I’m making applesauce! My friend just gave us a feed sack full of crab apples that she and her husband picked. Since she has more than she wants, she shared with me. So I got out my Mehu Liisa and handy stock pot and started steaming apples. I sat on the couch and cut them in half, then filled the pot and Mehu Liisa fruit holder, and let ’em rip. I not only ran the softened apples through my Victorio tomato strainer making the nicest applesauce but siphoned off quarts of beautiful pink juice from the steam juicer. Adding a bit of sugar to the sauce, I canned and canned all afternoon. So far, I’ve taken 32 pints of sauce and a few quarts of juice out of the canner. And I still have apples to go! Wow! It doesn’t take much to make a homesteader happy does it?
Meanwhile, Will’s been plowing, discing, and picking up stumps, rocks, etc. from the area of our new forty he’s working up. The ground is clay and quite acidic. He will be spreading both manure and lime on it and discing that in as well — hopefully before cold weather.
Our pumpkin patch did fair with minimal help from us. Not as well as we would have liked, but good enough to do it again better next spring. We’re always looking ahead and planning how to do IT better. — Jackie
Ruth,
Then there’s applesauce bars, applesauce cookies and…… Sigh!
Jean,
And I’d love to have you!!!
Sheryl,
Naw, if it is only skin deep, leave the spots. It’s just Ma Nature showing us our apples aren’t sprayed.
When I was a kid we had two crabapple trees in the yard. Mom would can the applesauce and then make crabapple sauce cake with it. It was moist, sweet, and slightly tangy, and satisfied us six kids!
I have used my Victoria Strainer for a number of years to make applesauce. I use equal amounts of 3 apples – courtland, ida red and jona gold. It makes delicious applesauce and most of the time I add no sugar to it. When I share it with others they want to know how I made it as they want to make their own – its that good. My local apple farm gave me the recipe.
I had a crab apple tree in Iowa and I made pickled apples. They are good to eat; they are good on a plate of meat as a “decoration”
Wish I wer close by…I would help you out!
If you like a tart, delicious jelly, like currant jelly, crabapple is one of the best. It’s pretty, and delicious too! One of my all-time favorites.
Wow, what a haul – very nice. I have just got to get me one of those strainers. What a difference it seems to make.
I have been noticing that my apples and pears aren’t picture perfect like I see them in the store. They tend to not be uniformly colored and will have dark spots here and there on them. I use no sprays on them. Do I need to peel off the discolored spots before I use them?
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