I Love Apples

The title says it all.  When buying a candle or lotion or anything scented, I'm likely to choose apple. I also love to eat them!  My aunt and uncle took a trip to north Georgia last weekend and returned with (many) handpicked apples, which they were gracious enough to share with me when I went to Georgia to visit recently.  What did I do with all these apples (besides displaying a few at my old house)?

Cinammon apple bread...(recipe here)

Apple sauce....

There is nothing to this one.  All you need is apples!

Peel and chop the apples.  Place them in a pot with just enough water to cover.  Boil until the apples are very soft and through and through.  Remove from heat, and let cool completely.  Puree them in a food processor (I used my Magic Bullet!).  Spoon the sauce into sterilized jars, and process.  (I made one batch with a little extra sugar and cornstarch, which came out sweeter and smoother, but I personally liked the all-natural batch the best.)

Apple butter....

I have had this on my toast every morning!  It's so wonderful.  There are tons of recipes for this out there, but here is what I threw together:

5 cups of finely chopped/peeled apples

1 cup sugar

1 tsp of cinammon

1 tsp of vanilla,

2 tsp of lemon juice

dash of allspice

dash of nutmeg

Place all ingredients into a slow cooker and mix together.  Cook on low for five hours, stirring occassionally until you have a thick, dark brown mixture. Spoon the butter into sterilized jars and process.  (This "recipe" yielded three jars of butter.)

There are so many varieties of apples to enjoy in so many ways.  Luckily, I still have three left!