Apple Butter

October 17, 2008

We’ve been having an apple butter marathon this week!

My mom is here and we were determined to use up the last box and half of apples. Four batches of apple butter later we now have over 60 delectable pints!

The house smells wonderful even if the windows are all steamed up and we’ve used every pot in the house!

We started with my favorite recipe, but after a couple of batches we improvised a little with the spices. (It’s a family joke that my mom never follows a recipe exactly as printed. “Improv” is her middle name!) We love the final product!

Apple Butter

Start with 2 gallons of THICK unsweetened applesauce. You can purchase this, or you can make your own but use very little water. We made our own using my Victorio Food Strainer.

Add 14 cups sugar, 5 heaping teaspoons cinnamon, 1 heaping teaspoon nutmeg, and 1 heaping teaspoon of cloves. Mix well.

Put in a large roaster (we used my turkey roaster) and place in a low oven (300-325 degrees). Bake for 5-6 hours stirring every half hour or so.

The butter will thicken and turn a rich deep brown color.

Pour apple butter into pint jars, seal and process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes.

Makes about 15 pints.

We could only do one batch at a time in the oven, so we improvised (Yes, my mom is the Queen of Kitchen Improv!) We put the second batch in two crock pots uncovered on low overnight. By morning the butter was ready to put in jars and process.

We still had 2 batches that needed to be cooked. So I dug out my electric roaster and put the last 2 batches in it without a lid. It worked very well. It took the same amount of time as the oven, but we didn’t need to bend over to stir, the oven was free for the bread we needed to bake and we could do more than one batch at a time.

It was a marathon, but these will taste so good all winter!

By Country Gal | Posted in Autumn, Canning and Preserving, Cooking and Food, Harvesting | Tagged , , | Comments (4)

Sound of the Seasons- Autumn

October 15, 2008

home canned food

Have you ever “heard” fall? There’s an urgency in it’s voice.

As I sat on the dock listening the other day I could hear birds calling each other, reminding them to hurry on their journey south.

I heard combines running on 4 sides as once again the farmers race against winter to bring in this season’s crop.

There was the whirring of chain saws as neighbors added to their wood piles in anticipation of the cold weather ahead.

The grasshoppers were buzzing and crickets were chirping as they enjoyed the last warm days.

I sat and heard it all and I understood it.

This is a busy season for the gardener. The last of the garden produce is competing with the apples for my attention. Daily there is something in the canner as I race against the first frost.

But I knew that this season will not last forever. That killing frost will come and the world around me will be silent with the cold of winter.

There is peace in knowing that these urgent days will have an end. These seemingly endless boxes of produce will all be tucked away neatly into jars and sitting on my pantry shelves ready for my family.

And then the first garden catalog will arrive…

Eccle. 3:1 To everything there is a season…a time to plant and a time to pluck up what was planted…”


By Country Gal | Posted in Autumn, Deep Thoughts, Harvesting | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Apples, Apples, Apples!

October 12, 2008

red delicious apples

The last two years we’ve had dismal apple harvests.

They’ve been so bad that last year I had to import apples from my sister-in-law in North Dakota to make applesauce.

This year is a totally different story!

Apple trees that have never had an apple are loaded this year. There are so many apples in southern Iowa that I’m afraid to look people in the eye for fear they will offer me some.

I’ve even heard of people leaving random bags of apples on the porches of unsuspecting neighbors. We might need to start locking our car doors.

Every potluck and church dinner has row after row of apple pies, apple cobbler, apple crisp, apple salad, and apple muffins.

I’ve already done over 58 quarts of applesauce and we have barely touched the apple tree. Can new apples sprout over night?

Right now I have 4 banana boxes of apples sitting in my porch reminding me that I’m not done yet.

Yet, I want to get as much out of these as I can because I don’t know if there will be a harvest next year.

So my plans for the week are pretty well decided. Applesauce, apple butter, apple pie filling, then lather rinse, repeat.

Apple crisp anyone?

By Country Gal | Posted in Autumn, Harvesting | Tagged , | Comments (2)

Feast or Famine

October 10, 2008

I had a lovely conversation with a dear friend today. She shared openly how, as farmers, they did very well last year, but it looked like this year they were going to barely break even.

We decided in rural America it’s often either feast or famine.

But in time, we’re learning to accept it.  We’re learning to be thankful for the blessings in the good years and trusting God to provide in the lean ones.

We’re discovering that God really does see the big picture where we see only a glimmer.  His provision and plan for us is perfect, whatever our situation may be.

“When peace like a river attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well with my soul…”

~ Horatio G. Spafford

Feast or famine, good times or hard ones, our God is still in control.

“…for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” ~ Phil. 4: 11-12

By Country Gal | Posted in Deep Thoughts, Harvesting | Tagged , , , | Comment (1)

Homemade Ketchup

October 9, 2008

Ketchup

I’ll admit that I don’t have fond memories of homemade ketchup.

There was one year growing up that my mom decided that since all five of us kiddos loved ketchup, she would use some of her bumper crop of tomatoes to can up a homemade version.

It did NOT go over well. It was runny and didn’t look or taste anything like the kind from the store that made the Heinz family millionaires.

So spending time making homemade ketchup was never on my to-do list.

Until we were enjoying a 4th of July barbecue at the home of some friends. Our kids were scarfing down hot dogs and burgers slathered in ketchup.

My host made the comment that my kids sure loved her homemade ketchup.

Her homemade what? I couldn’t believe that my kids were not only eating, but enjoying homemade ketchup! Come to think of it- so did I.

Needless to say, I left with the recipe and it has been a staple in our home ever since.

I bet Mom is laughing right now.

Homemade Ketchup

4 quarts tomato juice (I run my raw tomatoes through my Victorio strainer*)
3 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups vinegar
1/4 cups canning salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper
2 small cans of tomato paste (6 oz. each)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves OR 1 tablespoon whole cloves (Take out after cooked)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon allspice

Mix all of the ingredients together and boil for 1 hour.

Dissolve 3/4 cup of cornstarch in a little cold water. Remove ketchup from heat and add the cornstarch, stirring well. bring back to a boil.

Pack hot into hot jars, seal, and process in a boiling water bath for 25 minutes.

I always keep some empty ketchup bottles around to pour my homemade version in before I serve it. It’s easier to serve from a squirt bottle and you can fool unsuspecting children and visitors!

*The link is to a similar brand.

By Country Gal | Posted in Autumn | Tagged , , , | Comments (2)