Now that apple season is upon us, we knew it was time to can applesauce! We ordered a bushel and a half of Honeycrisp apples and set aside half a day to do it.
In about four hours we turned 60 lbs of apples into 22 quarts of applesauce, 4.5 pints of apple butter, 1.5 quarts of apple juice and left a dozen just for enjoying.
While I have made applesauce before, I had never canned it, so that was a fun learning experience.
On the last box we brought the children in to help juice the apples and observe the canning process. It was great to see their enthusiasm to help and learn. There are many great lessons in the simple act of making applesauce: following instructions, volume measurements (quart, pint, and cup), and the law of thermodynamics (ie, don't put hot applesauce in a cold mason jar - this was a verbal lesson...no demonstration was attempted).
We truly used the entire apple. The peels cooked down with the applesauce and the cores were either eaten by the children or fed to the chickens as a treat. We saved the pulp from the juicing to use in a yummy bread recipe.
Apple season is just another reason I love autumn!
"My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee. Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye." Proverbs 7:1-2
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