Around Abbys Table - Making Applesauce Like Grandma


Description: This years applesauce is a pretty redish-pink. The color is caused by cooking the apples with their deep red peel on.

Around Abby's Table

Smelling Memories - Making Applesauce Like Grandma

Big juicy red apples ready to be cut and cored...

Every time I cook apples the house is filled with the sweetest smell. It just feels more like home when I can smell apples cooking. I get the most warm and cozy feeling. Safe and happy, a kid again, just waiting for a snack. Apples are always a favorite, whether they are sliced with peanut-butter, baked with cinnamon and sugar, or turned into applesauce. There is nothing like a bite fresh out of the pot - still steaming - applesauce. I can smell it right now just thinking about it. The sweetness of the apples and the earthiness of the cinnamon.

I enjoy cooking, it is not just another chore (most days) for me, but something that brings me joy. My mom is a wonderful cook, both of my grandmas were outstanding cooks. When I am in the kitchen I feel closer to them. The smell of food cooking is the happiest smell, and can bring all sorts of memories flooding into my mind. I also enjoy fresh food. I know spots where wild plums, berries, and asparagus grow. I frequent farm markets in season, and buy fruit (from chilies to peaches) by the boxes. I even keep a garden in my back yard. Knowing how to preserve these foods makes for yummy smells coming from my kitchen year round.

One of the easiest things to make is applesauce. No, really it is super easy!! In years past we have gone on apple picking trips, or traded pears off of our tree for apples off of the neighbor's tree. This year I bought a box of Johnathan Apples from Hanagan's Farm Market. No matter where or how you get your apples the steps are all the same.

How to Make Applesauce

Step by Step 

  1. Wash you hands!

  2. Wash your apples.

  3. Cut apples in to quarters and take the core out.

  4. Place in water and lemon juice.

      • This keeps the apples from browning.

  1. Put apples into a sauce pan. I fill a nine-quart pan to the top.

      • I find this makes about three and a half quarts of applesauce, or about seven pints.

  1. I add about a half of a cup of apple juice and two cups of sugar.

      • This is where cinnamon is added if used.

  1. Cook the apples, on high-medium heat, until they can be mashed. Stir the apples.

  2. Put the cooked apples in the blender and blend until smooth.

  3. Pour through sieve. This removes the skin and any core that was left.

  4. Pour the hot applesauce into hot jars you want to store the it in, these can be any size you wish.

  5. Process the jars of applesauce according to the “Ball Bible” for your elevation and the size of jars you are using.

  6. Enjoy!

Apples ready for the blender!

 

Using my Great Grandma's one handled rolling pin to mash the apples through my grandma's sieve.

What goodness a box of apples can turn into!

Around Abbys Table Applesauce seconews.org

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