So
last postI talked about our abundance of APPLES. We spent much of the long weekend
cooking up an apple storm in our little kitchen! There were apple pancakes on
Saturday morning and baked apples for dessert on Saturday night. On Sunday, we
canned five quarts of spiced apples and 5 quarts of applesauce. On Monday, we
made up another batch of applesauce (about 7 quarts!) to cook down to apple
butter. This is where my apple cooking began to go awry. See, making apple butter is a
time-consuming process, and it can’t really be rushed. You must be patient, and
let the applesauce cook down slowly, over low heat, stirring often, until it turns into dark, sweet, delicious apple butter. It’s hard to estimate how long a batch of apple
butter will take to cook, as there are many factors involved. The moisture
content of the apples, the size of the batch, the humidity in the air, even the pot you use to cook it can make a difference.
Yesterday, I greatly underestimated the time it would take to finish a batch. I
didn’t start until mid-afternoon, which was my first mistake. Afternoon became evening, and it still wasn’t
finished. I grew tired, and impatient. I finally realized that at the rate it was going, it was still going to need a couple more hours, so I decided to refrigerate everything and finish it up in the
morning. Exhausted and cranky, I grabbed my potholders and picked up the pot to move it. Then, I lost
my grip on the pot, spilling boiling hot almost-apple-butter down my left thigh
and my right hand. Fortunately, I was right next to the sink and was able to
get to cold water quickly, but I ended up with some nasty 2nd degree burns over a good
portion of my thigh, and a small blister on my hand. But given just how hot
apple butter is when it’s cooking, I realize that it could have been much worse. Most of all, I was very annoyed at the loss
of about 1/3 of a pot of almost-apple-butter! The family heard the commotion
and came to my rescue… the kids were reassured that all was well and sent back
to bed, and The Man cleaned up all the spilled mess and got me some aloe from
our plant on the window sill, Bless him. The lesson to be learned, here: Don’t try to rush your
apple butter! And with that… here is a recipe for applesauce, then… apple
butter!
Mama’s Apple
Sauce
Note: There
are no measurements for this recipe, as you can use it to make big or small batches,
depending on how many apples you have on hand! Just pick a pot big enough for the
amount of apples you wish to use, and go from there.
Start by
cutting up your apples. Core and slice them, but do not peel them. You can do
this by hand, but for a large batch you might want to use one of
these or
oneof these. Squeeze some lemon juice over your cut apples. For large batches, I
squeeze a little on as I go, so they don’t turn all brown before I finish
cutting them up. Next, put about a half inch or so of apple cider, apple juice
or water into the bottom of your pot, then add your apples. You can fill the
pot right up to the top with cut apples, as they will very quickly start to
break down as they’re cooked. A full pot of apples will yield ½ to ¾ of a pot
of applesauce. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring now and then, until the
apples are nice and soft. Next, run the sauce through a food mill (I use an old
fashioned
foley mill) then return to the pot. You can add sugar
or spices to taste, if you wish, or just leave as is. At this point, you can either store
your applesauce in the fridge, or can it (see note at the end of this post). Or…
you can follow the next recipe, and turn it into Apple Butter!
Mama’s Apple Butter
Before you
begin, make sure to set aside plenty of time for this to simmer down. You can
expect it to take anywhere from 3 to 10 hours, depending on how much you’re
making, and how humid it is. On humid, rainy days it will take longer to boil
down than on dry days. Unless you’re only making a small batch, I’d say it’s
best to start this in the morning. If you start in the morning making the applesauce, you can just keep going from there, or you can make your applesauce one day, then store it in the
fridge overnight and make your apple butter the next day.
To begin…
pour your applesauce into a big, uncovered pot (if it’s not there, already!)
and set it over low heat. If you’re starting with refrigerated applesauce,
bring it to a simmer over medium heat first, then turn it down to low. Just allow
the sauce to simmer, stirring every now and then to keep it from sticking or
burning on the bottom. When it starts to
cook down some, I like to add a generous amount of cinnamon, and, depending on
the sweetness of the apples used, maybe a bit of sugar. Keep simmering and
stirring until the sauce turns a dark, mahogany brown and gets nice and thick. It
will reduce in volume by at least half, maybe more, when it’s done. When it
looks done, you can either store it in the fridge, or can it.
A Word About Canning. One of these
days, I will write a post about canning basics. But, for now, I will point you to this website
http://www.canningbasics.com/canning-food.html
which will give you all the basic information you need to start canning.
Happy
Halloween! In honor of this Pumpkin-y day, I decided to share my recipe for easy vegan
pumpkin soup. This is a favorite go-to recipe for this time of year. It’s
perfect for an Autumn Potluck, as it is quick and easy, yet looks and tastes
impressive. I also like to serve it with a salad and some crusty bread for a
quick, satisfying, weeknight dinner. 
