Canning More Goodies

October 5, 2009 at 12:05 pm | Posted in cooking, Flexitarian, Food, gardening, photography, Recipes | 7 Comments
Tags: apples, applesauce, canning, canning applesauce, chunky applesauce, cooking, food storage, fruit, grape jelly, green grapes

I LOVE apples!

applesauce

Homemade applesauce is just plain yummy! I make mine with cinnamon and brown sugar.

It’s a very simple process.

Here is how I do it. Keeping in mind sweetness is individual taste–I add about 1/2 cup brown sugar and then increase as needed.

Angelnina’s Homemade Chunky Applesauce

About 15 apples–I used a mixture of gala and golden delicious

approx. 1/2 c to 1 cup brown sugar–more if you prefer

1-2 tsp cinnamon-you can drop in a cinnamon stick or two if you’d like

fresh nutmeg grated

1/8 tsp ground cloves–more if you’d like

small piece of lemon peel (opt)

Peel and core your apples, then chop them into large chunks.

Throw the quartered apples into a large pot–they’ll cook way down. Add the apple cider or water. Cook and stir on medium or medium low heat, until apples become very soft–then mash with potato masher. I keep mine chunky, so I do not strain. I do remove the lemon peel piece (if I use it) and make sure the cinnamon sticks are taken out after cooking.

After they are softened, I add the sugar, cinnamon, and other spices to taste. Taste for sweetness.

Keep stirring until most of the liquid is cooked out.

In the meantime, have sterilized canning jars (I filled 4 pints) at the ready to can water bath style.

Fill jars, leaving 1/2″ head space. Place new lids on and bands–Process in your water bath canner for 20 minutes. Any jars that do not seal, can be kept in the fridge.

NOTE: If you’ve never canned before, I recommend reading the Ball Canning Recipe Book. Follow instructions closely for safety purposes.

Next I made grape jelly out of my green grapes!

In order to avoid arm wrestling the squirrels and raccoons, I decided to pick all of my grapes and put them to use.

Click below to read and see more

I smashed them with a potato masher

Strain the juice through 3 or 4 layers of cheese cloth, into a bowl

I managed to squeeze out a few cups of juice.

I cooked the juice with sugar until thickened to a syrup consistency.

I did not use pectin, so my jelly is more like a jam. Pectin would be best for jelling, but I didn’t want to waste an entire box of pectin on a few jars of jelly.

The results taste exactly like purple grape jelly–only the color is more like a peach jam.

HAPPY AUTUMN!

Rate this:

Like this:

Be the first to like this post.

7 Comments »

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

Wow! That all looks wonderful. Good luck.

Comment by sorrentolens— October 5, 2009 #

Reply
OH MY GOSH, THAT LOOKS SO GOOD.
I’VE NEVER CANNED A THING IN MY LIFE, BUT I THINK I MIGHT TRY !!!

Comment by COZY KITCHEN BY THE SEA— October 5, 2009 #

Reply
Thank you!
It would be a cinch for you! Have you made freezer jams? Those are beyond easy. Canning is just time consuming–depending on what you’re making.

Comment by angelnina— October 5, 2009 #

Reply
Those apples looked so perfect. Are there certain kinds of apples that maybe we shouldn’t use for canning?

I think canning is better than freezing. What happens when we have a power outage and they begin to thaw.

Comment by weezy— October 5, 2009 #

Reply
Nice! I didn’t can any fruit this year except for some chutney. Now I’m kicking myself for not doing apple sauce!

Comment by Maven— October 5, 2009 #

Reply
Weezy: I just can whatever I can get at a good price. Red delicious apples and powder texture apples seem like poor candidates to me. I also freeze freezer jams–plus I froze my peaches–sliced and in light syrup. I am freezing the pesto I made today too. I’m going to think positive and hope my freezer holds up in a power failure – If not, I’ll invite you guys over to eat everything in the freezer

Comment by angelnina— October 5, 2009 #

Reply
Lyndsay: I’d love to make chutney too–do you have a recipe for that?

Comment by angelnina— October 5, 2009 #

Reply

Angelnina’s Cottage