#17. Make Applesauce...

...with the apples from #16 and can it for winter.

Check.

At 8PM, I decided it would be a good time to start making and canning applesauce. My advice to you would be to start canning things earlier than 8PM.

Earlier in the week, I hid a bunch of apples from my apple-eating-monster-head husband. This man has been eating about four apples a day. On average. Sometimes more. So I knew I had to do something before #17 disappeared forever from my list.

When I told him I was going to make applesauce this weekend, he said, "I don't think we have enough apples for that anymore, babe." But I did cause I'm a girl.





So I washed my jars and lids, stuck the jars in the oven and the lids in simmering water, started boiling my huge pot of water, and made my applesauce. Casy helped me core a little over 6 pounds of apples and we tossed them into a big pot with a tablespoon of lemon juice for every pound of apples. We left the skins on...I read somewhere that they give your sauce good color.

(I should say before I go any further that this is all based on the applesauce recipe from Williams-Sonoma The Art of Preserving. I decided to use less sugar and cinnamon, but the basic recipe came from here. I can also highly recommend the book in general...it's a good one to have on hand for all kinds of preserving recipes and instruction. Ours was a library find, but I have a feeling it'll work itself into our collection eventually.)


I added about 6 tsp. of sugar and about a half cup of water to the mix, stirred it all up, and brought everything to a boil. Then I covered it and let simmer for 20 minutes, stirring every now and again.

When I had nothing left but apple mush, I put everything through a ricer, removing the skins, added some cinnamon, and reheated the applesauce on the stovetop. And then I canned, boiling my filled jars for 20 minutes in their huge pot of boiling water.

I heard them pop throughout the night (because I started at 8PM) and it made me smile.

Love, T.