Adventures in Applesauce

Step 1. Go get apples. This year we went to Ringing hill, they sell out of the back of the storage facility. You can watch them sort apples and see where they store them. The children like the stuffed deer and moose on the wall. I got 2 bushels of MacIntosh, 2 bushels of Smokehouse, and one bushel of Golden Delicious.Step 2. Tuesday morning wake up early and get everything set up! I brought the apples in from the garage and lined them up. Its always nice to know how much more you have to do. This is when the children nibble on fresh apples all morning for breakfast. They are still excited about making sauce. Step 3. Wash the jars for filling later. I think I only ran two loads, a dishwasher sure holds a lot of jars!
Step 4. Wash the apples! This is where I mix the varieties together.
This picture is out of order but Gwen could not leave the applesauce alone! I caught her a couple of times trying to lick the bowl!
Step 5. Cut the apples into quarters removing the stems. The strainer takes care of the rest! Both Miles and Owen were excited to be able to use the knife this year. They did a great job helping with this step.

Step 6. Fill stock pot with cut apples and about 1 cup water. Cook until mushy, careful not to burn the bottom of your pot. I had blisters on my hands at the end of the day from stiring.
Step 7. This is the strainer. On one side is the yummy sauce and on the other is the peel and seeds. I usually send this through anoth 2 times to get all the good stuff out.



Notice Gwen had lost her clothes by now. She ate bowl after bowl of sauce.

Fiona helping me with push the apples into the strainer.
Owen taking his turn, he is very good at turning the crank. Step 8. Fill the jars with sauce, wipe clean the rims and then process. this is also where you could freeze instead, but I would have to buy another freezer for that!
Step 9. Ahhhh its done and it only took 16 hours with the children helping and Gwen getting into everything and refusing to nap, she wanted to "help". All in all a good day. Each year just gets easier and each year they children are able to help a little more. They still were tired of helping after 8 hours.
I made 78 quarts this year. I hope it lasts until the next time!