Wow! We're blogging!

Heidi,

The List goes online - how exciting! I'm so glad you took the initiative to get this up-and-running! It was great to review the list again -- that was certainly an epic Starbucks conversation, wasn't it?

So far, I have gotten only one item "checked off" on the list :

In October, I went with my sister-in-law, Kendra, and her friend, Mary, to a co-op farm out near Puyallup, WA. We walked out to the small apple orchard and hand-picked our apples. After we washed our apples in a tub of water and bleach (and then rinsed them, don't worry!) we stood in line to have the apples crushed and then pressed. I'm not sure if it counts as cheating, but the "crushing apparatus" was run by a small generator. I did, however, turn the hand-crank on the presser, so it was close to 100% Pioneer-Woman approved. The cider was really wonderful -- it was an auspicious start to the whole List process.

Let's see -- lessons learned from my cider-making experience:

Lesson 1: Bring a camera if you're going to work on something on The List. I hadn't expected that we were going to do this, so not only did I leave the camera at home but also I was definitely NOT dressed for apple picking -- I was wearing brand new, suede boots and the most expensive pair of jeans I've ever bought.

Which leads us to:

Lesson no. 2: Dress appropriately. I was such a dork when we were rinsing the apples in the bleach-and-water solution... I was keeping my body as far away from the tub as possible so I wouldn't splash bleach on my only pair of "cute" jeans and my new boots. I was totally the girl that I would normally be mocking mercilessly! Karma, she is a bee-yotch.

It was a ton of fun, though. And it compelled me to research a question that has bugged me every fall since I was old enough to have tea parties with the fresh-squeezed cider that my dad would bring home:

What, exactly, is the difference between apple cider and apple juice??

The answer here: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_048.html I have no idea how to embed a link, etc. I promise I'll learn soon.

Ok, baby girl is not napping and is hollering "Mommy, where are you??" via the monitor airwaves so it's time to remove my bright and shiny new "blogger" hat and put back on my slightly dingy (and strangely sticky) "Mommy" hat.

Talk to you later!

Love and miss ya,
Kat