Thursday, February 24, 2011

A Recipe and Ramblings: Homemade Chunky Applesauce

I promised you a recipe and a recipe you shall have!

This one is embarrassingly easy but wonderfully delicious and goes with just about any main dish you want to serve.

Homemade Chunky Applesauce

8 medium Granny Smith apples (or other tart cooking apples)

Note: I am not real apply savvy and wouldn’t know a tart cooking apple if it bit me on the end of my nose. Therefore, I always just open the fridge and grab whatever apples happen to be currently residing there. (Because I’m an accomplished cook like that.)

2/3 C sugar (You can certainly use less; I usually use white sugar but I imagine brown would work as well.)

3/4 C apple juice (I seem to be out of apple juice whenever I decide to make this recipe so I use orange juice most of the time and it always turns out great.)

2 T margarine or butter, melted

1 t. cinnamon



1. Peel apples.

(There is no real reason I’m using a colander to put my peelings in except for the fact that all my regular big bowls were either in use or dirty.)

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Eight peeled apples.

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While I’m on the subject of peeling apples, may I just make a small, wee confession to you right now? I’ve been wanting to get this story off my chest for a long time and now seems to be as good a time as any.

My confession is this: The knife in this picture is a (gasp!) stolen knife.

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Here’s the confession:

Several years ago, Steve went to a Subway sandwich shop to pick up some subs for our family dinner. When he got home and we unpacked the sandwiches, lo and behold, sitting right there next to the meat and the bread and numerous sandwich-y toppings was yon knife! It had been inadvertently wrapped up and sent home with the sandwich!

(Insert gasp of horror here.)

Well, of course I immediately thought that we should return the knife but the restaurant was a little ways away from our house and I didn’t feel like doing it that night. And I forgot about it the next night. And the next. And the next.

It wasn’t long before we had moved to another town while still harboring the knife--the Stolen, unStolen Knife. And to this very day, we still have that knife. And I still have haunting feelings of overwhelming guilt whenever I use the knife. However, the truth of the matter is that the knife works really well and I’m sort of attached to it.

The way I figure it? Subway probably buys these knives in mass quantities for about a dollar each. And so the next time I go to a Subway, I may just leave a couple dollars in the tip jar and call it even.

Do you think that would be okay? Are any of you planning on calling the Manteo police and having me arrested? Because if so, I would like to know ahead of time so that I could at least put on some lipstick.

Thank you.

Okay. Glad I have finally dealt with that painful subject. Where were we?


2. Cut the peeled apples into eighths with your (hopefully) unstolen knife and put them into the Crockpot. (Or a large pan.)


3. Add sugar . . .

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4. And butter . . .

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5. And cinnamon.

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6. Then rummage around in your messy drawer and try to locate a measuring cup.

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7. Put apple or orange juice into cup. You can see I didn’t measure real carefully but--oh well! ("Oh well" is my Official Cooking Slogan.) Add juice to crock pot.

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8. Cover crock pot and cook on high heat setting 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until apples begin to break up. (If you’re cooking in a pan on the stove, cover the pan and turn the heat to low.)

Here are the apples at the beginning of the cooking time . . .

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and at the end of the cooking time.

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9. Stir well to break up larger pieces of apples. I actually use a potato masher because I want to feel like the kind of cook who can use a potato masher with panache and precision. Are you impressed? No? (sigh)

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Then do what my mother always taught me which is to rinse your utensils right away so that the food will not dry and stick eternally to said utensils. It will make your life so much happier not to have to deal with eternally stuck food. Trust me on this.

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And there you have it!

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Now, for a little cooking secret reserved exclusively for my Smithellaneous blog friends:

If you need to serve a bigger crowd (like for Easter dinner) but you don’t feel like peeling 16 apples in order to double the recipe, do what I do. Buy a jar of chunky applesauce at the store, mix it in with the home made applesauce and call it a day. There will be plenty to go around and the home made flavor will shine through and make the whole bowl of apple-y sauce extra delicious.

And now here is the rambling-less recipe:

Homemade Chunky Applesauce

8 medium Granny Smith apples (or other tart cooking apples)

2/3 C sugar (You can use a bit less.)

3/4 C apple or orange juice

2 T margarine or butter, melted

1 t. cinnamon

Mix all ingredients in slow cooker

Cover and cook on high heat setting 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until apples begin to break up. Stir well to break up larger pieces of apples.

Serve warm or chilled. Serves about 6.

The recipe adds: “For a pretty delicate applesauce that is packed with cinnamon flavor, stir in 1/3 cup red cinnamon candies during the last 30 minutes of cooking.”

Sarah

Sarah had a good day at school yesterday and even went to her girl’s group at church last night. I can tell she’s not up to full strength but she’s definitely made great improvement. Thanks for all your encouraging words to her during her down time.

The Sew Sew Edition

I can’t tell you all how much I have enjoyed reading your sewing skills stories! Some of you are incredibly gifted in this area and some of you are, well, just like me!

It was also interesting to read the range of ages represented and although it does seem to be true that most of the more accomplished sewers are fifty or over, I was encouraged to read of a resurgence of sewing interest among the younger crowd.

It’s just nice to be reminded that I’m in good company, and that I’m not the only one that hyperventilates at the thought of doing anything beyond sewing a simple hem.

Thanks so much, everyone, for chiming in and sharing your stories; I love getting the chance to get to you all and love seeing you all get to know each other!

Comments

Jojy wrote: With a caring (though a tad hirsute) nurse that Snowy is, Sarah will be back to herself in NO time! When I get feeling puny sometimes, I wish I had Nurse Snowy nearby!! Get well Sarah!

Jojy, I just have to say that I was thrilled to read a word in your comment that I didn’t know. (I love learning new words!) I immediately looked up hirsute and discovered it meant “furry.”

Thanks for expanding my brain!

Anon asked: How many days until The College Dude (TCD) will be back home?

Nathan (and his girlfriend, Meagan) are due back home next weekend and will stay for almost a week. Hurray!

15 Had Something To Say (Just click here!):

SuperSuz said...

I just have to say that the knife WAS not stolen. It was a gift! It was even wrapped up nicely with a side of sandwich so I think you are off the hook completely and without guilt!

I'm so glad that Sarah feels better :-)

Love Being A Nonny said...

FUNNY story about the knife!!! I think a lot of us may have a similar story. I'm just sayin'..........:)

Anonymous said...

That is a great knife. I worked at Subway in high school and took some home because it was the perfect size for cutting veggies. I think all of us took a couple home at times. They also had the most perfect tomato corer thing and I wish I had one of those.

Yours wasn't stolen. It was an unintentional gift, but a nice one!

Rachel
North Dakota

Anonymous said...

I love your recipes. Going to try this one soon.
~kim

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

ps - meant to make that confession annonymous. Oh well. It's out there now.

Judy said...

The idea of adding orange juice to the applesauce sounds great. I omit the sugar completely by using sweeter apples and add a dash of salt to intensify the flavor. Look forward to trying orangey applesauce soon.

MaryH said...

The applesauce looks yummy and I am glad Sarah is better - love the knife story - so glad you get to have your two favorite visitors soon. Hope you have sunshine today - our weather is really yucky and that is a technical term! Come on Spring.

Anonymous said...

Love homemade applesauce. Re: Subway knife. Why not just take it with you the next time you go there, and let them know another location had inadvertently packed it in your order, and you wonder if you could buy it from them. They most likely will say no, and then it won't niggle at you, assuming that it does. :-)
An extra tip doesn't really go to the company, most likely, but is split amongst the employees.

Will try the recipe!

Unknown said...

MMMMMmmmmmm!!! That looks wonderful! Love the pictures showing the process too! You are so Martha Stewart! Love it!

Unknown said...

Well, I was always brought up to believe and this is from the South where I was raised and still live, that if a knife is given to you that you never return it back to the giver or it cuts all ties with that person. So clearly that Subway shop wanted to be your friend! You all must had been nice to them :) You really did not take it....they wrapped it up and gave it to you. All is forgiven:) I brought home leftovers one night from a fancy restarant and my nice whte linen napkin I had used was in the bag with them! If only the had given me 12!!
As far as sewing goes...I have a story for you! I signed up yrs ago to take a BEGINNERS class throug the local adult education classes. I bought everything on the list that I needed and was so looking forward to the class and dreaming of making my own clothes and for my kids someday. I went to class and found out that everyone in the class EXCEPT for me already knew how to sew. They just wanted to learn the "right way." Since I didnt know how to thread my machine or do this and that...it was a BEGINNERS class...the teacher asked me to leave after the seond class and not return because I took up took much class time having her show me how to do this or that. And NO she didnt give me my money back. Needless to say that pretty much scared me for life when it comes to sewing! My husband knows not to ask me to sew a button on...I do it too tight and he cant even left the button to get it through the hole.
Glad Sarah is feeling better. Her bangs are cute! I might need to borrow Snowy for my SarahBeth!

Colleen said...

On the applesauce, if you are tight on time, 10 mintues in the mircowave will also do the trick (depending on how soft you like the apples, you can go up or down with the time) I usually throw in a dash of vanilla too. I grew up with my stepmother making homemade applesauce in the microwave for almost every dinner. And it always reminds me of Peter Brady's "Porkchops and applesauce"!

ClassiclyAmber said...

Yuuuuuummy~! Making applesauce is on my LIST! Thanks for sharing~! =-D

Bridget said...

that looks YUMMY

Anonymous said...

I also wanted to tell you that I tried your recipe for the Chunky Applesauce. It is FABULOUS!!! I altered it just a tad –omitting the butter and used SPLENDA in place of the sugar (I'm doing Weight Watchers so this then gives me about 3/4 cup for one point). My family loved it as well so I already need to make more! Thanks for sharing the recipe!!!

Deb Mathey