Making Applesauce!

Today, I made up a couple of gallons of applesauce from our

Transparent Apples.

These are the first of our apples to ripen, here on the farm, and this is my

favorite way to eat them!

Start with washing, quartering and removing the

stems and cores from the apples.

Place your apples in a pan with a small amount of water

in the bottom, so apples don't scorch.

(Stock pot full of apples and about 1 inch of water. We like our sauce thin and

runny. If you like yours thicker, use less water, but watch carefully when cooking

so it doesn't scorch.)

Let apples simmer in the water and stir occasionally.
Cook until soft on medium/low heat.
This only takes about 15-20 minutes.

When soft, put apples and juice through a strainer/sieve.

Using the jelly strainer removes the skins and any

core/seeds that you missed.

(These apples don't make chunky sauce so we do it this way.

Another time I will make chunky sauce with different apples.)

When you have sieved all your apples and the sauce is still hot,

now is the time to sweeten, if you like.

The hot sauce dissolves the sugar.

I use organic sugar. Sometimes I leave it unsweetened if I

am going to use it in a recipe, but it is just too tart

for plain eating, for my taste, without being sweetened.

I add Cinnamon sometimes.

Cinnamon adds a darker color. (Applesauce will darken anyway

as it cools and is exposed to air ~ just like cut apples.)

Now you are ready to can or freeze your sauce.

I prefer to freeze mine because I have had trouble in the past, when

I can it, with the sauce unsealing half way through the year!

So, to make sure I don't loose any of this golden delight,

I freeze it in glass quart jars.

My favorite way to eat it, however, is hot from the pot!

And even sweeter when eaten from a vintage

Shenango Sauce Bowl on Auntie Emma's

vintage picnic table cloth! ;~P

(There's a bowl waiting for you, Michele!)

(Coming next time ~ Victorian Applesauce Cake)