I am not sure just how many apples I had for I didn't measure them, but I know it was well over a bushel. I used my handy, dandy gadget that peels, cores and slices to prepare the apples, and then cooked them down for applesauce. I found that after the apples were cooled, my blender worked well for getting rid of the chunks. I have one of those food mills with the wooden piece used to squash the food out through the little holes in the metal cone-shaped piece, but I was getting tired and just wanted to finish. I'm glad the blender worked so well for that purpose.
I saved enough slices out for a pan of apple crisp and canned the rest. I wound up with 40 half pints and 18 pints of applesauce. I added no sugar this time. The apples were fairly sweet and both son and I need to watch our sugar intake. If I want a little sweetness I can always sprinkle on a bit of brown sugar and maybe cinnamon for change of pace taste. I may get more apples later to freeze for pies and crisps, but for now, I am pleased with the amount of applesauce I got from that batch of apples.
Posting will probably be light for a few days. When Son came home I had rearranged things to accommodate his stuff and now I am busy putting things back the way they were. When you are old and slow, everything takes time. :) I'm still planning on getting cranberries at the Farmer's Market to make into juice, but think I will hold off until my house is back in order again. It seems easier to do projects when you start out neat and orderly. And considering how this morning my kitchen looked like an apple orchard had exploded in there, I still have a ways to go before I see neat and orderly again!
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I'm always amazed at the amount of food you are able to can and store in what I assume is a very limited amount of space in your apartment. I can a lot, but feel I never have enough available space to store all that I do even though I probably have 4 to 5 times the space you have.
ReplyDeleteApple crisp - yum!
ReplyDeleteJim...You are right. You likely have more space than I do, for my apartment is only 3 rooms, none of which are very large. I probably do things a bit differently than most folks. If the opportunity presents itself in the form of meat on sale or a good price on Farmer's Market produce, I go ahead and get it and can it up. Then I worry about where to store it all. It is important to me that should the need arise, I will be able to feed my kids and grands. My apartment will never make the pages of "House Beautiful," what with 2 large shelving units in my bedroom for the canned food and another smaller unit stuck behind the door for the dehydrated food. And a fairly large closet for buckets of flour, sugar and shelves for other staples. It will help now that my son has moved into the apartment next door and he can store some of the overflow. I guess this is what I am supposed to be doing, for it all seems to work out. :)
ReplyDeleteGorges...It was good. I might have to get more apples just so I can make another pan full. :)
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about neat and orderly, Vicki. My kitchen has been a busy disaster zone lately and will be again tomorrow when I butcher and can about a dozen chickens. Have fun with your rearranging, it's always nice to get things back to the way you like them. I will be interested in hearing how you make cranberry juice.
ReplyDeleteFern
Oh Lordy, Fern. You are an ambitious lady. I remember the chicken butchering days of years gone by! It is a lot of work, but oh so nice to have the canned chicken on the shelves. I use more canned chicken and turkey than any other meat.
ReplyDeleteMy son was no trouble at all to have here, but it is nice to be able to get back to where I can find what I want again. Things have been sort of haphazardly put away and now it is time to get organized again so I know what I have and what I need to stock.
I get my cranberries at the Farmer's Market and if memory serves (it doesn't, always :) the cheapest way to buy is in 25 lb. boxes. They are beautiful and make those in the grocery look like garbage. I will get 2 boxes for juice. I still have lots of cranberry sauce on the shelves. I did read about canning whole berries and I may try that as well. Making juice is easy but time consuming. I will post my recipe when I get to making it.
Applesauce....it was one of my favorites growing up. For some reason it one of those foods that you ate alot and now not so much. My GS Sammy loves it too. My wife would buy little squeezer packs and Sam would blow through it all in two days. We have apple orchards all around us and we never go pick up some....strange.
ReplyDeleteRob...Seems like applesauce is one of those foods that nearly everyone likes. Especially the kids. I like the homemade better than the store bought. Has more flavor. These apples were sweet enough on their own so I didn't need to add sugar, which is a good thing for us diabetics.
ReplyDelete