Easy Apple Butter

One of the great things in life are freshly made jams and jellies.  Last week a friend from church gave me some Gala apples from the tree in her yard.  I made a few fried apple pies, and then I decided that I wanted to make apple butter.  I have always like apple butter that you can get at street fairs like Apple Days in Weston, Mo.  but I had never made any myself.  A few clicks around Pinterest I found a simple recipe for a small batch of Apple Butter.

First you gotta soak the apples, well you don't have to, especially if you know where you got the apples.  I chose to soak mine just in case there were wormies, do a 3-1 ratio of water and plain white vinegar.

After the apples are soaked and measured, you need about 4 lbs of apples, I did a lot more than 4 lbs. I did close to a double batch, a few more than double.  Quarter the apples and take out any icky spots. Add 2 cups of water and 1 cup of apple cider vinegar per 4 lbs.  It seems like a LOT of liquid but it will come out in the end, trust me.

After the apples have cooked and are mushy, it is time to get out that fancy-schmancy food mill.  Do some stretches and start mashing!  This part takes some time, and you really have to use your muscles, but it can be done!  This is why it is so nice having a second set of hands available, you can take turns mashing and giving your muscles a break!

Once everything is milled measure out the pulp.  You need half a cup of sugar for every cup of apple pulp.  I decided to only finish out half the pulp this go round.  So I had 8 cups of pulp, and 4 cups of sugar.  Then add the spices, lemon zest, and lemon juice.  You will need zest and juice of one lemon for every 8 cups of pulp.

Then it's time to simmer it and stir for one to two hours.  Again, a good time to have a second set of hands so you can get a break from stirring.  We also decided to use a bar stool near the stove so we didn't have to stand the whole time.  My buddy Fergus joined me to keep me company while I was stirring.

Our batch didn't take the whole two hours to cook down, it was shortly after the first hour that we realized it was ready to go.  Thick and smooth!

Make sure you follow the steps for canning, you want to make sure everything is sterilized properly so the product can be shelf stable.  Again, having a second set of hands to help get the jars filled and into their hot water bath.

10 minutes is all you need! Pull them out of the water bath and listen for the pop!  Then they need to sit out for 24 hours before you move them around a lot.

Enjoy!!

Rhubarb Pie

Way back in the day, when we lived in Bolivar, Mo, my Grandpa's neighbor used to grow rhubarb, and would give it by the bag to my mom.  She would make Jam, and pie all summer long, and share it with him, my Grandpa and others.  It has been years since I had my mom's rhubarb pie.  Suddenly I have been CRAVING my mom's rhubarb pie...only I didn't have anywhere to get the rhubarb!  I eventually found someone who had it, in abundance and they gave me enough to make a rhubarb pie!!! And almost enough to make a batch of jam too!!!  But for now we made the pie.

Start by making the crust (thank you Mama, cause I'm still not the best at making these)

Then clean the rhubarb

and chop it up!  You are going to need 4 cups (or just a bit more)

Add the few ingredients (1/4 c flour, 1 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp orange zest)

Stir it up!

Dump it into the pie shell...

Dot with butter (use 2 Tbls)...

Put the top shell on and slit...

Then bake that pie for 10 minutes at 450 degrees, then lower the temperature to 350 and continue baking another 30 minutes!  After the pie is cool, refrigerate it until you are ready to slice and eat it!

Enjoy!

I know that next year I will be starting my rhubarb growing experience.  Because now that I have indulged, I will want more and more of this yummy plant!

Just add vodka

The holidays are not around the corner anymore, they are upon us!  And with the change in the weather (yesterday it was in the 60's, and today it's below freezing) it is time to break out the recipes and start baking!  There are a few recipes that are only out this time of year, so not all of the ingredients may be on hand!  Specifically anise extract which is needed to make Pfeffernuesse Cookies!  These beauties are super delicious so keep an eye out in the next week when I get together with my Mom and start baking!

So instead of going out and attempting to find Anise extract I searched for how to make it.  Why make it?  Because, I have star anise on hand and, why not? Did you know that you can make almost any type of extract you want?

You start with whatever you want to extract, in my case it's Anise

Put some in a glass jar

The add the vodka and close it up!

Let it sit "a while" and check it for strength, you can always add more vodka or let it sit longer!

Apples

A while back I went on an apple binge...stocked up on one particular type of apple, the Ambrosia apple...happiness in a bite!  Unfortunately I have not eaten them all yet...and they are starting to wilt.  Time to make applesauce!!!

Apples, of all kinds, basically if it was in my crisper drawer it's goin in

Spices

Applejack Brandy!!!!

Melt butter and add apples

stir and then add the spices, and brandy

Cook until mash-able or use a food processor to break it down...and don't forget the sugar!!!

ENJOY!

Trials and the Errors of My Ways

Creating any new dish or desert is definitely Trial and Error.  I found a yummy looking recipe for my Christmas treats on a blog with a similar title.  Cream Mints, the kind you find at weddings, baby showers, etc.  I really LOVE those things.  So of course I had to add them to my list of “to-do.”  Today was that day.  I read the recipe three times, went back to the blog, and read through the comments.  Their recipe calls for 3 Tablespoons of Cream cheese, mint extract, food coloring (optional) and 4 - 4½ CUPS of Powdered Sugar.  After just one and half cups my mixture was more of a powder…ugh, and no I didn’t take a picture of that particular disaster.  One of the comments on the blog said the commenter added a total of 3 ounces instead of Tablespoons.  So I promptly dropped the remainder of my cream cheese in my mixer, and another cup and a half of powdered sugar.  This is the consistency I was thinking when I read the blog,

I also didn’t have any superfine sugar, but being soooo ingenious I remembered that you can put regular sugar in a coffee grinder or food processor and make your own.  I also added some colored sugar so it  was pretty like the mints!

And then finally, once I QUIT eating the dough, they were done!

After taking some mints to my neighbor for testing I decided to make popcorn, using a new method, brown bag in the microwave! Sounds great right? EPIC Failure, I had a major blowout in the microwave! 

I left it in and waited for the popping to slow, bad idea, the middle somehow burned and filled my kitchen with smoke.  And to top it off I had company witness the disaster.  I will try this again, but with 1/4 cup...but I need to go get more popcorn.

After a “quick” trip to the store, and let’s face it, no trip to the store is EVER fast…I am back home, and popping popcorn in the microwave once again!  Using just a 1/4 cup this time!  And in true male fashion, my boyfriend comes in and asks “So, what’s for dinner?  Do you have a plan?” Oh yeah…dinner…um…and in a flash of brilliance I remember that pound of hamburger I have in the fridge…the mushrooms we just bought at the store.  So we are having what I’m going to call “Not a Shepherd’s Pie”. 

You will need:
Tater tots (oven bake these, don’t fry)
1 lb hamburger
8oz fresh sliced mushrooms
12 oz jar savory Beef Gravy
Minced Garlic to taste
Onion powder (or fresh chopped onions) to taste
Cheese, whatever flavor, whatever quantity makes you happy

Put Tots in the oven to bake.  In the meantime, combine mushrooms, hamburger, garlic and onion in an microwave safe dish and cook until hamburger is brown.  Drain. Add beef gravy and microwave for another 2 minutes or until gravy is hot.  

Once tots are done, put on plate or in a bowl

layer beef and mushroom mixture, 

top with cheese and enjoy!   

Hooray!  FTW!

Back to the popcorn, surprise mom!  I’m making some Cinnamon popcorn for you!!!  3/4 cups of kernels later I had enough popcorn (with un-popped kernels removed) to move on to the next step.  Mixing the ingredients, being VERY careful with the Cinnamon Oil, yes oil, you have to go to the Pharmacy and request this, it is not on the shelf.  It’s between $10-15 depending on where you get it and the quality.  It goes a long way, we have had ours just over two years, and still have PLENTY!  Click here for the recipe.

 

And on that note, I’m going to eat some popcorn, and get off my feet.  Tomorrow expect more wonderful desserts, and hopefully no disasters!