The other day when our neighbor offered some not so pretty apples, I remembered the advice from a lady at the farmer's market about letting apples get not so pretty before baking, and I decided to make some applesauce.
I made a small batch in the crock pot, just peeled and chopped apples, a little bit of brown sugar and cinnamon, cooked on low for the afternoon. Boy did the house smell good. I let the sauce cool a bit, then spooned it into an ice cube tray to freeze small portions of applesauce, just the right size for adding to a bowl of oatmeal. Oatmeal sweetened with applesauce is one of my favorite breakfasts.
Maybe September and October will offer more opportunities to preserve food. Pickled green beans, pumpkin butter, more applesauce, definitely some dried herbs. And maybe next summer our neighbor's will experience a bumper crop of fruit and we'll restock our pantry with jam.
Molly, I'm about tired of all the putting up I've been doing, except I know I'll be happy about it this winter. Wish I could share some of my free fruit with you! I'll have another batch of applesauce to do next week, and peaches (my peach vendor gives me his culls at the farmers market)
ReplyDeleteIs it in the air? Reading through your last few posts I've been feeling similar, and my food preservation hasn't happened this year either - no strawberry or blueberry jam, no blueberries neatly frozen for winter, no salsa made and jarred. Between that and the back to school blues it's a broken egg kind of week here too!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great ides - apple sauce on oatmeal sounds yum i'll have to try it soon
ReplyDeleteLove reading your blog!
ooooh the smell must of been like heaven. yum.
ReplyDeleteI thought that finally this was the summer that I would be putting up all kinds of things too! After living in our house for nearly 5 years, my husband finally was able to get a garden in this year. We planted all kinds of things with great hopes! Many weeks later, nothing is looking too good. My husband heads to the nursery where we bought 11 yards of soil, only to be told that they had gotten a few batches that "weren't good." Picture my fabulous husband digging up the garden (including the irrigation works!) and trying to "fix" the soil and replant some plants! Aaaahhhh! So we're just beginning to reap some of the benefits (a few tomatoes, one jalapeno, a handful of blueberries), but definitely not enough for freezing, canning, etc. Ah well. . . next year. . . or perhaps a winter garden.
ReplyDeleteSounds delicious. Ever try raw applesauce?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.recipezaar.com/Uncooked-Applesauce-51928
I really love the idea of freezing homemade applesauce in ice cube tray portions. I have some of those fancy-pants trays with lids left over from making baby food for my kids...thanks for the idea!
ReplyDeleteI never thought of using brown sugar in my applesauce. It sounds delicious, I'm going to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteIt must be something in the air because I haven't preserved any fruit yet, either. I have been blogging about making raspberry jam for a couple of months now, but, so far, I haven't made any.
ReplyDeleteThe applesauce sounds delicious! Like Debi, I haven't used brown sugar in applesauce before. I must try it!!
Oh.
ReplyDeleteI totally forgot about this idea. I used to make applesauce and freeze it for my children when they were babes... but what a great idea to put in on oatmeal.
You never cease to surprise, impress or interest me!!!
ReplyDeleteI did put away around 40lbs of blueberries this year - froze them and today I'm attempting jam for the first time.
ReplyDeleteI am intrigued by the applesauce in a crockpot idea, I wanted to make apple butter this way.
crockpot applesauce! what a simply perfect idea.
ReplyDeleteCrockpot applesauce is my favorite way to spend a weekend afternoon. We're all out of applesauce right now but soon I'll be able to restock!
ReplyDeleteahhh apple hill season is almost here!
ReplyDeleteSO EXCITED!
im happy to have found another foothill blogger! im kinda new to the whole blogging thing
i cant wait to check out your recipes :p
i've never made applesauce this way. i've always stood over the stove. how easy!
ReplyDeleteand i have one package of blueberries in the freezer. not so good either.
so funny~ i just made apple butter in my crock pot on thursday. for me, it's the only way i'll actually do most of that putting by!
ReplyDeletewhat a great idea about the applesauce in the oatmeal! We eat apples all year round- but pick them ourselves in the fall, I'll be making sure I make applesauce in ice cube trays- thanks!
ReplyDeletei do love homemade applesauce but never thought to put it into oatmeal, that sounds delicious! thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI thought we'd be canned tomatoes this year, but our tomatoe bushes have not cooperated! Maybe next year!
ReplyDeletecanning
ReplyDeleteThis picture reminded me of my 2 year old. Whenever I peel carrots he reaches his hands up and snatches carrot peels off the cutting board and stuffs them in his mouth. I keep fishing the grubby peels out of his mouth and try to make him peels from the already peeled part of the carrot, but NO... he doesn't want those. Crazy kid. So, watch out for the peel grabbers. :)
ReplyDeleteyou motivated me...i am starting to make pesto and freeze it in ice cube trays and then in plastic ziploc bags....i am trying to think of a place to store my butternut squash....i need to figure that out before the first frost!
ReplyDeleteHi Molly - free fruit has been hard to come by here as well. Not sure what the fall will hold.
ReplyDeleteThis summer's harvest did get botched, and I've been saddened by it, being new to canning and perserving, etc. So thanks for the hope of pumpkin butter (yum!) and great idea with the cubed applesauce!
ReplyDeleteApplesauce in the crock pot. Simple but genius.
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