Celebrate Green Blog

by Lynn

Before we get started on the ‘recipe,” be sure to check out how we gathered our apples, then…

To know me is to know that I’m not a cook. I cooked for five people for 25 years. Then I quit. Our youngest child went off to college. It was just the two of us and in my view, time for my husband to learn his way around the kitchen, which he has.

I ate “raw” before it was cool and cooking simply has never been my strength or interest.

That’s why I’ve devised what I believe to be the least time-consuming way to make fantastic applesauce (or apple pie filling or apple butter or whatever else your mind can envision making from smashed up apples).

All there is to it:

1. Wash apples. (The secret to the recipe is to gather as many different types of apples as possible. See prior post on this. I believe this year I picked about a dozen different types.)

2. Cut into quarters, ensuring you remove any bad spots and the core. (Or use a handy-dandy apple peeler.)

3. Put the quarters into a pot turned to simmer.

4. Go about your life until the sauce forms. This could range from an hour to all day, depending on how many apples you’ve got and in what stage of ripeness, so it’s pretty much a guessing game, at least the way I do it.

The day you make applesauce might be a good one to sit by the fire and read, or engage in a craft project or clean out the fridge-any activity that can be periodically interrupted to check the cauldron.

Feel free to stir whenever you like because it’s obvious even to a lazy non-cook like me, that the apples at the bottom will cook more quickly than those at the top. But I know because I’ve tried it, even if you never stir, you’ll end up with cooked apples! (You may also possibly end up with a burned pot bottom, but just skim off the good stuff. I’ve done that too.)

We happen to like lumpy apple sauce. If you insist of course, you can put it into a food processor or smash it with a potato masher.

Now you’re going to ask me, what about sugar? What about cinnamon? Lemon juice?

My answer is simple. Let whomever is eating it add whatever they like. I can guarantee you that if I add sugar, someone is going to complain, “Ewww, it’s way too sweet!” Cinnamon? “My mother put cinnamon in my milk as a child and I can’t stand the stuff!” Save yourself the irritation.

Personally, I love this applesauce just as it is. I’ve done this three years running and I’ve never wanted to add anything to keep it from tasting like pure, unadulterated apples. But that’s me. Feel free to offer the extras when you serve it.

I also know we’re going to get some purists reading this who are going to insist that apple sauce should be canned. I freeze the stuff in glass jars after it cools, leaving 1.5″ from the top. I’ve never had a jar break yet.

I realize you haven’t tasted the applesauce yet, but I can prove to you how great it is with this little story.

I gave the jar pictured to my daughter whose two girls love applesauce. Finn, the younger one, dished it out to her friend, Michael, who couldn’t down it fast enough. Finally, the jar was empty and Michael still wanted more.

“Okay,” said Finn, “I’ll get you some of this (store-bought applesauce), but it won’t be as good because….long pause…It wasn’t made with love.”

You are welcome to share your apple recipes or apple picking adventures.

Lynn Colwell and Corey Colwell-Lipson are mother and daughter and authors of Celebrate Green! Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations and Traditions for the Whole Family, and founders of Green Halloween®.

Answers to the apple quiz: 1. Irish peach 2. Nittany 3. Akane 4. Black oxford