Weird Foods III: Alpine Spiced Apple Cider

This product is a perfect example of the numerous seasonal treats available around this time of year. That's something I really like about the US. There is much more seasonal variation in the products available at the grocery store. And I'm not just talking about produce; I mean the packaged, non-perishable goods as well. This happens a bit in Aus (say, around Easter or Christmas), but the extent here is much greater.

Anyway, Spiced Apple Cider is purchased as a powder. It's mainly sugar, malic acid (a natural component of apples) and apple juice solids.

 

The powder resembles Ovaltine.

And when you dissolve it in boiling water, it makes a delicious hot apple cider.

 It's hard to find this kind of thing in Australia, which is sad, because I'm quite a fan of it.

Two Minnesotan Ecotypes

I have observed two distinct Minnesotan 'ecotypes'.

First there is the Hibernating Minnesotan. This type of Minnesotan lives for the warmer months (June-October this year) and spends the remaining months avoiding the outside world as much as possible. For this ecotype, winter consists largely of moving as quickly as possible between sources of warmth. Winter is something to be avoided and endured until Spring returns.

The second ecotype is the Psychrophilic Minnesotan. This Minnesotan embraces the cold, the snow, the ice and everything that goes along with them. For this ecotype, the cold months, particularly the middle of winter, are the perfect time to get outdoors. They love to get out their thick coat that is rated down to -40. Common activities include ice-fishing, skiing, hunting, ice-skating, and riding snow mobiles. The committed Psychrophilic Minnesotan will even construct an ice-house in the middle of frozen lakes, so they can spend as much time as possible away from their homes.

I'm yet to decide which ecotype I'm going to be.