m3: moonshine

last weekend's bride + groom received a very special wedding gift.

the bride grew up joining her dad at an annual car show held at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, which as i understand it, is pretty much an auto-themed swap meet. she + her dad would spend hours tending their "booth" at the track swapping one thing for another, and mostly people watching. over the years they became pals with their regular neighbors, some of whom are moonshine afficianados. when they found out about the engagement, they sent a special treat to the bride-to-be.

[apple pie moonshine with cinnamon stick]

not until the wedding day did she open it. while this series focuses on the many uses of the mason jar itself, lest we forget the utility of the mason jar box. these folks wrapped the special gift in a de-constructed mason jar case.

[mason jar box "giftwrap"]

[father of the bride + family checking out the goods]

the flavor was revealed: apple pie.

apple pie = danger. 

we became keepers o' the moonshine + were responsible for making sure it arrived safely at the after-party. let me just tell you,  this stuff tastes just like yo mama's apple pie. it didn't burn. it went down smoooooooooooooooooth. 

according to the bride's little bro, it's basically apple pie ingredients in a jar with a healthy helping of pure grain alcohol.

from what i understand, you can make moonshine in any flavor you wish. the basic instructions:

1. place fruit in a jar [for lemonade flavor, you'd use lemons. for apple pie, you'd use apples. etc]

2. add sugar + other seasonings [for apple pie, nutmeg, cinnamon, etc.]

3. fill the mason jar with pure grain alcohol.

4. close the jar. 

5. bury the jar in the ground, or store in a cool dry place.

6. once the fruit has disintegrated, it's ready to drink. if you use a cinnamon stick or similar hardy spice, it may not fully disintegrate. that's ok.

7. shake it up + pour. there's some discrepancy as to whether it should be chilled, served over ice, or consumed at room temperature. that's a battle i'm not getting in the middle of.

if you attempt to try your own, i'm sure you can find plenty of recipes on the world wide web. of course, i don't necessarily endorse any illegal behavior. but, if moonshine-running is what led to the wildly successful sport of NASCAR, they apparently were doing something right.