Fall Fancies - Applesauce!

 It's been a while since I've posted any recipes.  Now, you will get a recipe two days in a row.

At this time of year, the possibility of frost sharpens our enjoyment of outdoor plants.  The nighttime temperatures are starting to dip into the 30's (1 - 2 degrees Celsius).  That means...

...it's apple time.

I live in apple growing country in upstate New York.  So when it s apple time, it's local apple time.  This year we've had a bountiful harvest.  Various you pick and they-pick operations feature overflowing bushel baskets full of apples, ready to be processed for apple pie, apple crisp, and apple sauce.

A "20 oz" apple - hey, it was only 12.80 oz!

Apples will get me into the kitchen, a place which rarely feels my footsteps.

On a cool fall day, what better thing is there than to make applesauce.  Or apple crisp, which I will feature tomorrow.

AM's Lazy Applesauce

You need several pounds of cooking apples.  But they don't have to be cooking apples.  In the back of my fridge I found six old Gala apples.  To accompany them, I purchased a 20 oz apple.  

Just use some of your favorite apples, OK?   But be aware, some apples will produce a grainy applesauce.  Macouns and MacIntosh will make a nice, smooth sauce.  I like mine a little chunky.  20 oz are great for that, as are Cortlands and Pippins.  The harder the apple flesh, the grainier.  Tartness is a personal preference.

Core the apples.  Cut into pieces, perhaps 8 pieces per apple.  Peeling is optional.  Put them in a pot.  Add about 3/4 of a cup of water, or, if you have it, apple juice or apple cider.  If you want sugar, use brown sugar. 

Cook the apples under medium low heat  until they are ready to be mashed with an apple masher, perhaps 25 minutes.  Add cinnamon or cloves to taste.  Let the aroma float through your house.  Savor the aroma.  It's time for comfort food.  Puree it if you like.  I don't.  I'm lazy.

Some people add butter.  I do not.

My Mom used to make applesauce with cinnamon candies, which dyed the sauce red.  It's a wonderful memory for me.  In turn, I made applesauce with my young son, years ago. He's graduated to peppery hot sauce now. He even grows his own jalapeños for it.

Serve your applesauce, fragrant with the scents of autumn, warm.  Or cold.  Serve with potato pancakes (as spouse did tonight).  Or, just eat it as is.

Here's another take on applesauce.

Do you like applesauce?  How do you make it?