Dividing and Conquering

The 9 bags of apples were a beautiful gift.  But some of the apples themselves wouldn't be described as beautiful.  We certainly had the confidence that these were organically grown... chemical and pesticide free.  

But we all know that homegrown apples, raised under those conditions, are often far from the grocery store ideal when it comes to size, shape, and appearance.




We sorted through, and separated from the rest those that were "prettier" -- round/symmetrical and less blemished.  

Prince CuddleBunny made quick work of these with our peeler/slicer to make pie fillings.  (For more on the peeler/slicer see No Wonder the Kids Fight Over This)


We froze 4 pre-made fillings to enjoy at later dates, and, of course, had one filling for our friend's pie.

The rest of apples (a major share) were heavily freckled with scabs, and had worm holes and other things we'd want to pare away.  Our peeler/slicer works best on symmetrical apples, so the misshapen ones had to be sorted in with the damaged fruit.  


For these, it would've been a lot of work to pare, then peel and slice by hand for pies.  So I opted for the easier route...to make applesauce of them instead.

For that I only had to wash them, cut out the bad spots (and worms/worm leavings), and half or quarter them before tossing them in my 16 quart pot.  

I don't always add water, but with these I needed to add a cup of water to get the steaming started and to keep them from sticking and burning to the bottom of the pot.   

I cooked them over low heat, and because I left them in pretty large pieces, and filled the pot so full, they stayed on the stove for several hours, with occasional stirring.

 




When fully soft, the flesh had to be separated from the skins, seeds, and core.  I will talk about that process in a future post.  Click here to read it .

"You can't make apple pie with applesauce."

31 Days at The Nesting Place