applesauce time 2012

I feel as if my life has suddenly woken up to fall. It was like I was in some type of strange hibernation mode during the extreme heat, but now that is cooling off things have suddenly gotten interesting...and busy. So busy that I have failed to blog about any of it.

Every spring, I find myself dreaming of canning season as I delicately plant all of my hope in the ground.

And then fall comes and suddenly canning needs to happen at very inconvenient times. Don't those apples know that all I want to do on the weekends is relax?

Apparently not (and thus the blog gets neglected).

Thankfully, my mother was here and was able to help me champ out 6 freezer pints, 6 quart jars and 20 pint jars. It took all Saturday afternoon, but it needed to be done. And I know my winter self will be very grateful for these goodies.

But since I am splitting these with my sister (and the fact that an apple thief - probably an opossum - stole a 3rd of our 1st box), I feel this pressure to do even more...

Oh man. I don't know if I have enough energy for that.

But while I wrestle with that, I will share the easy instructions of how to can and/or freeze applesauce. (However, out of the canning I do, applesauce is probably the most time consuming. I recommend having a buddy to help you, or several).

1. Rinse apples.

2. Core apples (leaving the skins on them).

3. Cook apples in a small amount of water until soft. (My mother likes to use the lid of a large dutch oven to measure how much water she puts in. She usually fills up the lid 1/3rd of the way).

4. Stir the apples occasional to keep from burning

5. Once apples are soft, run through a mill or strainer and disregard the peels.

If freezing: ladle into airtight containers, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Allow to cool before putting the lids on. Freeze.

If canning: process in glass jars (leaving 1/2 inch headspace) in a bowling water bath for 20 minutes.

Enjoy during the winter.