Sunday, I went to the Mother Cabrini playground to chase down my friend Patty for her no-knead whole-grain bread recipe, which I wanted to make for our cider-tasting at Darrin's studio.

Yes, I know a baguette would work just as well and that the bread recipe is all over the Internet, but why go through the process of cider husbandry only to taste it with someone else’s bread, and speaking of the bread, why not reap the benefits of Patty’s efforts in working out a combination of whole wheat, rye, semolina, and bread flour that I have actually tasted and know works, as opposed to the ones on the Internet, which are just hearsay, far as I'm concerned. Why indeed. 

I found her chatting up her friend Candice. In the course of our conversation, I mentioned the cider, and Candice mentioned that her husband made not only hard cider but mead (honey wine), beer, and two kinds of wine and that, in fact, they are sharing their bedroom with the stuff right now. Apart from Javier Bardem… 

…and possibly Ari Emanuel…

I can think of nothing better.

Candice phoned her husband, and we went right over for a tasting. His mead is reminiscent of Vin Santo, and I plan to brew some up after Thanksgiving. Just gotta get HIS recipe now.

Here's a picture of Theo with the mead. He liked the way it smelled but stopped short of drinking it.

So we (I) diagnosed the cease-fire of the cider as it's having turned all its sugar to alcohol. Sooo… Miss Molly just added another gallon of fresh cider, and as you can see, it's festering once again. Monday is the tasting. Eyes crossed that it works. 

The latest images, courtesy of Molly at Darrin's studio. "As you'll see," Molly says, "it is not foaming much. The air release is still bubbling, however. Also, there was a new development over the weekend—there seems to be a big layer of sediment at the bottom."