Apple Harvest

Pretty Fuji apple

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away", it's been said... In that case, we should be really healthy around here! We have an abundance of apples right now, since our new home has two apple trees in the backyard. The smaller tree, the Fuji has been picked and clean for a few weeks. The Red Delicious tree in the corner, is bigger and loaded with apples right now. The apples are not all perfect, since we didn't have a chance to have the trees sprayed. So the apples are pretty good, most of them have worm holes in them, though. So we are biting into them carefully! But most of them still have good parts, so they are PERFECT for applesauce!

A perfect Fuji apple with the tree in the background.

Rebekah holds a Red Delicious apple

That is exactly what we have been doing! I remember my Mom and Grandma making applesauce when I was a kid, too, because we had apple trees at our old house in Durango. We had a Red Delicious tree there, and a Jonathan. My mom made lots of applesauce, and I remember my Grandma Mulder could peel an apple in one big long string. I try to do that now, it is not so easy! :-D

"Trash" bin, corer/slicer on counter, apples being sliced...

Applesauce really is very easy to make. My mom didn't even peel the apples, unless there were bad spots. (This made the applesauce more pink.) We have been peeling ours, and then using our apple corer/ slicer from Pampered Chef. That is the easiest way to slice the apples, if there are not LOTS of bad spots. If there are a few bad spots, you can cut them out in the slices just by seeing them. If you don't have a handy corer/ slicer, then just cut them open by hand and core/ slice them.

You can place the apples in a large pan on the stove, which is the best way. Last night we tried making applesauce in our crock pot all night and it turned out ok! I have some in the crockpot again today, it makes the house smell sooo good! You can almost taste the apple pie in the air!

Some peeled, cored, sliced apples in the crockpot...

Once you have a large panful, add a splash of lemon juice (to keep them from turning brown),  turn on your stove and cook them for many hours, like all day. Stir the apple mixture occasionally. As they cook, they will reduce down and get soft. You do not have to add water, unless you want to blend the cooked apple mixture to smoother applesauce. My way will make chunky applesauce. When the apples are soft after 8 hours or so, just mash them with a potato type of masher. That's it! You can put it in your refrigerator to save, or in the freezer.

Also, if you like the applesauce sweeter, add a cup or two of sugar to the mixture. We like ours chunky and natural here! Our kids love to eat applesauce, so it is really nice to be able to make some for FREE! You know this makes my frugal, Dutch heart happy! :-D

If you have lots of apples and don't want to make applesauce, you can also core and slice them for apple pie, apple crisp or apple butter. Apple butter is usually a canned or freezer type of jam, and is really yummy too! I may need to make some of that next...