Apple time!!

Its been a bit of an odd year weather-wise, and with the morning temperature at 9 degrees this morning it felt more like apple harvest time than the calendar says - but I think this is about the earliest I've ever picked apples!!  Last week we were blessed with the offer of a tree full of apples to pick - and after talking my sister-in-law into the joys of home made apple sauce and telling her that she could just come be part of the process at my place rather than having to do it herself, we set off to our friend's place.  It worked out quite nicely, as our friend had her niece there babysitting - who was only too happy to squish some baby cheeks, and our older kids were well entertained in the house as well.  I think the whole picking expedition took less than 2 hours, and pardon the lack of pictures, but we ended up with 2 five gallon pails, a cooler and a laundry basket full of apples - somewhere between 20 and 25 gallons of medium sized sweet crab apples.  The week quickly got busy and we didn't get to process them until saturday - and the day didn't get started as early as we'd hoped either, but by 1pm the first batch was washed and in the steam juicer.

By suppertime we had almost all the apples steamed and sauced - thanks to the handy steam juicer (picked up at MCC for $25) and victorio strainer(courtesy of my MIL's kitchen).  After making a combined supper of pork chops, applesauce (of course) and roasted potatoes for both our families and my FIL (who was helping Trevor haul bales)  we bottled and water bathed 14 quarts of apple sauce and 7 quarts of juice before calling it a night!


If you're wondering why some of those jars have up-side-down lids on them - they're just spacers - I used older rusty lids on top of the good lids so I can still use the old rings that were used with the glass tops on these jars originally - I can't say I'm a fan of the glass tops, because I just don't know how to make sure they're sealed - I sure like my pop-down metal tops :)  I buy enough new lids for all the canning that I might sell, but when I'm doing stuff like applesauce which is just for myself, I like to re-use old stuff :)


 Today I finished up - another 7 quarts of applesauce through the canner, 10 quarts of juice and started two batches of apple butter -
 
Most of the work I've done alone in the kitchen lately has been done with the company of various readers from Librivox.org  - all reading various compositions of  L.M. Montgomery. I must share this as I know I'm not the only one who would this type of company!  Currently I'm listening to Anne of Avonlea.  If you have an Iphone, you can find them through Itunes for free - just search for L M Montgomery.  I need to figure out some other writers to try - they record all old things that are in the public domain, so I'm not terribly familiar with many of the titles. I hope others can enjoy these readings too!

A few years ago I tried to make apple butter using a recipe that I found in one of my mother-in-law's preserving books, but I was not happy with it - it was too spicy and not my favorite for sure.  Last year I decided to make my own recipe after looking around at different ones and here is what I came up with.

Apple Butter

8 Cups Applesauce

1 1/2 Cups Apple juice or cider**

1/2 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar

5 Cups Sugar

1 Cup Maple Syrup

2 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp EACH Ginger, Nutmeg and Allspice

**This amount may be reduced if your apple sauce is not very thick - the applesauce I use is thick enough to hold a spoon upright in it when it is cool - but if yours is more moist, you may want to use 1 or even just 1/2 cup of additional juice, or the cooking down process will take a very long time!

~Mix all ingredients together in the tallest, heaviest bottomed pot you have - I often use my 12Q stock pot for this recipe - because it allows for a large surface area, speeding up the reducing time and is tall enough to prevent splatters, but a good sized dutch oven will do, as long as you use a splatter screen on top - this recipe WILL make a royal mess if you're not careful, but a lid will prevent the liquid from boiling away, so be creative! The splatters will amaze you in how far they can reach and how much they burn (speaking from today's experience!).

~Simmer slowly, stirring often with a long handled utensil, until it reaches the desired consistency - I try to make it like soft jam - but be careful to stir more often and keep the temperature very low as it gets thicker - it will burn! This process will likely take at least 2 hours.

~Prepare and sterilize your jars and lids, heat your canner and then fill the jars.  Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes after the water returns to a boil.  Alternatively, you can just pour it into sterilized jars and refrigerate - it should keep for a couple months, or, if you leave 3/4" or so of headspace, you can freeze in appropriate containers.  Enjoy!

Tastes wonderful on a slice of fresh sourdough bread with a slice of old cheddar on top!  Also make a wonderful gift with a pretty circle of fabric tied on of each jar :)

Time to go stir the apple butter again!  Soon I'll be hearing noises on the baby monitor and my brief period of quiet afternoon will be over - oh how I enjoyed it though!