Cellar Speakeasy

We suspect there was a speakeasy in the cellar of our house back when it was built in the 1880's. There's a big wooden bar down there equipped with a glass washer. There were red leather bar stools set up too, when we first toured the house. Dora Fleurant had big parties down there and she cooked big roast and potato dinners and everyone smoked like a chimney. There's a big ventilation fan down here too.

I fermented 3 quarts of apple cider in the boiler room overnight using 1/4 teaspoon of active dry (Fleishmann's) baking yeast (I buy 2 pounds for 4 dollars at BJ's wholesale club). My husband couldn't wait to check on the pressurized plastic seltzer bottles at 4 AM when he got up.

Our boiler room is a laundry room with a clothesline but it is also used for cultivating yogurt, cider and bread dough. We have to hide the bread dough from our crazy orange monkey cat, Sammy. Years ago our dog Honey ate two tennis-ball sized blobs of unbaked dough and got terribly sick to her stomach and drunk. It was horrible to see but luckily she recovered.

The cider is one percent alcohol. Perfect for my speed. One jam jar is like a calming cup of tea.