Thursday, October 03, 2013

The Making of Applesauce in Pictures







Mom and I did applesauce for the very first time (ie. in large quantities) this season. Using McIntosh, Jonathan, and Gala apples, we cut up as many would fit into our largest pan and cooked them until they went down to about the middle of the pan: mostly "mush" and peelings. I felt like Felicity Merriman when she was stirring her apple butter to prevent scorching. (Anyone else read the Pleasant Company/American Girl doll books as a child?)

I fed them through our new-to-us Victorio machine, and out came beautiful sauce. When our largest stainless steel bowl was full (containing about 4 quarts of sauce), I added just over 1/4 cup of sugar to make it slightly sweetened. I wonder what using honey would have been like? Oh well, for that much sauce and so little sugar per serving, I'm not worried. :)

We ended up with exactly 13 quarts for the freezer. Now that we've done applesauce, maybe next year we'll be brave and "put up" other sauced fruit or vegetables!

5 comments:

Sarah said...

Cheri,

Your applesauce looks marvelous! My mom and I have been thinking of making applesauce this year, it has been such a great year for apples. I loved the American Girl books too as a youngster. I would re-read many of the books over and over. : )

May you have a blessed day!

-Sarah

Anonymous said...

Great fun! It looks a tiny bit like our house last October, only we did 40-some quarts, with the corresponding mountain of apples. Our favorite apples are Empires, and we add a little cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg... no sugar.

I think the Felicity books were my favorites as a little girl. Their historicity is now significantly questionable, but they were pleasant entertainment at the time. :)

Megan said...

I'm actually making applesauce as I'm reading this!! I loved the Felicity books!

Emily said...

Oops! The comment from Megan was supposed to be from Me! My sister was signed in and I didn't know it.

Cheri said...

What fun it was to read these! Thanks to all who commented, and I hope everyone's applesauce making goes well! :)