irish for drink’n laddies here is one for a remembrance!
From Bon-Vivant’s Companion by Jerry Thomas, 1862.via http://civilwarinteractive.com/cooking/?page_id=371

HOT IRISH PUNCH
1 wine glass Irish whiskey
2 wine glasses boiling water
1 tbs. fine sugar
Rind and juice of 1 lemon (optional)
This is the genuine Irish beverage. Combine one wine glass Irish whiskey with one tablespoon of fine sugar dissolved in two wine glasses of boiling water. If [making] lemon punch, the rind is rubbed on the sugar, and a small proportion of [lemon] juice is added before the whiskey is poured in.


Tis a glorious fall day to partake of some of these fine old concoctions to enliven the spirit. Please visit the Civil War Cooking website {http://civilwarinteractive.com/CookbookBuzz1.htm} for a plethora of relevant cooking, gardening and drink’n information from the Civil War Era.

Thanks to the Civilwarinteractive’s Website for this teaser for their site from dickbloom.blogspot.com