Thank you all very much for your advice and recipies for apple pie filling a week or so ago! I have now done away with nearly all my bushel of apples, except for the odd couple of dozen for eating and a few held out for a fresh pie this weekend! Now, that said, before I tackle another project like that, There are a few more questions I will ask next time: 1) Just exactly how much headspace do I need to leave on apple pie filling NOT to create a mess in my kitchen! 2) Theorhetically, if you peel and slice enough apples to fill a 12 quart stock pot full, exactly how many hours do you have to stand there and stir, boil, check, stir, boil, etc. until they turn into applesauce? 3) How much applesauce do you get out of a 12 quart stock pot full of sliced apples, anyway? 4) Is it really worth it, or do I buy my applesauce from now on? 5) Do I even LIKE applesauce? (I'll answer that one - not really!) Hope you all get a laugh out of this one. Thanks again for your help with this novice and her questions, and yes, I will probably do it again next year - I tasted the applesauce, and it was worth it!

-- Christine in OK (cljford@aol.com), October 25, 2001

Answers

Christine, just for future reference...you don't need to peel or core apples for your applesauce. The applesauce tastes much better if you don't. Just quarter them, put them in a pan with enough water to keep them from sticking and simmer until they are tender. Then you run them through a food mill or a Victoria Strainer (these are worth every penny!!). Voila...applesauce!!

Another hint...I don't sweeten my applesauce or add any spices before canning. That way if I need it for something like applesauce cake, etc. I can use the homecanned sauce without figuring how much sugar and spices to reduce the recipe by; but if I want to serve just the applesauce as a side dish I can spice it up upon serving.

I just got done with 4 bushels of apples and ended up 6 quarts of apple butter, 17 qt. of applesauce, 18 qts. of canned apples, and 3 of the gallon size ziplock bags of dried apples, 4 apple pies and still have about a dozen left for eating...although no one wants them because they are tired of those apples! I thought I would never see the bottom of those bushel boxes!! I swore off canning for at least a week, but.......

Today sweet potatoes! Couldn't help myself, yesterday I got a deal. 2 bushels for $8!

-- Karen (db0421@yahoo.com), October 26, 2001.

Christine, Glad to see you have your apples worked up. When I make applesauce, either frozen or canned- I do not add anything to it, Then, if I want to use it instead of shortening or oil when I bake I don't increase the Sugar content. If your family likes applebutter you can make small amount in a crock pot ,oven or on the stove. Makes the house smell so good when its been shut up during the winter. lenny

-- darlene leonhart (dleonhaart@sprynet.com), October 26, 2001.

I have to laugh at Karen's comment about swearing off canning. I just finished off the tomatoes (after canning tomatoes, picalilli, green tomato mincemeat, salsa, barbecue sauce, and chili sauce) and swore off canning....then got 3 bushels of apples for $10.!! Aren't we foolish!

-- Sheryl in Me (radams@sacoriver.net), October 26, 2001.

NO, Sheryl and others! You aren't foolish! So what if the jars sit on the self an extra year before you eat the contents? Those are that many jars you won't have to can next year when you may not find such good buys on produce to can. God forbid, you might not have money next year to take advantage of those buys. My dear little grandmother who raised her family during the Depression used to say "It will taste better than a snowball." Go for it!

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), October 27, 2001.