CROCK POT APPLE BUTTER

Its been a good long while since I posted anything here but I've been asked often how I make my Crock-Pot Apple Butter so here it is. 

I had ZERO experience making apple butter so I just came up with my own after reading dozens of recipes online about 15 years ago.  Back then there were no recipes to do it in the Crock-Pot online so I just kind of winged it. It worked out perfectly.   

This recipe has won many Blue Ribbons in canning competitions at county & state fairs too.. (mine & others entries too)   Everyone loves it!! 

 Over time, I adapted it to make larger batches in an 18 quart roaster...  The times are basically the same and you just multiply everything by 3.  The roaster temperature is 200°-225°F. the equivalent to Low on a Crock-Pot. 

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Lets get started!!  

INGREDIENTS

  

• 25-30 pc. apples (about 8 lbs) (I use a mixture of varieties in mine)*
• 1 cup water (or apple juice, cider if desired)
• 4 cups brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons cinnamon

INSTRUCTIONS

 

• Makes Approx: 8-9 pints
• Using your favorite method, wash & slice apples, remove the cores and add your sliced apples & peels (if desired) to the Crock Pot to the very top of the lid. (Peels aren't necessary but I always add mine as long as they look good.) 
• Add 1 cup of water 
• Turn the Crock Pot on low, covered, and let cook untouched for 10-12 hours. I usually start this in the afternoon or evening so the next step is ready in the morning when I wake up.
• In the morning or after 10-12 hours, using an immersion blender, puree the apples until it is completely smooth if that is your preference. (its ours) 
• Add 4 cups brown sugar & 4 tablespoons of cinnamon to the puree using the immersion blender to blend them in well.  You can add less sugar if you desire.. make it yours. 
• Replace the lid on the puree but turn it slightly skewed about 1 inch so that steam will be able escape. 
• Continue to let it cook down on low for another 8-10 hours. You don't need to stir this but you certainly may occasionally if you wish.  It will be ready to can when its thick, and the spoon makes pool ridges are obvious as in the picture of the open jars above or the open roaster below.

To fill the jars:

• Using your canning funnel fill the jars using your ladle. Fill the jars to 1/4" head space.
• Using a wet paper towel wipe the rims of the jars.
• Add hot lids/ring and water bath 5 minutes for half-pints or pints, 10 minutes for quarts. Adjust per altitude. 
•  If you don't have brown sugar you can add 4 cups of white sugar and 5 T. of unsulfured molasses.
•  You can easily reduce the amount of sugar if it seems like too much to you..  I've seen recipes where it was double what I use so this seemed like a good amount to me.   Make it your own.
•  *  Use a combination of sweet & tart apples for the best flavors. 

That is it!!  Super Simple, Super Delicious!   Hope you try it & hope you enjoy it!!  

Week 5 & 6 and a garden update

The CSA veggies continue to shine..week 5s share included 2 pints of beautiful red raspberries.

Week 5

You don't find raspberries looking this fresh very often.

Are these organic veggies gorgeous what?


Week 6 share was a beaut too.
Good eating right there..  This is the first of the basil to come in our shares this week...  it's hanging upside down drying now.

 Time for a garden update.
 We got our fence up and veggies planted a little later than I would have liked but it seems like we always are 2-3 weeks behind everyone else in our community garden.

 We've got loads of squash plants

 A good stand of both pickling and slicing cucumbers...

 Squash blossoms...

 6 different types of tomatoes and 5 plants of each.. wrapped around a 5 gallon bucket with holes in the bottom for slow constant watering.

 These are 2 rows of black eyed peas..this Southern girl has been missing really good black eyed peas.  Can't wait to get a mess of these in my belly. ;)

 A row of green beans, a row of yellow wax beans and a double row that has beets, turnips, kohlrabi and radishes.

 Lovely dill...it's so pretty.

 Tomatoes are looking healtho
So far.

Fingerling potatoes are in this double row.  They were leftovers from last year's CSA harvest.  I wasn't sure how they'd do since they were pretty shriveled but they are looking great!

Looking forward to the bounty of my labors. 

CSA Weeks 5 & 6, Gardening, Rhubarb, Strawberries, and Peaches.

I got really busy for several weeks.
But we always get our CSA produce,  rain or shine.
Week 5.

 We put our garden in and got it going a little later than we would have liked, but we had lots of help so it went quickly.

We've got 3 plots in a community garden about 2 miles from my home.

The rhubarb and strawberries started coming in right about that time too, so I had more than enough to do. 

 I made a few jars of rhubarb jam and a few jars of Strawberry jam as well.

CSA Week 3 & 4 with a Lake Erie view

Week 3's veggies are looking good! A body sure has nothing to complain about with this CSA.

I made Italian sausage with kale soup again since it's something my daughter and I both love.  We just can't get enough.

We atethe sugar snaps out of hand and I made an Italian dressing slaw from the cabbage when we had company over for grilled walleye. Yum...it was amazing.

I want to share the sight I see when I go to the pick up site where I get my veggies reach week.
This year I'm picking up at the Hospice House in Euclid.

They sit right next to the lake and enjoy the beautiful sight and feel the fantastic breeze.

This is the trailer our goods are delivered by each week.
Many thanks to all who make this possible.

This is week 4s share. 

Notice the little hand that is sneaking some of those sugar snap peas.  So sweet when the babies love fresh raw veggies. 

Lots of great eating right there..
Until next time..  Blessings.

.  

2016 CSA share Week 2 & a Sweet gift

I went to pick up my share last week and was pleasantly surprised by a few extra goodies from Geauga Family Farms CSA.

 This was their way of saying thank you for being patient while they worked out the bugs of a new site and new drivers.

It was so nice of them, and I'm really happy for some extra goodies.

There was lettuce, cherry tomatoes,  turnips, broccoli, strawberries,  strawberry jam, and a loaf of wheat bread!

  How incredibly nice.   I hope the other ladies who waited with me were as pleasantly surprised as I was.

My regular share was nice too...

 We got lettuce,  broccoli,  strawberries, zucchini,  turnips, rhubarb and green onions.

Pretty quickly I made a jar of rhubarb jam from my CSA share.

I just cut the pieces into 1 inch(ish) pieces, added a little sugar, a splash of lemon juice,  and a little butter and let it simmer for about an hour until it was thickend.  I popped a lid on it.

 This isn't the NFPA approved way to seal jams, but I've been known to use it on the odd occasion.
It went into the frig after it sealed.

I've got about 6 more pounds to "do" something with in the next few days.

  I got a medium sized harvest from my yard this time
.

As you can see I've got 2 types of rhubarb.  

The dark red one isn't quite as sour as the green, but we like them mixed together. 

The rhubarb is doing well in the strawberry bed.  I gathered a few berries too.

Not so many this day...I think the squirrels have been helping themselves.  Stinkers!

I'll make crushed strawberries with them and serve them over pound cake with whipped cream for Don and berries and cream for me. (I'm gluten intolerant to a huge degree )

I've been toying around with the idea of making a low carb berry cake. 

We'll see.

Have you ever eaten rhubarb and do you like it?

Geauga Family Farms CSA 2016 Season, Week 1

My 2016 Geauga Family Farms CSA (community sponsored agriculture group) had its first delivery Wednesday June 8th..   As always, the fresh veggies we got were beautiful.

There was a bit of a snafu with the truck leaving 30 minutes early, new site, new process, new driver,  but other than that, there were no problems.  There were 3 of us plus the lady who orchestrated this new pick up location who had to wait for the driver to come back.  Thankfully they were able to.  I really enjoyed my time there talking with one of the ladies about preparation and cooking techniques we used with various veggies and fruit we expected to receive from our CSA bags.

This year I decided on a medium share
since it's mostly Don and me home alone these days.

My medium share consisted of 2 large kohlrabi with greens, a nice bunch of kale I believe,  a HUGE head of leaf lettuce, a really nice bag of spinach 

a quart and a pint of strawberries,  and a bundle of garlic scapes. 

All 100%  Organic!

Yum!

To clean my lettuce and to help preserve it, I rinse it in cool water in a large bowl...

  Then I place a couple handfuls at a time into my salad spinner, give em a spin...

Then store them in a large baggie with paper towels to absorb any moisture that lingers or condensation that accumulates in the bag.  If the paper towel gets saturated,  replace it with a fresh one.

I do this same process with all of my greens, including the greens that come on top of a bunch of veggies such as turnip, beet, or kohlrabi. 

 If the greens have a thick rib, I strip the greens off of them before bagging.

I love fresh raw kohlrabi,  so these will get sliced and put in a bowl for a great snack.

I haven't decided what I'll do with the spinach and scapes as of yet, but the day is still young.

What would you do with them if they were in your frig?