Applesauce

Last year I had a plethora of apples left over from apple picking, so I decided to make applesauce and can what I hadn't eaten.  Oh, the brilliant ideas you get while pregnant!  I bought all the equipment and made the applesauce.  I ended up with 6 large jars of applesauce, barely enough to get passed around to the family.  This year we got a bushel of apples, I figured I would use small jars to make the applesauce go a little further.  What I didn't count on was the fact that Pookie is allergic to apples, which means that I can't eat apples.  This is very sad.  I rather enjoy apples and I love applesauce!  Do to the fact that only a few of the apples were eaten, I had a TON of apples to make sauce with.  So many apples in fact, I was able to make three different versions.

waiting to be sliced up

all the cores and peels

My little "helper"

before

after

water bath

lids

versions 2 & 3

My mom wasn't thrilled with the amount of spice in last years version, so I made a mild one for her.  Then Rob's grandpa can't have sugar, so I made a plain one. 

Filling the large pot for the water bath was entertaining.  I can't fit in in the sink, so I have to fill a jug with water and dump it into the pot.  It was quite a juggle at the end, because everything needs to remain hot for everything to work, and only two of the burners work on the stove-top.  Let's just say I got very creative.  Rob was wonderful at keeping Pookie occupied while I was busy.  Especially considering the entire process took so long.  Rob was very thoughtful and suggested that we order out for dinner that night.  A suggestion that I eagerly agreed with!  I completely underestimated the time that this would take.  I kind of forgot that I twice as many apples from the year before!  The good news is, I have enough to spread around this year!