From one of the local farms in Lancaster County, I bought some apples one afternoon that were so fresh, the lady at the register showed me the dewdrops and raindrops that were on them…from the outer reaches of Tropical Storm Lee.
SPICY APPLE BUTTER
First I easily cored the apples then quartered them and filled my crock pot with them as full as I could.
When they are soft enough, I processed them through the food mill.
Although I now had applesauce, my goal was apple butter.
So, I poured the applesauce into the crockpot, added autumnal seasonings, then let it perk away.
The house smelled great!
Because they cook down quite a bit, this is all I got.
A sample proved the fullness of cinnamon spicy autumnal flavor, better than store bought.
Packed away, I wonder how long these will last.
SPICY APPLESAUCE
Since they were effortless to make, I was about to make another batch with the rest of the apples, but the kids insisted I make applesauce.
Applesauce is halfway between the first step and the final product, so these were very easy to make.
I spiced up the applesauce too, so now we have two sets of spicy apple flavors.
SOUTHERN LIVING IDEAS
After all that, I still had apples left over, so I looked at my autumn issue of Southern Living for ideas.
For dessert I made a German puff apple pancake.
Then I converted a basic coffee cake recipe to an apple cake recipe, using fresh apples, my freshly canned applesauce, and a bit of my freshly canned apple butter.
We liked it all, and it all seemed perfect for seasonal September cuisine.
