Moody Monday's: Homemade Applesauce for the Holidays

tlpoague

A fragrance of cinnamon and cloves tantalized her taste buds as she closed the kitchen door to the cold, barren world of snow outside. She let the perfume and warmth engulf her, as she discarded her coat at a near-by kitchen chair on her way to the stove. A golden mash bubbled in the pot sending out plumes of smells that made her mouth water. She was giddy with excitement. It was her favorite dish. Her mother's applesauce she had made for the holidays.
I have many fond memories as child gathering around the table in preparation of making or processing food to store for the winter months. (Last week I shared "How To Make Snack Sticks")
Today, I wanted to share the process of making and canning my own applesauce from the apples I had gathered from my sister's apple tree. (I realize I am a day late posting this for a Moody Monday, but a slight injury held me up from writing yesterday and most of today.)
I began with peeling the mountain of apples. (This is where I can hear my great-grandma's voice scolding me for not peeling them the right way.)

Photo by tlpoague
My mini mountain of apples to peel.
The water has fruit fresh in it to keep the apples from turning brown.

Photo by tlpoague
The handy apple peeler/corer for those mountains of apples.
My grandmother would be having a stroke using this.
"Too much waste," she would claim.

Once I had the apples peeled and sliced, I placed them on the stove to cook down. It takes about two hours for the amount I had, which was roughly two gallons.

Photo by tlpoague
The apples sliced and ready for the pot.

Photo by tlpoague
I have roughly two gallons of apples to cook down.

Once the apples were cooked to a mush, I separated the juice from the pulp. The juice I stored in a pitcher to place in jars later and placed it in the refrigerator. I, then, mashed the pulp through a colander to create the creamy sauce. (For a faster process, the pulp can be ran through a food processor.)

Photo by tlpoague
The apples and juice that I have separated.
The steam is still rolling off them.

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The apples have been pureed and are ready for the sugar and spices.

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The juice is ready to be drank or also canned.
For now it is going to the fridge.

     Once I had the applesauce pureed. It was ready to add the sugar and spices. (I like a zip to my applesauce, so I added cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and ginger, with my sugar. Then it was time to add them to the sterile jars. (This can either be hot or cold packed. I used hot jars since my sauce was still hot.)

Photo by tlpoague
Applesauce is packed in sterile jars and ready to be processed.

I then gave my jars a water bath for thirty minutes after the water came to a rolling boil. (Be sure to check and see what your canning is for your area. Each area varies.)

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The jars are packed in a hot water bath.

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The end product...homemade applesauce for the holidays!

Photo by tlpoague
Here are two jars of the apple juice that I canned.
Later it can be drank, or made into jelly.

Thanks again for stopping by this Moody Monday. Sorry for the delay. A kink in my neck prevented me from being able to write and have this posted on time. (It much be all that crocheting I was doing...) But...I couldn't wait another week to share this wonderful treat.
*With Christmas just around the corner, these would make great gifts to add to a basket of homemade goodies.*