Monday, October 31, 2011

Eight Hours and 11,397 Apples Later . . .

I decided last night that today was to be The Great Applesauce Making Day . . . finally.

'Twas just me and my audio book and we gave it a good shot.

Amazing that after spending the whole day, there are only eleven quarts of canned applesauce lined up on the counter.

Know what that means? It means I'm gonna have to spend two more full days at this little task in order to have enough quarts put by for this year.

I'm not complaining. Today was a dismal, damp, gray day not conducive to outside chores, I had a small cozy fire crackling in the wood stove and the cooking apple aroma in the house was heavenly. I could think of a lot (A LOT!) worse ways to spend the next couple of days. So bring on those apples, I'll be ready for another go-round tomorrow!

12 comments:

Rebecca Shockley said...

I wish I was doing apples today,and I know I sound like a old crab ,but after 60 some years of trick or treats-it gets old or maybe I'm just getting old but the kids had fun and looked so cute ,have a apple on me!------------------('')

Sparkless said...

Oh YUM! But boy what a lot of work for those jars of sweet heaven!

dr momi said...

You describe....peace. :-)

Trailshome said...

I'm sure it was a joy to have your new kitchen to work in again too. Homemade applesauce is the best!

Saw a tv chef make a simple dessert the other day that I just have to try. She froze applesauce in a baking pan, then used a fork to scrape it up like a slushy, then put a caramel sauce drizzled over the top. It looked delicious, fresh, and very healthy. Simple too.

Mama Pea said...

becky3086 - Thanks!

judy - I'm not a fan of Halloween myself. And I'm not sad that we never get trick or treaters out here.

Sparkless - Wonder if I should invest in an apple peeler?

dr momi - I didn't think of it exactly that way when I wrote it, but thank you, ma'am. That's nice.

Trailshome - It was the first time I canned anything in the new kitchen so I had to figure out the new set up for all the pans, cooling spots, etc. But it was fun.

Mmmmm, Caramel Sauce over apples? What could be better!

Patty said...

Looks wonderful! I have more apple sauce to make as well, but for some reason I've been on a downward spiral lately. Hopefully I'll get more peppy soon - I can't afford to poop out! Too much to do, in so many areas. I did pretty much take this past weekend off though. ;)

Sue said...

I'm glad I'm done with mine. The freezer is full of the stuff and as soon as I'm out of fresh apples , I'll be starting in on it. I never do enough to last the whole year, but it's close enough I guess.
My maillady left a jar in the mailbox the other day that she made with the cinnamon redhots. It was good, but I think I'll keep making it with just cinnamon.....

Jane @ Hard Work Homestead said...

Wow 11,397 apples only makes 11 quarts. That sounds about right ;) I hope no sampling was going on seeing how much work went into it!

And to answer your question from your last post, Yes I got a list of exercises to do for....ever? And watch those 5 gallon buckets. I blame them- they are evil especially filled with water!

Mama Pea said...

Patty - I'm thinking your "downward spiral" is very normal after a period of go, go, going and just working too darn hard for too long a time. I can relate.

Sue - Funny, as I was doing the sauce yesterday, I thought of people who add the redhots to it for zing and color. Since we try to stay natural, I wouldn't do that but I must have been getting some vibrations from that jar your mail lady left for you and it popped into my head! Weird.

Jane - Last night at dinner, hubby asked if we were going to sample the sauce. At that point, there was no way I had a taste for it (!), but I did have a little dish that didn't fit in the last of the quart jars that he had.

P.S. Why do we continue to lug around things that are WAY too heavy for a sensible person to lug around? It's sure not 'cause it feels good!

RuthieJ said...

Looks Yummy! Do you put cinnamon in your applesauce? I've started adding cinnamon red hot candies -- gives it a yummy flavor and lovely pink color.

Erin said...

I bet your house smelled wonderful! What a great way to head into fall & winter, making applesauce in that new kitchen!

Mama Pea said...

RuthieJ - I always put cinnamon in my apple sauce. I also like a touch of cloves and nutmeg, but hubby prefers just cinnamon.

Erin - I've been doing it again today and am I tired of apples, apples, apples! But I know the sauce will be wonderful this winter.