making the most of what we have

A very kind friend who sells apples has been giving me their "factory seconds". Sometimes they doubt that I would want them, but I grew up on a farm and know good and well how to use those apples! Especially at present, I do not want to waste a thing if I can help it, so I've been looking at a couple cookbooks for ideas. "Too Many Tomatoes" is a book I have blogged about before, with a killer recipe for zucchini cake, and the one I'm going to mention today.

The "More with Less" cookbook came out over thirty years ago. Mennonites put it together as a way to eat well on a reduced budget. Their goal really was to use less of the world's resources, and back in 1976 that was a little more cutting edge than it is now, as you might imagine. My mother bought me this book and I used to use it somewhat regularly, but I'm using it a lot more now. The newer versions might be updated (mine is from the 80's) but the older book's recipes aren't always necessarily healthy (although lots are). They aim first for cheap and effective use of resources. Sometimes they use weird stuff like MSG once in a while, but I just eschew those recipes.

After all the ways I've used apples, of which I will chronicle in more detail later, I really thought some apple butter would be great. However, I wasn't really thrilled about using a whole ton of white sugar in apple butter, and my enthusiasm for using Splenda was pretty low as well. So in the "More with Less" cookbook I found a recipe that worked pretty well...my hubs really likes it. Go get this cookbook, or be really cheap and check it out of the library.

Honey Apple Butter

7ish pounds of peeled and cut up apples

Cook the apples and then process for applesauce. I just stuck them in a crockpot all night and then the next morning used a stick blender--that worked fine.

Add 1 cup crushed pineapple, 1 1/2 pounds honey (the size of container you can get at Aldi, for example), and 1 cup apple cider vinegar or cider, to taste. You could also add some spices--maybe cinnamon, nutmeg, you get the drift.

I took the removeable crockery out of my crockpot at that point and put the apple butter in a 300 degree oven for 3-4 hours, stir once in a while. This is to remove some of the water and make it thicker.

You can freeze it, but I put it in cleaned and sanitized jars. Stir with a plastic or wooden spoon (no metal!!!) to get air bubbles out if necessary, but there probably won't be air bubbles. Clean the rims scrupulously, and add the lids and bands. Five minutes in a boiling water bath worked just fine. Then I removed the jars and sat them on my kitchen counter. All of them sealed, which was encouraging.

**addition: it had been a while since I canned anything, so remember...heat differences are a no no! make sure your jars are sitting in hot water to stay warm and your apple butter is just-cooked and still warm! temperature differences are a problem...don't put cold jars in a boiling water bath, or they may break.***

Sometimes when life isn't going along so swimmingly, it is nice to remember that friends care, and that some things can go right--like this recipe.

This is a yummy breakfast treat, although of course it works any time of day.