Well hello there! Been a while hasn't it? Life around here has been crazy busy for the past month or so, and it doesn't seem to be slowing down any..especially with the Holidays approaching...I'm not ready fro Christmas to be here!!
With E being in big school now, I feel like the weeks are flashing before my eyes. I keep forgetting that he is 6 years old now. I need for life to tap the brakes just a little:o)
So since things have been a little cray cray around here, I haven't had the chance to blog. I have been taking plenty of pictures, and have plenty to blog about. I just haven't had the time to just sit, and type.
I have a few minutes to myself, so I am taking advantage of that time:o)
Today I wanted to share how to make canned applesauce.
A friend of mine is part of a food co-op, and she always asks if I want to order bulk items. Um, yes please:o)
These apples were super delish and super cheap! But there was no way we could eat a bushel of apples, so I put a few to the side, and turned the rest into applesauce.
This is super easy, and anyone can do this...I promise!
I searched online for different techniques, and the one I found most to my liking was the one from pickyourown.org. Definitely check out this website for full details.
I had to make a few changes because I didn't have the same materials that they did, but I made do with what I had.
I started with a half bushel of apples. I have no idea what these apples are called:o) (If you check the blog above, they give several different types of apples that you can use.)
I didn't have a grinder attachment on my Kitchenaid mixer, so I peeled the apples, and then I used an apple corer doo-dad.
And this is what I ended up with.
I added an inch of water (which was too much) into the bottom of a 12 qt. stock pot. I got mine from Walmart for $8.95
Once the apples were soft from cooking, I placed small batches into my food processor and pureed them, making sure to use a slotted spoon. You could probably do this in your blender as well.
I poured each batch into a large bowl, and covered to trap the heat.
Once all of the apples had been pureed, I added 2 cups of white sugar to the batch. Adding the sugar is definitely optional.
I did a mix-match of pint and quart sized jars. The website I referred to suggested that you cook the pints for 15 minutes in the canner, and 20 minutes for the quarts...I just did 20 minutes for the whole batch, to save myself the trouble.
After the 20 minutes, they were ready to come out of their bath and cool. The tops popped almost immediately after coming out of the canner. That "pop" was definitely music to my ears because it meant I did it right:o)
I placed the jars on a towel to cool, and loosed the lids so that they wouldn't rust shut.
Start to finish, it took 2 hours to make applesauce. If you had the proper kitchen tools, you would most definitely get done sooner:o)
I was so excited when I got done! I felt all kinds of domestic:o)
If you have any questions about any of the steps, I will do my very best to answer them. Your best bet though, would be to click on the link from above:o)
Happy Monday!
