Friday, November 20, 2009

The Recipe


Welcome to Company Girl Coffee. By now, because it is mid-afternoon, I'm trying to rehydrate by drinking water. Every day it happens, first thing in the morning I drink my coffee so I can function, and then a second cup around lunch time. By 1pm I realize I'm dragging due to dehydration, "oh that's why my tongue is sticking to the roof of my mouth."

I am looking forward to this weekend. Tonight we are getting together with friend. Tomorrow I'm off to a scrapbooking day, all day. Crossing my fingers to completing 2008 (slowly I'm catching up.)

However, until tonight I need to complete some delayed to-do list items, thanks to a little prodding by Rachel Anne. I've been monkeying around all day, including a little workout time with Hubby and completing a puzzle with EM. I've never been a puzzle fan, but my children are. I sat admiring my 4-year-old as she completed a 100 piece puzzle, long after I reached my frustration level.

So, several of you asked for the applesauce recipe my in-laws use. Now, remember what I said about this recipe, it is not written down, what I'm about to share is from my own observations. Every year I try to watch what they do, carefully watch, because there will come a day (far into the future) when the applesauce making will be passed on to us.

First, a little history as to why the choose the apples they did. My in-laws knew a guy who worked for an applesauce company, Motts or one of the other companies, and asked him what apples the company used, he replied with york and golden delicious, and so the recipe was born.
  • Take equal york and golden delicious apples, cut them in quarters, and cut out the stems.
  • Place the apples in a pot (keep them in separate pots), add some water (how much??????) and cook until ???? They are mushy????? The york will need to cook longer since they are harder then the golden delicious.
  • When they are done cooking pour the apples, along with the water, into a grinder.
  • Mix the Golden Delicious and York until you have the desired color, your choice.
  • Add sugar and salt to taste. Why add salt? I don't know, but my in-laws do, and the end result tastes good. (That Monday, when I asked my Mother-in-Law how much salt she pours in she shook her arm in a zig zag design and said "about that much." Sooooo very helpful. Obviously, the sugar part is easy, add, mix and taste. Add, mix and taste. Add too much, and you have very sweet apple sauce, not necessarily a bad thing. Add too much salt in a go, or a zig zaggy shake, and ... well, salty apple sauce. Blagh!)
Live and learn. And, by the time we are responsible for the apple sauce making (in the very distant future) we will get it right, hopefully.

Thank you for asking for the recipe, now I have some sort of recipe recorded for future (far into the future) reference.

OK, it is time to drink some more water and then call the dentist to make appointments. Call the eye doctor and make appointments. And, reply to an email regarding some Pampered Chef pans which need replacing. They have needed to be replaced for a good year, plus, and I'm just getting around to it.

Leave a comment telling me about your procrastination story.

Happy Company Girl Coffee.

*****Edited to Add: Thank you Rachel Anne for reminding me, I forgot to tell you what we do with the applesauce after mixing it together (that is what happens when you type at 10 at night.) We scoop it into jars and my in-laws use a pressure cooker to can it. And, that is another thing we will need to work out when (in the very far off future) we begin to can applesauce. I don't use a pressure cooker, those things scare me. When I can food I can it in a "water bath", boiling water for a certain amount of time. It takes longer then pressure cookers, but there is no fear of blowing up the kitchen.

And, regarding the grinder. Sorry, I was lazy when writing the post and didn't look up the official name. However, when I have a chance I will, maybe even find a picture and post it.

7 comments:

Rachel Anne said...

The applesauce recipe doesn't seem that hard! But it's the nuances of the zig zagging salt and the proper texture....hmmm. What kind of grinder? Is it a hand operated thingy, or an electric gizmo? I remember grinders and sieves my grandparents used and wonder if that's what you are talking about.

And then, do you put them into jars and can them? I've never tried canning, but I would like to learn.

Great job on the monkey business today! I still haven't done mine, unless you count the 30 min nap.

Mozi Esme said...

Wow - I'd never thought of using Golden Delicious (we're Macintosh family ourselves...) - or salting it!

And I have the same issues with pressure cookers. Doing grape juice was easy - we just washed the jars and stuck them (empty) in the oven at a low temp for a bit. Put hot stuff in them, and they sealed no problem. I'm not sure how applesauce compares...

One More Equals Four said...

Sounds delish! I used to make applesauce for babyfood and loved it but never made it to be preserved. I am with you, pressure cookers scare me a bit! Hopefully you can get a little training in before the baton is passed!

secondofwett said...

Sounds like a lot of work to be sure but it's probably well worth it...homemade usually tastes better than store bought!

Anonymous said...

Yum! Not sure if I'll get around to making any. I should. Hey, you make it and I'll buy some from you ;)
I love those handed down recipes.
My grandmother makes a sweet-roll deal-y that she freezes and always has on hand when she has overnight guests. I can't get the recipe out of her. I need to do what you've done and go observe!
Happy Thanksgiving!
LydiaCate

Anonymous said...

I'll have to practice my zigzagging. =p Love the "recipe". I have plenty of those from my dad too.

100 piece puzzle, by a 4yo? I am impressed. I taught pre-K and even some of those kids can't sit to do a 12-piece puzzle.

Hope you had a good time scrapbooking. One day I'll have to try it out.

the joyful potter said...

On procrastination ... I had a Pampered Chef pastry cutter that I hated. Fortunately it broke the second time I used it, and as it was still well under warranty I started the (unbeknownst-to-me, laborious) process of returning it. A year later it was still in my inbox and I finally just tossed it in the trash. $16.50 was too little money for the hassle of mailing it back.