Mini-Getaway!

On July 11, 2022July 11, 2022 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Michigan15 Comments

This weekend we took a short little mini-getaway to West Michigan. I wanted a trip where we could really unwind and relax and be absolutely lazy if we wanted. We are not beach people, so a beach trip wouldn’t be that fun for us. So, I looked for something different – and found a farm.

Just a two hour drive from us, this tiny house looked adorable on Airbnb – and was even better in person! However, we did have a few stops before we got there.

Our adventure kicked off with lunch at Virtue Cider in Fennville. I love Virtue Cider, and was so excited to take an adult field trip (plus one child) to their ciderie. It was spendy but I loved it, and I have wanted to go for a long time. I ordered the Briard cider with a turkey and havarti sandwich, Billy enjoyed the ham and gruyere with a glass of Abeille, and Wyatt was happy with a grilled cheese and water. I knew I was going to buy a bottle of one that was difficult to buy at home, so I opted for the Lapinette. (You guys know I love rabbits!)

Afterward we still had some time before we could check in at the tiny house on the farm, so we stopped at a local creamery called Evergreen Lane. They make all the cheeses in their creamery, right there, from their own goats and then locally sourced milk from dairies. We ended buying the Lily Rose, and then a sampler that had Noella, Poet’s Tomme, and a cheddar. After splurging on cheese, we stopped by a field of poppies! A local blueberry farmer planted 4 acres in honor of his son, a soldier who didn’t return home. We were there a bit late in the season to see the full effect but we still were struck by the sentiment and in awe of the flowers that were still in bloom.

It was starting to get dark from an incoming rainstorm, so we hit the road again – next stop the tiny home!

We pulled in and the rain was just coming down like crazy! We raced up the garden path and up the few stairs and burst in to the shelter. And instantly fell in love with our little home for the weekend! I threw open the curtains, including those for the skylight, and we lay on the bed just listening and watching the rain come down. This for some reason had a huge impact on kiddo. He talked about it all weekend, the rain on the skylight. It is always surprising to me what kids hold on to. After an hour, the rain stopped and we had a furry visitor at the door!

What a sweet and handsome ambassador to welcome us!! Three dogs actually live on the property which is a working farm, and they were all so friendly. This dog, Skye, was our little companion much of the weekend.

We just chilled out for the rest of the night, playing games and reading, and when Wyatt fell asleep, Billy and I tiptoed outside to watch the fireflies, drink our cider, and eat our cheese. The cheese was very good, although maybe a bit stronger than we are used to. Very earthy. We both thought the Lily Rose was the best of the bunch.

It was so peaceful and beautiful, looking out at the meadow, listening to most of the world start to settle down around us, while some creatures were just getting started, like the fireflies and the trilling tree frogs.

I could have sat out there all night but eventually we had to turn in. And the bed! Seriously comfortable and it smelled so good! It was the best night of sleep any of us have had for a long time.

And that is it for day one! (Don’t worry there will only be one more, mostly photos!)

Cider, The Cider Revival, and Fire

On November 11, 2020November 11, 2020 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized15 Comments

I have always loved apples, apple orchards, cider, and all that goes with it, including Johnny Appleseed (whom we chose as one of our family heroes for Wyatt’s studies this year). Every January, we pull on our boots and hats, and troop outside to our suburban front yard, and wassail our apple tree. If our neighbors were to look outside during this time, they would probably think we were crazy. If they came out to ask what we were doing, I would offer them cider.

It was I used to reserve all of my cider drinking for fall. I even took a tiny poll last year asking my closest friends when they thought the cut-off for drinking cider was. This year, I decided I didn’t care and started drinking it over the summer, sticking to the more fun ones like Virtue Michigan Cherry, and Virtue Rose. Now it is finally fall and I am branching out into new cider territory, finding new ciders to enjoy.

I recently read The Cider Revival: Dispatches From the Orchard by Jason Wilson, and absolutely inhaled it. Usually it takes me a while to finish a nonfiction book. That was not the case this time. Wilson states that cider is familiar, American, not exotic. It is seemingly “genderless” in ways that some people might view wine drinking or whiskey drinking (not me, whatever floats your boat!) And once was the drink of choice in America, until Prohibition left cider orchards to decay and die off. But cider is having a revival, with craft ciders and cideries, pommeliers and more commercial brands are becoming more and more popular again. And I for one am here for it.

There was no way that I could read The Cider Revival without wanting to explore different ciders. So, I texted my brother and asked if he wanted to have a cider tasting and fire at his house this weekend, and he of course agreed, as they are cider fans as well. We only had the ciders available at our local liquor store to choose from, and while they are pretty varied, it was still limited to one four foot section in an otherwise enormous store. They are pretty cool though and will order anything, so we are going to explore that option next time. However, we had a blast tasting the ones we did have, and there were some definite favorites!

The lineup: From Virtue: Michigan Cherry, Brut, and Sidra de Nava; From Shorts Starcut Line: Pulsar, Magpie, Octorock, and Mosa; then from a local orchard, Broken Barrel.

We didn’t know how to do a proper tasting, where to start and where to finish, so we started with the more appley, dry versions and worked our way to the more flavored ones, and decided to end with Sidra, because it was the most expensive.

The verdicts:

Billy: Hands down loved the Broken Barrel as his clear favorite, followed by the Michigan Cherry.

Me: My favorites were the Pulsar, which was mellow and dry yet had just a little more oomph that I wanted. My second favorite was the Michigan Cherry.

Chrissy: Chrissy had the same favorites as Billy, the Broken Barrel followed by the Michigan Cherry. She felt that the Broken Barrel was perfect, fresh tasting, and like pure apples. (she is right)

Devin: Again, Broken Barrel and Michigan Cherry were the winners.

Honorable Mention: The Mosa by Starcut Ciders. We all agreed it did not taste really like cider, but if you had to drink cider for breakfast, it was the one to choose. It was actually very delicious.

And the finale: The Sidra de Nava. I chose this one because it is a cider made in the Spanish style by Virtue Ciders, and I had read that Spanish ciders are pretty important in the cider world. I don’t know if it was just this one, but Billy, Chrissy and I did not enjoy it. It was too – astringent? I think Chrissy said it best when she said it smelled like nail polish remover. We even checked the bottle to see if had expired, as the three of us could not even drink it. Devin however liked it, but it was not a favorite. We will probably seek out a different version one day, hopefully an actual Spanish import to compare it too, but perhaps our palettes are just not ready.

We had so much fun, and we all felt so much more relaxed than we had felt in weeks. We plan on doing another tasting this next weekend, this time with craft beer. It should be interesting, especially since I am not a big beer drinker.

If you are at all interested in reading about cider, I highly recommend reading The Cider Revival. And then maybe have a little toast to the author over a warm fire on a chilly autumn night, for introducing you to a whole new world.

Currently…August

On August 5, 2020August 5, 2020 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized25 Comments

Today I am linking up with Anne In Residence for her monthly Currently.. linkup. It’s always a fun way to think about what is happening in my world right now. And for now, our world is very small feeling. We have been close to home, venturing out a wee bit more but not really. This time at home or outside has strengthened our connection with the little creatures that share our small square of land. I feel like we are spotting insects and toads and birds so much more often. And for some reason we have millions of grasshoppers in our yard! I am reminded of that summer in the Little House books, the one where the grasshoppers destroyed Plum Creek. When we walk through the yard, we are proceeded by the hops of grasshoppers moving out of our way with every step. Ours aren’t destructive, just everywhere.

Anyway.. here we go!

Choosing: Our curriculum for the year. We have decided that I am going to homeschool Wyatt this year and he is not a kid who will benefit from online distance learning, so I am plunging in on my own. I have done weeks of research and am very excited to start with our choices. We are also choosing paint colors – the big paint begins around here very soon. With all this time and heading into fall we are going to get started on freshening up some of our rooms, and I am so excited! We have made some unconventional choices for our room layouts (turning our dining room into a den and our living room into a dining room/family room) but now we want to change the colors.

Consuming: Cider! It is the summer of cider around here. I am not sure what that is about but I am enjoying all the different summery ciders. Michigan has two wonderful orchards that produce them and while I like Blake’s Rose a lot, the Virtue Ciders are the ones I usually order. I am also enjoying homemade London Fog Lattes! My neighbor surprised me with the mix from Aldi’s and while I wanted to drink it all in one day, I have been good and spaced it out.

Enjoying: So much time with my little family. And I have even been able to enjoy some socially distanced social time with my girl friends, and my family, which has been wonderful. We have been soaking up nature, going on lazy picnics in the park where we set up under a shade tree, take snacks, and read and draw until little man gets tired of it. I am also enjoying watching the few things I managed to plant grow – my pumpkins especially!

Ordering: Umm.. what am I not ordering now? Lol. Recently aside from everyday essentials, I am ordering art supplies, books for Wyatt and I, birthday gifts, and even a few Christmas gifts from one of my favorite artists. I’ve linked a few standout favorites here!