Applesauce

The other day I was in Trader Joe's getting the necessary yogurt, bananas, and other misc. when I noticed that their organic Gala (my favorite!) apples were only $1.99 for 3 lbs. 
Yes, that's for organic! 
I snagged up four bags and thought we could probably make something with them.

Ezren and I decided to make applesauce. 
I've never made applesauce before. 
Wait . . . I think we may have made it waaaaay back in second grade for our Thanksgiving day feast. 
But who knows?  I was only eight!

So, I looked up a recipe online.
It sounded easy enough.  Like making mashed potatoes.
It said to use multiple types, but I only had two on hand -- Gala and Crispp Pink.

Ezren's a great apple washer.



Then peel, core, and chop the apples.

 
Ezren's favorite part of the apple is the skin. 
He will often get an apple out of the refridgerator, only to eat the skin off and say he's done.
I usually end up eating the leftovers.
He was really excited to see all of the skins piling up and kept munching on them as they shot across the counter.
At the end before getting rid of the remaining skins and cores, I made him a bowl of just the skins.
I'm wondering if you could roast these and turn them into chips . . .
Maybe next time.

After they are cut, put them in a large pot with about an inch or so of water.
Turn the heat up to pretty high (on my stove it was 8 out of 10).
Once it starts bubbling, turn it down some (to 6-ish).

Can you smell it?
Oooo . . . that's too bad.  Because it smells amazing!
Let it do it's thing for about 20 minutes until the apples are soft but not soggy.
I scooped off most of the juice.  Now we have applejuice in the fridge!
Ezren used the potoato masher to get the mashing started.

I got out the stand blender thing (such a useful tool!) and really got the chunks out.
Our applesauce is so yummy!

I'm going to get more apples later this week and do it all over again.
Go get yours too!