Apples

For so many years in the past The Mister and I made large batches of applesauce for the freezer. He would cut them in quarters, I would core and cut them into pieces and put them in the large kettle. It took us all morning. Then they were cooked down and mashed until I deemed the consistency was perfect. The kettle was brought to the counter and the OLD Foley Food Mill was attached. As I ladled the hot stew into the mill, The Mister did the cranking. When the bowl under the mill was full, it was poured into another very large container until the milling and cranking and ladling and pouring was finally finished. A touch of cinnamon and nutmeg was added. The skins left on always made our applesauce be very pink in color and the flavor was outstanding. The resulting sauce was then ladled into jars and containers and two bowlfuls were saved out for us to have later when still warm. Cleaning up was my responsibility, but I never could have cut and milled so many apples by myself. We did a couple of batches every year!

This year I am just eating one a day and dehydrating the rest. No more applesauce. I do NOT use a corer but just my handy sharp knives. (Not as much waste.) The day has come to back off and it really is OK. Time moves on. 

Well that was only four and I have EIGHT more of these larger Cortlands to process! I shall finish this project in two more days. 

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A Dozen Galas Down

...and eleven Honey Crisps to go .....

 I processed four Galas a day for three days.  Remember I'm not young and agile now! These old hands still work but slowly. I pare by hand. Those automatic peelers take way too much meat from the skins and insides to suit me and I much prefer my method. I can sit and actually enjoy the work. It doesn't get overwhelming if I just do a few every day rather than dedicate the entire day to apples!

So here are the results. One pouch of dehydrated slices will be the correct amount for one large pie! Great pie, too!

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Golly, it sure smells good in here!  I think perhaps a pie will soon be on the menu - and also an apple crisp. That oughta use up the Honey Crisps and then another trip to the orchard will be necessary! There will later be apple bread, apple muffins, apple dumplings and more. We'll end the season with applesauce, naturally. Lots of applesauce.

Kitchen Projects

This morning the green beans were blanched, cooled, cut and frozen. The beets were cooked, skins slipped, bagged individually and then all into another bag and frozen. (I already have canned pickled beets on hand.) This afternoon I prepared a few peaches for dehydration. There are four trays full and they will dehydrate overnight. Thank goodness these are freestones and the skins just peeled away easily without blanching or paring. Hopefully the dehydration will go well. It will be an overnight process and perhaps will even continue during the day tomorrow.

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The 36" fluorescent tube over my stove had to be replaced this morning as it suddenly went out during use. The Mister ran to town for a replacement right away. This was an unforeseen cost of $10.05 and it was the only one the True Value store had. I was always told to expect the un-expected and accept it. Oh well...

Tune in tomorrow for results of the dehydration of Loring peaches.

No Canning or Baking Today

Today's project is just cutting apples into slices to dehydrate. It's a "hands-on" process and is calming and relaxing. The quality and flavor can be better than any you have ever purchased. Some people have a corer. I don't. Neither do I have a mechanical apple peeler. I wash them then hand peel, cut into quarters, core, slice, and place pieces on an old plastic window screen that has broken. Nothing is sprinkled over them. I then place the screen pieces on cups to elevate for top and bottom air circulation and they dry in front of the gas heater. In about 3 days they will be absolutely dry and then I'll bag and seal them to use another time. They are excellent as snacks, and can be easily hydrated back for baking. The photos you see here are a total of only seven medium sized apples! Wow! I have more work ahead! 

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I used to string them and hang from the beams but this method is easier. I like easy. My dried apple slices will retain their flavor for about 9 months but they never last that long! They will be stored in a cool and dark place. By the way, I had to slap busy fingers that were picking pieces from my work area and I doled out to the beggar his own undried samples.