My heart goes out to those in southern states who are suffering at the hands of the weather. It’s getting downright eerie… the weather patterns and distruction this year.. everywhere. Makes me wonder if the Earth has had just about enough of our abuse and is ready to shake us off like a bad case of fleas.
Anyway… on to a Jarring Experience of a different sort.
Me and my big ideas.
I’m all FARM GIRL and BACK TO THE LAND now,right?
I’ve been cooking for as long as I’ve been married
and I make a mean apple pie…
but I have never made applesauce from scratch, or canned/jarred anything…
So.. today is a rainy misty day…nothing outdoors is do-able.
This gave me the idea to go ahead and break in my
brand new canning/jarring boiler so that I can start stocking the pantries.
I decided to start with Applesauce, as I had two big bags of apples in need of use.
These were Empires and Macintosh..
I peeled and cored and quartered.
I cooked until softened,
Then threw the softened apples into a food processor.
I couldn’t help but notice the amount of “sauce” was starting to look like
it was not going to fill all six of the quart jars I was boiling for sterilization.
I put the processed apples back in the pot,
added just a little brown sugar, just a little white sugar and cinnamon.
Then brought it back to boiling, and after five minutes, started filling jars
that came straight out of the jar sterilizing pot.
Then I covered them with lids from the lid sterilizing pot.
It tasted delicious.
And I got – Two – quart jars.
That’s all I got after all the prep of two big bags of apples
and a ridiculous amount of pots on my stove
(who knew I OWNED that many big pots?).
Then I threw the two in the boiler, rolling boil for 20 minutes, per recipe…
And took them out to cool.
All two of them.
SO… all you canners out there …
Does it really take
two jar sterilizing pots, a lid sterilizing pot
A cooking apples pot, a boiler,
and a DUMP TRUCK LOAD OF APPLES
to make a few jars of apple sauce?
And how do you know you’re not gonna give your family botulism or something down the road?
Back to the Land indeed.
I have never canned anything. All my husband's sisters do though. It is a lot of hard work is all I know. I just wait for hand outs!
Oh forgive me for laughing,, TWO Jars after all that work… but I think you did it right and will not poison anyone… I have done jam but never applesauce or veggies of any sort.. I'm into blanching and freezing.. can't kill anyone..lol
good for you,, keep it up also and fill that pantry…
Sandy
This made me laugh! My first real canning experience was last fall, making applesauce. It took four adults working almost constantly for 8 hours to end up with 18 jars. I know it's fresher and it's nice to know what your family is eating, but Mott's is NOT that expensive! 🙂
Gosh, wonder what it takes to make a large batch??? I actually make a pretty mean applesauce, but have never canned any. It was always gone in one sitting, back when there were 6 of us living here. You didn't even end up with enough to send me some. *pout
i know nothing about canning so i give you tons of credit for what you accomplished….
LOL-ALL that work and TWO jars?!! God bless ya, darling! And, now that your family and friends know that you can they will all be expecting you to give them homemade canned applesauce! lol Have fun…I see a run on apples in your area! xxoo Diana
Well, I'll never have an answer for you because I'm far too lazy to start such an endeavor as this!
Brenda
Trying not to laugh!! I make applesauce from our neighbor's tree and after cooking the apples chopped up stems and all, I put it through my Victorio, crank away and out comes the applesauce on down the chute and the seeds and stems out the side into a pan to be composted…then I freeze it in ziplock bags…this year I might try jarring jams and such again after many years of slacking off!! Never done veggies, though…
There was a time in a land of long ago when I spent most of my summertime in a hot kitchen worrying over sterilizing jars and preparing our homegrown vegetables for canning.
In all those years while my children were growing up, I never poisoned them once.
Of course, even knowing this, I still worried over each and every jar, each and every summer. Yes, it was indeed a jarring experience.
My children survived and have fond memories of those years and the deliciousness of summer, we savored in the cold and dreary winter months.
I remember sitting in the kitchen till well past the time everyone else was sound asleep, waiting for the last lid to pop.:-)
Apple Butter is another delightful treat, made with apples. This can be done in an oven and even a slow cooker.
I am a veteran farm wife with a tad bit of experience in cattle round ups, hay hauling, and preserving foods of all kinds.:-)
Yes. It is much easier to drive to the store & pick up a jar of organic apple sauce. But back in the day when the girls were tiny & I hand washed cloth diapers, I canned a ton of things and even showed them at the fairs around the state. I have all of my ribbons including my blue ribbon for my Lyman Apple sauce. Just knowing that I could do it was enough for me. And the girls loved helping. I freeze a ton of produce after blanching now. It is easier. I am getting old. Proud of you though – now you know that you can do it! 🙂
Oh, Karen…I used to can my A__ off….one year I did 80 quarts of tomatoes, and I even used a pressure canner….brave wasn't I????
There is a lot of satisfaction in it, but it is a LOAD of hard work.
I could have warned you, but it's probably better you found out for yourself.
I had a whole canner full of apples and ended up with one quart. Haha! What a gyp!
Hats off to you. I've never made anything canned or jarred either. Looks great. You should be so proud.
Sam
Well, I'm certainly not going to laugh at you *snickers under her breath*, because that sounds like a whole lotta work and my hat is off to anyone who even attempts to go to those great lengths just for a bit of applesauce. Does is taste good?
I used to make red sauce and salsa with all my tomatoes. I was always amazed that ALL those tomatoes amounted to…2 jars!! So I just started using smaller jars! It is a lot of work but so worth it when you know you made it yourself without preservatives.
XO,
Jane
My mother-in-law always made applesauce from the apples on their tree! She sometimes put cinnamon red hot candies in the hot apples for flavor and color. Of course if you are aiming for all natural, organic, that kind of spoils that!
My mom made plum jelly from our neighbor's tree–those little plums made vast quantities of juice!
My grandmother was a home extension agent in the 1930's and taught women to can, but NO ONE ever taught me!!!
I've been thinking I might want to venture into this food preserving experience someday– I might start out with something really simple like strawberry freezer jam, so I won't have to worry about poisoning anybody!!
I've never canned applesauce but in my youth I canned a lot of tomatos…Now I find it easier to buy them:) If you packed your applesauce into smaller cup or pint size jars it would look like a lot more:)
I can't help you Karen…never canned anything in my life…I do not spend alot of time in my kitchen. My husband says I have a kitchen only because it came with the house…Yes, indeed these storms have been something else. Scared the heart out of us last night…we're in Atlanta…storms all around us. The local news is heartbreaking.
But look how lovely those two jars are!
I used to pressure can and I can't lie, even though I knew I was doing it right and knew how to test the jars, I waited for all of to get sick every times I used one of those pretty jars.
I think they are lovely.
I am no expert my any means but I have canned a number of times. I haved canned applesauce, applebutter, strawberry jam (Yum, homemade jam is by far the best!), and green beans. I use a water bath for everything but the beans and I sterilize the jars and lids in the dishwasher. So far never had a problem! 😉 My best friends mother has a huge garden and an orchard and she has always always canned and has a cellar stocked with her goods. She never even sterlizes her lids and no one has ever gotten sick. It does take a LOT of fruit to make a decent amount of jars! However I have found it best to can when in season. I buy my apples in season when they are at peak and go on sale. The strawberries I get from my local U pick they are actually cheaper then strawberries on sale and the taste cannot compare. If my plums take off I plan to can those as well! If your little orchard takes off then you won't have to buy them! :O)
I enjoy canning anyway and enjoy eating the fruits of my labor. They also make great gifts!
I love your pictures and your jars look lovely! I bet they taste incredible too!!
Mom canned all summer long, she would stand at the stove and stir with a bead of sweat on her brow. Therefore, I have not taken up the art of canning! Daddy grew a huge garden and there was PLENTY so she had to do something with it all. If you followed directions you won't have a thing to worry about, the top will leak if it didn't properly seal and you can tell that right off. How much do you think each jar actually cost…oh, that was just mean! They are Blue Ribbon beautiful though and will be delish!
My mother makes apple sauce, but she freezes it. Hubs eats it frozen, like it's sorbet ice actually. So I can't tell you about the jarring process. But I do know that if you cook apples, they do seem to disappear. Same effect as when cooking spinach.
Your photos are wonderful!
lol…. this, and bugs, heat, lack of water, too much rain, deer, ground hogs, etc. etc. etc. is why I am grateful every year that I garden for the joy of it and not my family's survival.
I used to make applesauce from scratch. Peeled the bushel of apples that the kids and I would pick each fall, and we never got nearly enough to make it worth the effort involved. It was a good family activity … but I couldn't justify is as a way to feed us. One day, while at the warehouse store, I had an idea. I bought a paint can-sized container of applesauce, simmered the contents in my soup pot on the stove on low-ish heat, added a touch of sugar and some cinnamon … and the results tasted the same as the made-from-scratch variety. No more peeling and chopping for me. I buy store-bought applesauce in bulk, doctor it up, and we're set.