Apple-y goodness!

Moonlight on the Saint John River

I'm back! And it was a wonderful trip :) Thanksgiving dinner with the extended family on Saturday (with veggies that were all grown in my dad's garden - yum!), visiting with old friends at church on Sunday (one of whom is expecting - yay!), seeing for myself that my grammy is okay, having a good visit with all my grandparents, spending time playing games and being silly with my mum and dad, going for a long drive with my brother, eating way too many sweets - life really doesn't get much better than that!

And I even remembered to take the camera :) Which is why I'm able to share my dad's homemade applesauce recipe with you... Here goes...

Start with a whole bunch of apples - preferrably a kind that doesn't winter well or retain its shape when cooked (I think these are Gravensteins).

Then you get to peel them all, and slice them up into a large pot, filling it to the rim (that's my dad doing the slicing - I was the designated peeler).

Now comes the yummy smelling part! Add a bit of water (for his 20L stock pot full of apples Dad added about 5 cups) and cook uncovered on med-high heat, stirring frequently as the apples soften. You won't need to do any mashing, as the apples should almost melt as they cook. You don't want them to boil, but they will simmer and sometimes splatter, so watch out!

Once it has simmered down into the delightful consistency that apple sauce should be, it's time to add the sugar and spice. For this batch, Dad added 2 1/2 cups of sugar, but feel free to decrease that by up to 1 cup if you don't like your sauce to be too sweet. Then he sprinkled in about 2-3 Tbsp of nutmeg (I'm guessing here - according to him it's a 'pinch' of this and a 'dash' of that), and 3-4 Tbsp of Barbour's Mixed Spice. The mixed spice will form into little balls, so you'll have to watch for them and smoosh them flat with your spoon against the side of the pot as you stir.

Pour the apples into the reusable jars of your choice and voila! Your very own homemade applesauce! (Side note: If you're going to use plastic jars, like the peanut butter jars we used, be sure to let your applesauce cool sufficiently so that they won't melt.) You'll need to freeze it, since it's not a sterilized process, but you can thaw a bottle whenever you feel like having some fresh applesauce.