Food for Thought - Applesauce

The Dog Walker asked me if I was ever going to do a Food for Thought again since I hadn’t done one for two weeks. And I quote… “It’s my blog and I can do whatever I want!” Then he proceeded to irritate me for at least another hour texting me suggestions of what I needed to post about. So here I am, succumbing to kid pressure once again.

I am not an apple fan. I don’t drink apple juice because it has way too many calories. I know it’s un-American, but I don’t really even like apple pie unless it has a large scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. I will occasionally eat an apple if it’s not tart, and I always pass on store-bought applesauce. But I LOVE a dish of freshly-made warm applesauce!

My mom always made applesauce when we were kids. She had an old crank strainer that you tucked into your arm like it was a mixing bowl and she had to crank that thing for hours to get much out of it. We have an updated version that my sweetie believed was still too slow, so he rigged up a drill and now he can strain a dozen quarts of applesauce in about 10 minutes. Of course you have to have a helper who isn’t afraid of being sprayed with the hot pulp when the drill goes a little too fast. We used to have a half dozen apple trees but now we only have two, one red delicious and one that was supposed to be a Green Spire Linden. For a Linden, it sure makes good applesauce!

We have two large stockpots that my sweetie found for $20/each at the old Weinstock's about 20 years ago. (They really are one of the best purchases he ever made even though I gave him crap about it at the time.) Each one will hold a five-gallon bucket full of chopped apples. We like using several varieties just to give us a more flavorful sauce. My favorite kind to add is the Golden Delicious and we generally buy a couple of boxes and mix them in.

I bought my strainer at the local Macey's grocery store for about forty bucks. It can handle all the apple cores and seeds, but not the stems, so I pull out the stems and cut the apples in quarters. Then I toss them in the pot. When the pot is nearly full (leave a little stirring room), I add about 2 cups of water and turn in on medium high. Make sure to stir it often so it doesn’t burn and cook it for about 30 – 40 minutes until the apples are soft.

Let it cool for about another 30 minutes or so before grinding. You want the applesauce to still be hot, especially if you are planning to put it into jars. Otherwise, you have to process it much longer.

My mom always added sugar to her applesauce, but we never do. Since all apples are different, some need sugar and some don’t. It’s just as easy to add it when you are eating it. I like to add a bit of cinnamon and I think I’ve mentioned before that my kids love this warm applesauce served over French Toast. And you don't even need to add ice cream!