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!