Apples

I wasn't much of a fan of applesauce until I made it myself. It has been an amazing addition to our winter meals and tastes nothing like that stuff you buy in the store. These are the four very special cans of chunky cinnamon applesauce I made (the chunky is a little more work because you have to peel the apples). We just finished off the last one the other night, so sad. We still have regular applesauce and applebutter in the pantry though to get us thru the rest of the winter.

Making and preserving applesauce is so easy! If I can do it in an outdoor kitchen while living in a camper trailer with three kids, you can too!! I promised I'd show you how so here it is:

First gather your supplies:

*apples - its good to have a mixture of different apples, some sweet and some tart.

*sugar and cinnamon and spices
*canning jars and new lids - you can't reuse the lids, just the bands.
*water bath canner*big pot for sterilizing jars*pot for sterilizing lids
*jar lifter, hot pads, thermometer and timer, a magnetic wand to pick up the lids is helpful too.
*crock pot or two
*food mill

Cook up the apples. I used a mix of apples from the farm, which were very tart, and some big sweet apples from Rich's Grandad's orchard. We buy their seconds for applesauce. They are much cheaper, they are just irregular in shape or have some blemishes.

I love using the slow cooker and letting them cook on low over night.

Next, run the apples thru the food mill to get out all the skins.

then add your cinnamon and sugar for applesauce, and nutmeg and allspice for apple butter. Cook a little longer then can it!

Here's a good article with step by step canning instructions.

I am looking forward to lot's more preserving this growing season! I was thinking it would be very fun to form a local canning co-op. We could get together and bring all our produce and work together. We could have a pickle party when the cucumbers start coming in. When the peaches are ripe we could get together and peel peaches together, making a very monotonous task a little more fun. What do you think?