A Taste of Fall

Here in New England we are looking at a very early fall picking season.  For apples that is.  We had a very warm spring and summer so we find ourselves here in September picking apples, knowing by October there will be only left overs.  It just isn’t same.  Picking apples in shorts is sort of, well, sacrilegious.  No beautiful tree colors of orange, red and yellow.  No fire at the Red Apple farm to warm us as we sip hot cider.  No sweaters and jeans and a crisp in the air that makes you feel like you are blessed to come from this part of the country.  Nope, not this year.

I’ve been married, for a lifetime it seems.  I say that because I have been married longer now than I was single.  So, it  is hard to go back into my adulthood without it actually pertaining to my marriage now.  Although my husband I have a healthy separate personal life as well, it just seems that all those great, warm memories lead back to him. 

Well, let me tell you something when I met my husband I would have never thought I would become the cook I have.  My family was very Irish, very meat and potatoes.  Until I got married I never had a taco (which we lived on the first year we got married) or even a zucchini.  Chris, on the other hand had full course meals, including desserts.  A homemade dessert from my mom was pretty much a purchased graham cracker crust, a box of chocolate pudding and a tub of Cool Whip.  Anyway, you get the picture, very diverse eating styles.  I would argue my husband has a better sense of a balanced meal and found appreciation in all things garden grown.

We got married in the fall and I can remember going to purchase some applesauce to go along with our pork (a left over of the day when applesauce helped in avoiding trichinosis.  Be an old wives tale or not, we always had applesauce with pork).  Well, as I reach you would have thought the heavens were coming down upon my poor husband.  “What is that for?” he ask.  I sort of looked at him funny.  What kind of guy doesn’t know a good jar of Mott’s applesauce?  “I don’t eat jar applesauce”.

God bless my mother in law, she was a regular Mrs. Clever.  She, it turns out made everything by scratch, including applesauce.  I guess the look of confusion was enough for him to remind me of the strange contraption my mother in law made sure I got at my bridal shower.  It was called a “Foley Mill”  (Which, by the way, brings back terrible memories of me trying use the name of this this item in a game where you told a lie or truth and everyone was convinced I was lying.  I lost that stupid game that night because of that dern Foley Mill  I really fought hard to make people believe me)  The Foley is a this bowl type strainer with a handle in the middle which forces the apple meat through these holes, while holding back the skins and the seeds.

So, instead of my faithful jar of Mott’s Applesauce (which I still like) we got a couple bags of Macintosh apples.  So, starts and adventure into making homemade applesauce.  Over the years it begin pretty simply.  Using Mac’s made it so I didn’t have to sugar (a real no-no says my MIL) I proceeded to make homemade applesauce; it really isn’t hard.  I have tweaked the recipe to make it more sophisticated, and hubby actually likes it better.  So, from my New England kitchen I thought I would share my recipe.

Home Made Apple Sauce

About 15 Cortland Apples (which give the applesauce a lovely pink color and a subtle tartness)
10 Mac’s

Remember, this is an approximation, it really does depend on the size of the apples.  I make my sauce in a Dutch oven, and I PACK it.

Oh, you can use any kind of apples.  One year I got a peck (a big bag) of apple "drops" and they actually made a wonderful sauce, but I would never be able to reproduce this because I had no idea what kind of apples were in there!

1/8 c. water in bottom of Dutch oven

Cut apples up, discard core but no need to peel.  I have a neat apple slicer, which can be found anywhere, including the grocery store, which cuts the apple up and separates the core out. It is a push down, push em'out kind of contraption.

Place apples in a large Dutch oven

Cover and start to simmer on VERY LOW heat for about 10 minutes until you can push the apples down a bit, meaning they are starting to cook. DO NOT BURN

Add:
2 T. ground cinnamon
2 T. Apple spice mix (or you can do some “shakes” of allspice, nutmeg, cloves, ginger)
1/8 t. mace (optional) gives a little "kick" to anything apple
pinch of salt
NO SUGAR in my recipe (my mother in law is very proud)!

Add spices after cooking apples about 10 minutes, mix well and continue to cook on low until all the apples are broken down.

Here is where I use a Foley mill and take the broken down mixture and process.  If you do not have a Foley, you can use a strainer and push the meat through and remove the apple skins by hand.  It is messy and doesn’t give the consistency of the food mill.

So, there it is, a little bit of New England in a bowl!  I freeze my applesauce and have it year round.  It taste great and you, too, can “tweak” it to your hearts content.