Making applesauce

Had a few apples (Romes, Fuji, and who knows what) that wouldn't keep much longer so cut them up this morning and made a batch of applesauce. Some will go into the freezer for later but we'll eat a good bit of it this week.

It's easy to do. Wash the apples and slice into quarters or smaller. Remove core in the process. If you don't want to be bothered pushing them thru a sieve or ricer later, peel the apples, too. For my part, I like to get all the nutrients and hate to peel more than I mind using the ricer. YMMV

Using a large pan, add 1/2" of water and then the apples. Place over low-to-medium heat. I use a simmer pad on my gas stove burner as it helps keep the apples in the bottom from sticking before the ones on top are soft. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes or until apples are soft and begin turning to sauce when you stir. You can can applesauce but unless I'm making a lot (like when our apple tree exploded one year and I canned 150 pints) I pour the sieved applesauce into recycled freezer bowls such as cottage cheese or yogurt containers. Leave a 1/2-inch headspace, put the lid on tightly and freeze till you want some fresh-tasting applesauce. Yum!

No need to add sugar. If the apples were sweet-tasting when eaten out of hand, they'll make sweet applesauce. You can always sprinkle on a little cinnamon-sugar when serving if you must.

The chickens were happy to take care of the apple cores and what remained after ricing. DS and I took a bowl of applesauce out to my mom's for dinner tonight, too. Everyone's happy with fresh applesauce and I'm happy not to waste those apples!