. . .a princess touch.

Our to do list is still in progress.  The dry erase marker did NOT come out.  Hairspray, Hand Sanitizer, and Goof-Off didn’t do a thing.  My mom says she can paint over the spots and make it look like normal.  I’m still thinking about it.  My mom is pretty amazing.

I did give that boy a love though.  We read as many books as he could sit for and his dimply smiles make it all worth it.

The patches went on the shirts well.  I used clear thread on the top and bobbin thread to match the shirt.  That way I didn’t have to change thread to match each patch.  The Daddy scout was so excited to get his finished shirt that he had it on before he was all the way in the door.

And we are still processing through the apples.  I finally gave up near midnight last night and will start again this morning.  We have 7 quarts and 14 pints so far.  And at least that many more to do.  It will feel so good to have homemade organic applesauce through the winter.

My recipe is to wash and quarter the apples, removing any bad spots or worms.  Cook the apples without water until soft and then process in a food mill to remove the core and skin.  I like to cook the apples with skin on.  It saves time, adds nutrition and a rosey hue to the finished sauce.   Then I fill clean jars with the warm sauce, secure a 2-part lid and process in a boiling water canner for 20 minutes.  It’s so easy and so satisfying.  We prefer not to add sugar or any spices and just enjoy the natural flavor of the apples.  I leave most of the juice in, since we favor a moist sauce over a dry one.

My new favorite way to cook the apples is in a steam juice extractor.  I borrowed this one from my mom, but Amazon has reasonable prices if you plan to do a lot of home canning.  Tomatoes and grapes are also lovely in this.  It basically has 3 levels.  The bottom pan is full of water and steams the upper level.  The middle level collects the juice and the top level holds the fruit.  It’s impossible to burn the fruit with this method, even if you get involved in a stack of picture books with the cutest children in the world.

I also cooked a batch of apples while we were at ballet class in my slow cooker.  It took a lot longer than I expected, overnight would work.  But I could leave the house and still make progress on the apples.  You might wonder why I don’t just cook the apples in a stock pot like normal people?  Well, I have a tendancy to burn things, even with water in the pot.  When the smoke alarm goes off, the kids yell, “Come on, Lunch is ready.”  And I learned that one scortched apple will flavor the whole pot.  Not one jar of our slaved-over sauce from last year is edible due to the charcoal undertones.  That was the second year in a row so I found new methods.

This afternoon I’ll share another apple recipe that I modified for a healthy breakfast.  Tis the season for fresh apples!

P.S.  I snagged my powerful Kitchen Aid food mill on eby for $25.  But if you don’t have one, you can peel and core your apples and then puree them in the blender, or use a potato masher for chunky sauce, yum!