Nurturing my inner... not so perfect

Let's get sauced!  No wait, that came out wrong.  (But if I ever decide to open my own applesauce business, the name is mine!)

Homemade Applesauce

6 large apples, diced
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar (or sugar in the raw, which is now what I prefer)
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Handful of whole allspice (or 1/4 tsp ground)
2 whole cinnamon sticks (Penzeys)

Apples of dozens of varieties were all over the Farmers' Market in mad abundance.  They called out to me.  "Buy me.  Buy me!"  And I bought WAY more than I should have.  They are just so tempting!  So I did what anyone would do.  When life gives you apples... make applesauce.  (In large quantities.)

Real apples have spots.

I took this picture this way on purpose.  Apples: unairbrushed.  To show you that real produce that you get straight from farmers might not look perfect.  Yet in their imperfection, they remain as valuable and useful as their blemish free counterparts.  All day long I thought about how real people are like these apples.  Imperfect.  Slightly bruised.  Maybe not exactly magazine cover worthy, but they are no less valuable as a result.  We shouldn't be so quick to discard that which doesn't measure up to our idea of perfection.

Now that my "Little House on the Prairie" teaching moment is over, back to the task at hand.  Cooking.

A friend brought me some wild allspice from her trip to Guatemala.  (Fist pump JP!)  And I took it out for its maiden voyage.

Okay, I did not bottle and label this one.
It came to me this way.

Whole versus ground measurements were uncertain to me.  I just added a handful and that turned out to be just fine.

Wish I had counted them. You'll see why later.

When I was at the market, I took special note of the notes with each bushel of apples.  Some said "great for baking," others said "good for applesauce," amongst other highly descriptive hints.  I chose two varieties that I knew worked especially well for applesauce.  Ida Red (the whiter ones) and Honey Crisp (slightly yellow).

I didn't realize apples when sliced could
be so different in color.

Well, why not learn a thing or two while you're at it, right.  White, yellow, so many delicious varieties to enjoy.  Slice and dice.  Add to a pot.

The crispy before.

Oh, so I have always wanted a citrus press.  But I've been dragging my feet because I am not very gadgety.  Though I feel hand squeezing leaves a lot to be desired as much is left behind.  I finally gave in and got this one from a friend who threw a Pampered Chef party and I love it!  It really does get out every last drop of citrus juice.  (I should know, I used all the muscle my pipe cleaner arms had!  I do realize that isn't saying much.)

A good upper body workout.

Now we get to the good stuff.  Add water, lemon juice, both sugars (for one I used white at the time of the photo, but just made some more a couple days later and used raw sugar and now that's my favorite way), allspice and cinnamon sticks.

Ooh, good stuff!!

After it starts to boil, turn down to a simmer, stir and then cover.  Leave it for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Time elapsed photo.

If you use whole allspice, this is where you're going to have to pay a little attention.  I took out the two cinnamon sticks, that was the easy part, but then I had to fish out all the dried allspice berries.  One by one.  And I didn't know how many I put in.  But that was okay.  I got 'er done.  The flavor profile was worth using them.

Wow, lookin' good already or what?!
If only you could smell this.

Some apples can be mushed with a fork and some stay more firm when cooked.  But I find that a blender (with the top open because it's a hot item that creates steam) works extra quickly if there is any resistance to the fork technique and I happen to be impatient.  (Which, surprisingly, I have been known to be.  Can we move on now?)

This may have taken 15 seconds.
No fork can work that fast.

It's as easy as scooping into a bowl and you can either eat it warm or put in the fridge and have it chilled the next day.

Better than any prepackaged, overly sweetened
stuff with added preservatives. You'll never
buy the kind in a jar again!

And, true to my making extra and freezing it, I put some bags in cups with the sides turned over to stand them up.  Then I scooped a serving size into each.  Though, the recipe works just as well if you cut it in half and use it over the week.

This way the bags are easier to fill and you
have two hands free.

Lay flat, pat out to remove air and zipper up.  Label, stack and freeze.  By now, you should be getting really good at this.

So much fits into such a small area
when you do it this way.

From imperfect apples came perfect applesauce!  So don't always feel the need to pass over just picked farm fresh produce that would not have passed super market inspection.  (Which by the time you got that "photo ready" fruit it could be days if not weeks old!)  And while you're at it, remember some of the best people you'll ever know will also come to you with bumps and bruises.  Don't pass them by either or you could really be missing out on someone great.