Monday, July 13, 2009

YUM

I totally blew off my Saturday. I can't remember the last time I actually CLEANED my house! Huhoney has been so good to do the things I hate to spend time doing on the weekends! Mop floors, clean toilets....the one thing he hates to do it DUST! Yeah can you believe it! DUST, he would rather clean bathrooms! Hey, ya gotta love it right?
So anyway, I decided to see a chick flick with a friend. "The Proposal". It was totally a chick flick, predictable, and funny. It was hot on Saturday. About 103 here. But ...I was a good doobee and as the sun started to set did the hour bike ride. I caught a glimps of a rainbow in the sky, and once again was breathless at God's hand in all things.

Sunday was another scorcher. 105. I had huhoney uncover the pool, I decided that I was going to relax and enjoy this hot weather on a floaty in my pool, so....I decided that I had better can the apples from my wonderful tree before indulging in the pool. Ya right. 4 hours later....(I didn't get started until after church services) it was too late. Bummer! But I was so proud of my little jars!
So I thought I would share a fun receipe with you. You can make quart jars, (that would make a whole pie) or pint jars (because that is all I had) and pint jars work well because there is only the 2 of us. I normally would make a home made pie from scratch but this is so much easier! Open up a jar and make yummy apple turn overs. Just buy some Pillsbury Crescent rolls, spoon the delicious apple filling onto a crescent roll, bake, and make your own frosting to squeeze on top.

So here is a delicious receipe.

What you need:

*Apples - that's pretty important.

*Large pot- to make the heavenly syrup




*ladel- to scoop the heavenly syrup into the jars

*jars- to put the freshly picked (or bought) apples into

*tongs- to pluck those hot jars out of the boiling bath water

*covered canner - quart size or pint size

*potatoe peeler - to peel the apples (I found this to work AWESOME) no waste!

*apple corer thingy- to wedge the apples

*jar thingy to place inside the jars - (it keeps the lip of the jars clean) while stuffing the jars...

ADD EXTRA'S



*PATIENCE

*some good treats to snak on while canning



*Soft slippers or a cushy rug to stand on, because you will be standing for a while!

*AND....1 willing Huhoney to be the POT LICKER! (hehehe)


Canned Apple Pie Filling
Use cooking or baking type apples to make homemade, canned apple pie filling.
7 cups sugar
1- 3/4 cup cornstarch
3-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
3-1/2 tsp. salt
2-1/2 quarts water.
1/4 cup lemon juice
10 pounds tart apples - peeled, cored and sliced
3 drops yellow food coloring (optional) I didn't do this..
Preparation - In a stockpot, mix the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together. Add the water and stir to mix well. Bring to a boil and cook until thick and bubbly, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Add the lemon juice and food coloring; set aside. Peel, core, and slice the apples into wedges (about 8 wedges per apple). Pack the apples into hot, sterilized canning jars, leaving a 1/2" headspace. Fill the jars with the prepared hot syrup. Draw a non-metallic knife through the contents of each jar to remove the air bubbles. Wipe the rims and place the caps on the jars. Adjust the lids and process in a boilng water bath canner for 20 minutes.


The apples from my tree were not HUGE but they were just the right size for canning. I peeled and cubed 3 to 4 apples per jar. (about 10 lbs. in all) layerd the apples and syrup so that the apples wouldn't turn brown on me.



It has been years since I have canned. I was just a little proud of myself for not having lost the touch! Huhoney was proud too!


And to top it off, since I had blown off the pool and was in the "apron" baking mode, I made a delicous "Blueberry" layered desert for Huhoney. It is his favorite. I just can't resist a happy smile and HUHONEY!




That receipe another day!