A few weeks ago, I took the kids up to our favorite apple picking orchard - Beardsley Cider Mill and Apple Orchard - hurrying to get there before the orchards closed at 5:00 p.m.
When we got there, we discovered that I hadn't read the website closely enough. The store is open daily until 5:30, but the apple orchards are only open on the weekends.
So we had a good laugh, and spent our time in the store drinking fresh hot cider, buying apple cider doughnuts, apple pies and more.
Since we came to pick apples, we each chose a peck of apples from the store's display bushels filled with apples the owners had previously picked.
Four pecks a bushel makes, or so I believe. We were all ready to begin the annual ritual of making apple butter.
Put them in some very huge pots to cook;
Soon all the apples were cooked. The house smelled heavenly.
A bushel of cooked apples was passed little by little through the Foley food mill.
And four pots of applesauce were set to boil for hours and hours (actually days). I cook them over medium heat stirring every five minutes - so this is a slow laborious process.
Then I added the rest of the ingredients from the recipe and the spices that turn the applesauce into apple butter: cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. Now the house really smelled delicious.
Now each pot was a golden brown. It was just a matter of cooking down the spiced applesauce until it was thick and rich.
Finally, after a few days of cooking and stirring and stirring and cooking, the apple butter was complete. I cleaned and sterilized the Mason jars, filled each one with apple butter, and sealed them tight in boiling water according to the canning instructions. I had such a bounty that this year I'll have more than enough apple butter to last the season.
The best part of all? Primogeniture actually tried and liked apple butter for the very first time. Secundogeniture and I have been fans for a long time. Now we've brought one more into the fold. Life is good. We love to eat it on fresh baked bread, English muffins, heck, just about anything!
Hm.
Posted by: Adam | Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 19:43
Yes, but did you realize that this makes less for you and secundogeniture?
Apple butter, pumpkin butter, pear butter --- it's ALL good and one of the best things about fall.
Have you ever tried apple butter on an apple? YUMMY!
Posted by: Dee | Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 17:10
Apple butter homemade? WHat don't you do my friend.??? amazing. So glad both the boys enjoy it now!! I can imagine it on sourdough toast...
Posted by: kathy b | Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 16:39
Apple Butter is the best! It does take forever, but oh my, the pay off is worth it. Enjoy!
Posted by: Nancy | Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 15:20
Yum!!! We just discovered honey crisp apples!!
Posted by: Denise | Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 14:40
what a perfect fall thing to do...i really need to get some cider to make it really feel like fall....maybe some apple butter too. Apple butter doesnt go over well enough in the family to attempt to make my own....but am tempted to try making some apple sauce! Now that hubby has taken over all the cooking - and we are carb counting due to his pre-diabetic diagnosis - I am really missing fall (and mourning winter) baking! Moderation...moderation...
Posted by: danielle | Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 13:18