I made and canned applesauce for the second year in a row! I really enjoy doing it, although I suspect it would be more fun without a child running around. Maybe I will get to test this theory next year?
Something about Dale and I that you may not know is we believe organic food is healthier. We are unable to afford a lot of organic food, so our most important priority in this department is to feed Kaylee as much organic as we can, especially when it comes to foods that are known to be higher in pesticide, fertilizer, or other contaminant residues. One reason this is so important is because young children's bodies retain more pesticides and other contaminants found in food, per pound, than adults do. This is because their food serves the purpose of building their bodies as they grow, not just providing energy.
Long story short, I found organic apples on sale for less than a dollar per pound last year at Fred Meyers, called my mom up to verify she still had all her old canning equipment, and promptly bought as many apples as I could afford! My favorite story from our applesauce making and canning from last year was that we had bags of apples all over the floor, and I as I turned to grab more, who should I spot but Kaylee sitting on the floor, about 12 months old, happily chomping down on a whole apple!
YUMMY!!
I moved her to the highchair and let her finish what she wanted of it while I made sure she didn't choke on it... she loved it!!
This year I once again found the organic apples at an amazing price, and snatched up almost all the apples that were left, as it was the last day they were on sale. My mom came over with all her canning supplies again, and luckily all the jars from last year were still intact so we reused those. An apple peeler/corer/slicer is pretty much the best thing ever, however I have never invested in one since I've always been able to borrow my mom's for big projects like this. I wouldn't want to tackle making applesauce without one! It results in being able to get the apples in small pieces that cook up so fast that it makes the process go much faster.
Last year I cooked the apples up with lemon juice (stops them from turning brown) and cinnamon. The cinnamon was just because I knew that Kaylee loved it on her applesauce and she would be the one to eat the majority of ours, therefore it's one less step before I serve it up with her "whinnie pooh cackers" for snack. This year I skipped the cinnamon because it won't be long before Laurelei is starting solid foods (where did the time go!?) so I figured it would be best to keep things simple. Apples cooking up on the stove smell so delicious!
Once they are all cooked up I use my immersion blender that I purchased for about $20 at WalMart last year. It is just about the most helpful thing I own for making fresh homemade baby food! This keeps things simple so that I can just blend the apples into sauce in the pan and then spoon them into their jars all ready for their hot water bath! Last year I made the applesauce a bit chunky and thick, perfect for my toddler. This year I gave the immersion blender a bit more time to do it's thing and got really beautiful smooth chunk-less applesauce, just especially for my Laurelei! It's ok though, Kaylee's already had a whole jar or two, and she still likes it. So much so that we will probably run out before Laurelei ever gets any. Maybe I will save a jar just for her! We didn't end up with as much this year simply because there was not an abundance of good looking apples by the end of the week when I found the sale. I'm going to try and be more on top of it next year. No, apples don't need to be pretty for applesauce, I peel them anyways, but most of what was left looked like it had been dropped on the floor. More than once.
It has also become a tradition for me to grab a lot of Granny Smith apples, when I buy the other varieties for applesauce, since they are on sale as well. With these I also peel, core, and slice them, but then I borrow a Foodsaver to vacuum seal small packs of them which I keep in the freezer. I use these throughout the year to make apple crisp, one of my favorite desserts! This year I thought I would try canning them instead to save on freezer space. We only did two jars of the Granny Smiths, but they were quart jars instead of pints so I will get two good size crisps out of them. This way I will know next year whether I prefer the frozen or the canned apples for flavor and texture in my crisp. I was worried that the bagful of apples that we didn't have time to can was going to go bad, so I made two fresh crisps this week, and enjoyed them for dessert and breakfasts! They were delicious!
That's all for now, I am hoping to find some pie pumpkins to can, so I may be posting about that soon! I have more empty jars waiting to be filled anyways, so it's a possibility!
Kim
