Mini Schnitz Hand Pies

 Hand Pies.  Tiny fist sized capsules of dough (fried or baked) that are used to contain and transport fabulous fillings into your gullet.

As long as I had the induction coil plate out for the Rosettes the other day, I decided to go ahead and deal with the dried apples that had been so unceremoniously displaced from the cookie jar.  The cookie jar spent all of Fall housing a gallon of dried apple slices from the Fall harvest.  As the season switched from the crisp autumn air to full on frigid, I noticed the apples were being nibbled on less and less as a snack.  The jar now holds oatmeal pecan toffee cookies, and the apples were thrown into a large ziploc baggie on the counter.

I had plans to just make two, full-sized, Schnitz pies, one for us and one for the neighbors.  But the more I thought of it, the more I started to lean towards making smaller hand pies. A pie is cut into 6 or 8 pieces and then gone.  I can get far more hand pies than 12 or 16 if I make them hand sized, or better yet, bite sized, which means more gifts.  

Hand pies are prevalent in many cultures, they have many names, and can be filled with either sweet or savory fillings and can either be made with a doughy, biscuit like crust, or a flaky, pie dough like crust.

Schnitz pie, is an apple pie made from re-hydrated, dried apple slices.  I sometimes add raisins.  The hens have eaten all the raisins I had in the house this time, so these are just plain apple.

The recipe is simple and non-exact for the filling.

Place about 2 cups of dried apples slices in a pot and cover with water.  They'll float, so push them under.  Cover the pot and simmer as low as you can for about 30-40 minutes.  You can also use apple juice, or a combination of apple juice and water.

Drain the apples.  I simply pour the now re-hydrated apples into my small mixing bowl with the flat beat attachment, or even the smaller whisk attachment. 

I then add:

2 teaspoons of cinnamon

2 Tablespoons of brown sugar

dash of salt

dash of of Nordic Spice (optional)

I gently work the apples and spices until they are almost a paste, but still have texture.

For the dough you can use store bought biscuit or pie dough or you can use your own favorite recipe. The trick it to make it thin so it cooks through in the hot oil.

You can cut large circles and then place filling in the center and fold the dough into a half moon shape, or you can cut two circles, placing one on top of the other - like making ravioli - sealing the edged with a little milk wash and a fork on either shape.  I used a biscuit cutter and my ravioli cutter to shape, and seal in one blow.

You then fry at 370 degrees until golden brown, flipping them over when needed,  and then remove and allow to drain.

 

Dust with powdered sugar if you like.

When you're miles and miles away from a good doughnut...

No, they're not good for you, but every once in a while you just have to have a fresh ring of fried dough and a tall, cold glass of milk.  But when the closest doughnuts, mediocre at best, are a 30 minute drive one way and the really good ones are a little further, but cost an arm and a leg and there's a looming ice storm and blizzard and you MUST have them, you do what needs to be done.

You google doughnut recipes.

I am picky when it comes to doughnuts.  My favorite are chocolate cake doughnuts, moist but not greasy, with vanilla icing. I was out of baking cocoa, so those were out of the question.

Next in line for the crown are simple, plain, old fashioned glazed yeast doughnuts.  Now, I've never made doughnuts. I don't own a fryer, but I do have a large cast iron dutch oven.  My mouth watered at the prospect. So that was the plan, a vat of 350 degree oil on my gas stove.  That WAS the plan.  But when I dug out my clip-on thermometer, I discovered that it slid up and down in its mounting so what the actual temperature was at any given moment was anyone's guess.  Reeling in my disappointment, my wind whirled with other options.

The electric fry pan!  It wasn't very deep, but it did have an automatic thermostat, so that was good.  And if I was careful loading the pan and flipping the depth I could work around.

I scrolled through dozens of recipes to find one that wasn't overly complicated and for one that required ingredients I had on hand.

Bingo! Krispy Kreme Copycat from Genius Kitchen

The photos on the site aren't the best, as the doughnuts are over cooked.

I also used metal skewers to flip and lift the doughnuts. And I kept the glaze warm and after letting the glaze set, I dipped them again.

I used my 3 inch and 1 inch biscuit
cutting rings to form the doughnuts.
They looked rather sad.

Once they hit the oil, my worries were
over.  They puffed and filled out nicely.

Using a skewer for a quick flip.

Cooked to golden.

Draining on a cooling rack above a paper towel catch all.

Of course when you make doughnuts, you get doughnut ball!
I also made all the scraps into balls.

Glazed and ready to eat.

With the remaining scraps, I mixed apple, sugar and cinnamon
and pressed together and made apple fritters for Doc.

Cast Iron Blueberry Muffins

Is there anything that can get your mouth drooling faster in the morning than the smell of blueberry muffins with cinnamon topping cooking?  Even the smell of bacon doesn't rate that high.  There is just something about the sweet tang of the fruit and the warm buttery goodness of the batter that just makes you want to sit in front of the oven window like a child and watch them cook until the chime from the timer snaps you out of your trance and the countdown until they're cool enough to touch begins.  The anticipation is palpable.

Anyway you cook them, blueberry muffins are delicious.  Cook them in cast iron and the hot metal caramelizes the sugar and creates a slight crust on the exterior of the muffin, which ads yet another layer to an already amazing flavor profile. Something you cannot achieve if you bake muffins in paper cups or non-stick muffin tins.  Can you make this in papers or a muffin tin?  Sure you can. Can you make this in a cast iron skillet if you don't have a cast iron muffin pan?  Absolutely!

Muffin Batter

dry
2 cups of all purpose flour (8 ounces by weight)
1/4 cup of white sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt

wet
1 egg
3/4 cup of milk
5 Tablespoons of melted butter

Berries
1/3 cup of blueberries (fresh or frozen - I just use frozen)
2 Tablespoons of all purpose flour

Topping
2 teaspoons of white sugar
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of cardamom (optional)

Preheat your oven to 375'.

Grease your cast iron muffin pan wells and place the cast iron in the oven to preheat.

Mix your berries with the 2 Tablespoons of flour to coat and set aside.

Mix together the dry ingredients and set aside.

Mix together the wet ingredients and add to the dry.  Mix gently 20 strokes and fold the blueberries into the batter.  DO NOT overwork the batter.

In a small bowl, mix your topping ingredients and set aside.

Remove the cast iron from the oven (don't forget your mit!) Fill the wells to 3/4 full wi
th the batter.  Sprinkle the tops with with the topping mix.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the muffins are golden brown.  Allow to coo
l a few minutes before removing from the pan.  Eat warm or cool on a rack.
--------------























If you are using a skillet-

grease and pre-heat the pan as above but reduce the temperature to 350'.   Pour the batter in the skillet and bake for 30-35 minutes.

If you are using a muffin tin/papers -
Grease muffin tin wells or line with papers (DO NOT preheat pans.) Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

The Beauty of Cast Iron- In the Spirit of Banging a Pot on New Years Eve

Cast Iron, you either love it or hate it.  With the overwhelming abundance of cookware on the market; non-stick, ceramic, stainless steel, copper, and coated aluminum- dear old cast iron gets a bad wrap as "old fashioned", heavy, hard to care for, and hard to clean.

The fear of cast iron runs deep.  But the stories are usually quieted once a person gets into the habit of using quality cast iron.  Yes, they are heavy.  No, they cannot go into the dishwasher. But as for hard to clean, or hard to maintain I say, "Bah, humbug!"

Cast Iron Full and Half
Bread Stick Pans

Most of us just plain do not have the experience of using cast iron cook- and bakeware.  I didn't grow up with it in my house; even my great-grandmother I believe only had one skillet, which only came out when she made eggs or pan fried ham steaks. No.  We grew up using cast aluminum and stainless steel. Our only exposures to cast iron was a simmering vat of stew or cobbler while camping.  Beyond that, it was watching Cookie on Bonanza slinging beans off the chuck wagon, or Caroline Ingalls slaving over her cast iron stove at Nellie's place, flipping whole sides of beef for each order.

[Boy Scouts claim have a ready relationship to cast iron (we once even had a camporee themed "cast iron chef"), but with the exception of dutch ovens, Scouts also favor lightweight cookware. -Doc]

It has been pushed aside in favor of "better", more modern, and lighter equipment.  I can't tell you how many modern pans I've been through.  I started with cast aluminum odds and ends and moved to modern stainless steel with double bottoms to provide even heating.  These main sets were my staple though a ridiculous number of moves and they were always supplemented by the newest must have fry pan, roaster, muffin tin, cake tin, or whats-it.  As the moves wound down, I started putting money into hearty, long lasting pieces.  These were generally enamel coated cast iron pieces that I would pick up at local flea markets or yard sales for a song.  I remember my first piece was a combination handled pan and small handled frying pan that flipped over was the lid for the pan, LeCreuset and it cost me a staggering $5.  Its even heating, easy enameled clean up, and heat retention was my Siren's song to finding more and more pieces.

Dutch ovens were next.  All of my dutch ovens are enameled inside and out as I choose to store food in them for reheating. Some of those foods can eventually pit iron, and who wants that?

Some of the Dutch Ovens. Two are currently in use and missed
their photo op.

It was a long time before I made the leap to other items, I will freely admit it.  I saw the crusty gross pans the boy scouts would use on their camping trims.  I had images of bacterium and left over food particles managing a flawless synchronized swimming routine to the Nutcracker Suite music every time I watched them cook.  Not having the immune system of a 10 year old boy, I pushed the use of fully cast iron cookware out of my thoughts.

[Hey!  Well, okay.  Suffice it to say that there's a difference in cleanliness when the boys clean up vs when they dally around too long and the adults have to clean up so the boys can get on to their next event. -Doc]

Meanwhile, at a clearing house store, I happened upon a cast iron enameled 9x13 baking dish that was being sold as a set with a enameled on the exterior only 11 inch skillet.  Well, I wanted that baking dish, and for $15 the skillet could come along for the ride.  I immediately put the baking to dish to use creating amazing lasagnas, chicken and rice, cakes, and brownies.  The skillet was shoved to the back of the cupboard.  Until one day, due to chance and the weather, it came out to fulfill its  skillet destiny.

It was a chilly and quite blustery day shortly after we had moved into our new house.  Hamburgers were on the menu and the grill had been preheating on the deck for about 20 minutes, or so I thought.  Plate of pressed patties in hand, I went out to drop them on the grates.  Instead of being greeted with the satisfying sizzle of meat meeting heat, there was silence.  The wind had blown out the fire.  I started the fire up again and returned 15 minutes later...to a cold grill.  Low gas levels combined with high winds were just too much for that flame.  I returned inside and was resigned to plan B of just cooking them on the stove top.  My new gas range was quite powerful, even on its lowest BTU burner.  My stainless steel skillet had already shown me that its double bottom was no real keeper of the flame.  Many eggs, hash browns, and stir fried meals had met their early doom in that skillet.  Something reminded me that I had ANOTHER skillet, buried deep in the cupboard.

The combination LeCreuset in the bottom right corner and the
frypan that started it all in the back right corner.

I dug it out to the clatter of shifting and falling stainless steel pots, pans, and lids.  It sounded like an elephant walking though a cymbal shop. I finally found her and placed her triumphantly atop the burner.  She was pre-seasoned, but just in cast, I warmed her up and wiped her down with the tiniest amount of Crisco, just in case.  I brought her up to full temperature and dropped the seasoned patties in, a satisfying sizzle erupted from the surface.  When I flipped them, they had formed a remarkable crust, one usually reserved for flattop grills at roadside greasy spoons eateries.  I plated the finished burgers and looked in dismay at the pan.  Bits of cooked-on seasoning, meat, and fat had accumulated on the bottom.  I wondered about tackling that.  I decided to treat it to a deglazing just as if I was making gravy.  As the meat patties rested before dinner, the pan cooled. I added hot water and brought the pan temperature back up.  It came as clean as when I brought it home from the store.  I poured out the liquid and sealed the iron with a quick Crisco wipe. 

That was it.  We were now a cast iron house.

Each trip to my local antique shops, consignment shops, and thrift stores became a treasure hunt.  Sure there are many modern makers of cast iron; Lodge, Staub, LeCreuset, even the Food Network has its own line of wares.  But have you SEEN the prices on some of this stuff?  Insanity rules, and the price holds at what the market, and name brand junkies, will bear.  I, however, refuse to pay hundreds of dollars for name.  Just ask my orange tractor!

Cast iron cook- and bakeware is constantly circulating out of homes and ending up in shops as grandparents move into care homes or their new owners abandon them for what they hope are better modern tools.  Buried, unwanted, on shop shelves were the future work horses of my kitchen.  Better yet, they were selling for a song.

Cast Iron Muffin Pan

It was about this time that my sister called me from 900 miles away.  Her son, now a scout, was cooking like mad in cast iron, for both practical camp purposes, and for a badge.  She started cooking in cast iron to test out recipes before they tortured a whole troop with them.  The same woman that, on her last visit to my place, asked how I could stand working with something SO heavy, was now a convert.  I was now shopping for two!

We shared lists of what we had and what we were still keeping our eyes our for.  We compared notes on companies, cleaning and seasoning methods, and endless text messages back and forth while we were out shopping.  We both have rules for our purchases: We will not spend a fortune. We will not have duplicates. We will not purchase things we don't plan to actually use.

Our combined efforts allowed us to fill in the gaps.  The shops in her part of the country seemed

spent, overpriced, and few and far between.  Antique stores, small and large, priced items based on a quick google search and a famous name, without regard to age, quality/condition, scarcity, or funk level.  While here, the Griswold name, brought larger amounts, but not anywhere near what it was demanding out East.  Not being name snobs, we just kept looking.

Neither one of us needed Dutch Ovens, so skillets and gem pans were our goal.  Suddenly, I was seeing them everywhere, usually overlooked, and shoved to the back of a shelf in favor of more popular items. 
Aebelskiver pans were popping up everywhere for $5, no one knowing what they were, or thinking they were of archaic use.  Gem pans of every shape, size, and manufacturer: mostly of the companies that shipped here by catalog in the 1930s, carried by the train or postman, or hauled in by those that settled here.  Few shoppers know what they are for, so they sit and gather dust or knick-knacks.

Cast Iron tools and bakeware from
1897 Sears and Roebuck Catalog

For the most part I have found Wagner, BSR, and Griswold here, with the ocassional surprise finds of Vollrath, R&E Manufacturing, and Favorite by Piqua, Waterman, and of course Lodge.  Using my imagination I can see how these pans, know in the region they are manufactured, worked their way here.  I think most came from mail order, but the brands in the old catalogs are not stated and the pictures of the item are just generic representations by the printers.  It's amazing that a muffin pan that I paid $25 for sold in 1897 for 17cents.  Yes, I have pans, that I use regularly in my kitchen that are from the 1860s.  How's that for value and product longevity?

Many items that we bring home aren't much to look at.  In fact, most are downright ugly.  They're so coated in gunk, old burned on food and grease, that you can't even see numbers or makers marks.  Some are so red with rust that you wonder what is holding them together.  A deep cleaning, some rust removal and a grand seasoning is all it takes to bring back their identity and their lot in life.  Using cast iron not only makes you more familiar with its power, but makes it better.

So get out and cook!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Risgrøt

OK, I'll admit it.  I don't like cereal for breakfast.  Dry as a snack is fine, but I really just do not care for slimy, cold, wet mush in a bowl ruining my milk.  I much prefer a warm breakfast that will stick to my ribs and keep the hungry monster away until I can pull myself from whatever project I'm working on and get to lunch.

As the frost settles on the rooftops, and the northern winds begin to howl, my morning menu shifts from toast and eggs to porridge, either oat or rice.  Extra-thick cut oats from Bob's Red Mill are my favorite long cooking oats. They cook up nice and thick, hearty, with an amazing texture.  They don't turn into wallpaper paste like quick or instant oatmeal.  My hands down favorite is RICE porridge.  It cooks up just like long cookie oatmeal, or more familiarly, like Risotto.  Both rice and oat porridge act as an amazing base for whatever the maker wants to toss into them; fruit- dried or fresh, nuts, sugars, yogurt, cream, butter, anything is fair game.

The big drawback is the time it takes to cook it.  Both types of porridge need cooked for an extended period of time, and watched like a hawk, and stirred to prevent sticking and burning.

I've created a work around for Rice Porridge, or Risgrøt in its shortened form.  I bake it in my enameled cast iron dutch oven.  The prep to get it into the oven is minimal, and can be accomplished in the time it takes to do other small morning chores and doesn't need babysitting.

Risgrøt

1 cup of SHORT or good quality medium grain rice. I splurge and use Arborio Rice, a short grain rice that is creamy and tender.

2 cups of water

Place both into a 3qt stove top and oven safe pot or dutch oven.  Heat over medium heat on the stove top, stirring occasionally, until the rice takes up most of the water.

most of the water has been absorbed into the rice

ADD 4 cups of milk.  I've had perfectly fine results with fat free milk.  The higher the fat content milk you use the thicker and creamier the end result will be.  Return to medium heat on the stove top and heat until it just reaches a simmer.  Remove from heat and cover.

Place into a 230' oven for one hour.

Remove from oven and stir gently. It will thicken slightly as it cools.  Eat hot or warm, and top with anything you want.  Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.  It is easily microwaved to reheat.

I top mine with a pat of butter, maple and brown sugar, and lots of cinnamon.

It's just as easy as that!

Verner, our house Nisse, and a hot bowl of Risgrøt.

For an extra treat: take your left over cold Risgrøt, and turn it into Riskrem, or Rice Pudding - which is NOT as sweet or as pudding like as American pudding.  For 2 cups of leftover Risgrøt:

1 cup of very cold heavy whipping cream

3.5 Tablespoons of white granulated sugar

2-3 teaspoons of vanilla

Whisk until it turns into fluffy whipped cream, but not so long that the butter solid separates from the cream.

Fold whipped cream into left over Risgrøt and refrigerate.  Serve cold.  It can be topped with traditional berry sauce or jellies.

Peter Piper Picked a Peck of ......

What do you do when a friend gives you 5 pounds of GIANT, silly spicy Jalapeño peppers?  You say 'thank you', snatch the bag, and run giggling home like a kid on Halloween with their trove!  Even though my own peppers did fantastically this summer, they had NOTHING on my friend Sheri's pepper plants.  These things were monsters! I've seen 40 year old shrubs around a house that don't compare to the size of these things! The peppers were almost 5 inches long and 5 inches in circumference!  Mine were just as hot, but only the size of your little finger. I'd much rather deal with TWO peppers than 8 ANYDAY!

So what to do? What to do?

My crazy, like minded friends on the Back Yard Chickens site, luckily, had JUST posted a recipe for Cowboy Candy. A cooked sugar syrup infused and swimming with Jalapeño peppers.  Not only can you use the peppers as toppings or in salads in their own right, but you can use the syrup they are drenched in as a grilling glaze! Be still my drooling taste buds!

I donned my two pairs of disposable gloves and kept repeating my mantra to myself, "don't rub your eyes.  Don't rub your eyes!"  Not that it is common practice for me to groom myself while canning, but it is inevitable when you CAN'T scratch, you need to. 

The first task was to remove the stem.  I simply cut off the top 1/4 inch of pepper and tossed the stem end into the compost bucket.  I then sliced the rest of the pepper into 1/4 inch slices and tossed them into my 6 qt mixing bowl. 

When all the peppers were sliced, I had the brilliant idea to rinse my peppers with cold water to float the stray seeds and centers and let them flow down the drain.  Have you ever been exposed to tear gas, or pepper spray?  Ya. It was that bad.  The water mist carried with it microscopic droplets of capsaicin. You know, the stuff that makes a pepper HOT.  The stuff they use in pepper spray and BEAR repellant.  Good GLORY! If I was a bear, ya ok me before 7am, I'd run for the hills.  Suddenly my sinus' started POURING (remember you can't touch ANYTHING with pepper hands). My eyes watered to the point of being unable to see.  I started sneezing uncontrollably!  And yet, I still HAD to turn off the water and drain the pepper!

I turned my head as far as I could from the food, drained the liquid from the bowl, slammed it on the counter, stripped off my gloves, grabbed the dish towel, and bolted from the kitchen towards the fresh air on the back deck.  I was quite the sight. I sneezed and blew my nose for almost 5 minutes.  So my point?  Maybe if you have asthma, this isn't the project for you! LOL.


Did I mention I stripped off the gloves?  YUP, I didn't wash my hands first.  Pepper oil all up both wrists from touching them with the exterior of the gloves.  They burned for two days, like raw acid.  I'm just saying, be careful when you play with fire!

The recipe is simple.  And because it is high in acid, it is a water bath canning process.

Cowboy Candy

3-5 pounds of fresh, firm, jalapeño peppers, washed
2 cups of cider vinegar
6 cups of white granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon of ground tumeric
1/2 teaspoon of celery seed
3 teaspoons of granulated garlic
1 teaspoon of ground cayenne pepper

Directions:

Wearing gloves, remove the stems from all of the peppers.  Simply slice the end 1/4 inch off the stem end and discard.

Slice the peppers into uniform 1/4 inch slices and set aside.

In a large heavy pot, bring the cider vinegar, white sugar, numeric, celery see, garlic, and cayenne pepper to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 5  minutes. 

Add the pepper Slices and simmer for exactly 4 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the pepper slices from the hot syrup and transfer them into sterile canning jars to within 1/4 inch of the top of the jar.

Turn the heat back up under the syrup pot and bring it up to a full rolling boil.

Using a ladle and funnel, pour the syrup into the jars over the pepper slices.  Check, and release, any trapped air bubbles with a chopstick or thin knife.  Adjust the level of the syrup if necessary. 

Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean, damp paper towel, and place your two piece canning lids on the jars until they are finger tight.

IF you have left over syrup, can in small jars for meat glaze following the same canning processing instructions.

Place jars into your water bath canner according to its instructions.

Process at under 1,000 feet for 10 minutes for half pints, 15 minutes for pints.  Add 5 minutes for each size over 1,000 Ft-2,000 ft.

After removing from the canner, let sit, undisturbed for 24 hours. 

When fully cooled, wash jars, label, and store.

Allow to mellow for at least 2 weeks before using, but preferably a month.

ENJOY!

Crazy, Crazy Harvest Days

The season is upon us, the harvest season that is.  I was driving down the back road yesterday and saw my first harvester of the season taking out giant rows of dent corn, like a hornworm working on, well, an ear of corn.

Then on the way into work this morning, I passed my first double long grain hauler.  Sigh.  It really does seem like just yesterday it was all going in the ground.  Now it's time to start hauling it out and prepping it for the great Winter sleep.   The great garden at the station is no different.  The only things left "standing" are the great stalks of sorghum and the sleepy sweet potatoes.  The former has put up quite the effort against some wicked late summer windstorms, that howled constantly at 20 mph, and gusted to over 40 for several days in a row.  I think this is the weekend I will cut them down, hang the seed heads for drying in the barn, and lay the stalks out to rest before trying to milk them for syrup.  The latter, the sweet potatoes, are just starting to yellow at the ends of the vines.  When the weather cools this weekend, I think I will harvest them and put them in cool storage so they can rest and set their texture for winter eating and candying.

But until then, it has been a wild, and LONG week of canning, canning, and dare I say MORE canning?!

14 hour days over hot jars, steaming dishwasher vents, canning pots, lifters, and lids.  All that said, the ability to stand back at the end of the day, glistening in sweat and a dishtowel tossed over one shoulder, and admire those sparkling jars filled with jeweled treasure while they cool on the counter is worth every minute.  It takes me a good two months to grow fingerprints back, but again, worth it!

This week it was beef stew, chicken noodle soup, cowboy candy (sweetened jalapeño peppers), sweet corn, more tomatoes purée, and applesauce: sweet, delectable, mind controlling applesauce!

Applesauce

When the weather gets cool enough in the evenings to do THIS
(even if the days are still 90'),
then it's time to PICK APPLES!

I know not everyone has time for, the energy for, or the proximity to a U-Pick farm for fresh apples.  And that's OK.  But do check the U-Pick Farm listing to see if you are close. The answer might surprise you.  Pick Your Own not only has an amazing listing of farms, but also resources and recipes.

If you still are not able to pick your own fruit there is NOTHING wrong with buying, at a good price, from your local fruit market or grocer.  Mine will actually give me a case discount on whole lugs of fruits or vegetables.  It never hurts to ask.

Whichever you choose to do, be sure to get a mix of good, fresh apples.  Delicious eating apples, do not necessarily, make good cooking apples.

We used to pick at Kimmel Orchard, in SE Nebraska, but it is too far of a drive for me now.  Now we choose to drive up over the hill and frequent Martin's Hillside Orchard.  It's a mom and pop place that charges by the pound, not by the lug like Kimmel, but I still manage to do OK.

This year I was a little more clever, we chose the early morning on a day that was only going to hit 80, and the air was dry.  It was also a weekday, so there were no crowds except happy, apple filled preschoolers on a field trip.

  I also decided to take The Boy for the heavy lifting and for the heavy hauling.  Yes, I remembered the WAGON this time!

We picked 35 pounds of a mix of Jonathan, Golden Delicious, and Gala Apples for this year's sauce.  I also added in 5 Granny Smith Apples.

Begin by peeling and coring your apples.  I don't bother with a fancy coring and slicing machine.  I use my 25 year old vegetable peeler, purchased from the North Dakota State fair.  I can get the peel off a large apple in under 15 seconds.  I then use my chef's knife to cut as closet to the core as I can in 4 fell swoops.  Then I simply cut those 4 large apple pieces into once inch slices and then in one inches cubes.  I toss the cores in the compost pile, and let the peels pile up in the sink.     

The apple cubes get thrown into my 6 qt mixing bowl which has a about two quarts of water and either .25 of a cup of lemon juice in it, or a couple tablespoons of Fruit Fresh mixed in.  Both methods keep your apples from oxidizing and turning brown.

When my apples are filling the 6 qt bowl to capacity, I drain them and add the cubes to my crockpot, which is set on high.

  This is when I decide whether or not I can cram a few more apples in the crock.  I can usually pack another two or three cubed apples in.  Packed tightly up to the lid.

After doing a lid fit test, I add 8 ounces of sugar free, or low sugar apple juice,

and 8 ounces of apple cider.

  You can also use plain water, or just juice.

 I let them simmer on high for two hours, stirring anytime I find myself walking through the kitchen.

 After two hours on high, I get out my trusty kitchenaid immersion blender and blend those softened cubes into what would be called a very chunky sauce.  STOP THERE.

See?  Still nice and chunky. And not quite cooked.  Turn down your temperature to LOW.  Add 4T of Lemon Juice, 2 3/4 cups of white sugar, and half a TABLESPOON of cinnamon.  ( yes, you can add less sugar.)

I simmer it on low for two hour and then with a screen lid (splatter guard) for one or two hours, depending on how thick you want it.  At the end of the cooking process, I taste it and see if I want to purée it more  (usually I do), and if I want to add more cinnamon (usually I do).

Then it is simply a matter of canning. You can water bath applesauce.  Leave a 1/2 of an inch of headspace in your jars.  Process for 20 minutes below 1,000 Ft and 25 minutes above 1,000ft.  I do mostly pints and some quarts.

Those peels?  DON"T toss them in the compost! Chop them up and toss handfuls into sandwich size bags, freeze, and save for the chickens.  What a wonderful mid winter TREAT!