What to do with 467 apples (or how to make apple butter)

Last weekend, a very special friend (who's turning 4 in a few days) and I went on an apple adventure.

Here's Ramona pre-adventure:
One ppj sandwich, a brief nap, and two lollipops later, we arrived at Drew Farms in Westford, MA where the manager and I struck a deal: $10 tucked into the glove box of the white Dodge minivan parked in the lot, and Ramona and I could pick all the apples we could carry out.

Ha.

They didn't know who they were dealing with.
This is how it went down:
And then. . .
This is the story of how we ended up with 467 apples, give or take 100.

In the past week, I've given away enough apples to put a dent in Whole Food's produce sales, used a bushel in a fashion shoot and made 40 - FORTY - jars of apple butter.

And this is how to do it.

Get apples. Lots.
Wash them off, quarter them and stick them in an oven-safe container. Don't worry about coring or peeling them.
Cover them up (with lids if you have them or foil if you don't) and stick them in the oven at 400 degrees for about an hour - or until they're really squishy.This is what they look like when they're done baking:
My goal in this apple butter fiasco was to do as little work as possible to the biggest possible effect, so I went and splurged at the hardware store and bought a food mill:The beauty of this method is that you don't have to peel or core anything. The food mill takes care of all the roughage by pushing through only the happy squishy parts.

So, recruit you friends (say hi to Jason), and have a cranking party. Spiked hot cider helps the process along.This is what is left in the food mill when all the apple goo is processed:The processed apple goo is the prettiest applesauce you've ever seen:Then gather your spices (cloves, allspice, cinnamon), some lemon juice and sugar.Add a lot of the spices (I have no idea how much) and a pile of sugar (about 2-4 cups, I'd guess - depends on how much apple sauce you have). Just make it taste good - remember you can always add more as the mixture cooks.As I was doing this, by the way, Erik and Jason were making fun my *precise* measuring. Erik asked me how I would describe the amount of lemon juice I added to this batch, and lacking a better answer, I held up the bottle and said, "full, minus this much."And then you just cook it for a long time over medium/low heat. Be careful to keep some sort of screen on top of the pot because it bubbles and pops like mad.As the mixture cooks, the sugars caramelize, turning it a deep, beautiful brown and giving it a distinctive apple butter-y flavor. You'll know it's done - well, when it tastes done - but especially when it's very thick and clings to a spoon. If you stir it and think, "applesauce!" - keep cooking.

Once you've lost your patience, or you want to go to bed, or it's actually done (whichever comes first), pour the apple butter into sterilized jars to within 1/4" of the top, screw the lids on tight and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.At this point, I got crafty. Or Martha Stewart-y. Or just plain carried away again. I had to play dress-up with all 40 jars of apple butter.And now I have the happy dilemma of finding enough people to give these to.

Looking back, it was by far the easiest of all the canning/preserving/jamming sessions I've done this season. Not having to peel the apples is grand, and there was almost no waste. This is definitely a project I'll repeat, and I'd recommend it to anyone with kids who like to cook and make grand messes.

Oh, by the way, I'm out of town (Argentina) for the next 10 days, so if you don't see any new posts, that's why. I'll still be online, though, so if you leave a comment, I'll be sure to get it and respond. Unless you tell me you hate me. Then I won't.

Happy November, y'all!

A few things have happened since the last post. For brevity's sake, I'll make the review short (and full of pictures) and go back only as far as last Tuesday . . . November 4.

Bright and early, we did this:
Then I worked like a crazy person taking pictures and doing a video about other people doing exactly that same thing.

And then this happened:

And then I stayed up all night shooting and editing this:


And then I did this for about 20 hours:
And then today, I went outside to find this:(Oh, yeah. . . I have a garden!)

So that's what I've been up to, and that's why I haven't written. Seeing that I work for a news organization, I cannot mention my feelings about the outcome of the election, except to state several facts. This is history, and whatever your feelings about the promised "change," -- well, change has already occurred. Both of those things are incredibly positive developments, and that's all I'll say about that.

Back to the garden, my little squares of non-partisan dirt that at the same time speak volumes about my politics.

Last weekend, I painted the inside of the coldframes white (using non-toxic, no-VOC paint) so they can make the most of the limited winter sunlight. That paint, by the way, is massively expensive! $26 for a small can!Then, Erik and I sealed the joints and screw holes with clear silicone so they'll cold up for several seasons in the rain. They are also stained and sealed on the outside to protect the wood.

Each night, if it looks like the temperatures will dip near freezing, we place the windows on top and close them. But if the weather is balmy and wet (as it's been for about 4 days here now), I just take the tops off entirely. Unless it's really cold, I leave the windows open so air can circulate. As the days get colder, I'll adjust this, and perhaps only leave the windows ajar during the sunniest hours. Again, learning as I go here -- advice is welcome, if you've got some!

It's been several weeks now with the cold frames, and the plants seem to love them. The lettuce has gone nuts:So is the Swiss chard:And we're getting little baby turnips (? - forgot to remember what I planted there - could be radishes, but I don't think so)Speaking of radishes, I went to check on them, and !#&@^#*#*@(@!!!!!!This little jerk is responsible:And this is how I feel:So I dusted off the ravished radish -and ate it.

Good news about the brussels sprouts! Remember this plant that would not, could not, mature so I chopped off its head?Well, now the sprouts have filled out. I think we're going to make then into dinner soon.There were two cantaloupes that hung on late in the season, though they remained tiny. I've left them on the vine in the hope that they'd get a little bigger, but to no avail. So today I plucked them from their home and introduced them to my kitchen knife.They weren't very good.

The composter in the front is just about ready.
And the back composter is full of the tomato, bean and pepper plants I tore up in the rear garden.Speaking of the rear garden, I decided that next year, it's going to be the dedicated vine and tomato spot. The tomatoes did great there this year (especially the Brandywines) and the purple pole beans - oh my. However, the one thing that all the vining plants needed was more support, so we (actually, Erik will) are going to build a trellis that stretches from the fence to the roof of the adjacent garage.
(like my illustration?)

And while I'm sharing my plans for next season, here's the area where we're (actually, Erik will - again) going to build the chicken run:I'm about out of updates, and both the cat and the husband are snoring, so I think I'll wrap up with some pretty pictures of rose hips, which I may harvest tomorrow to make jam.Th-th-that's all folks!!