Wednesday

Discovery of the day: Crockpot to the rescue

I ended up with a whole bunch of apples, then I went and got some more. Digging through the box the other day, I noticed some of them had gotten away from me. I had to throw a couple out, but most of the ones I culled had just one spot going bad.

So now what? I could make apple crisp, but I'm on a dessert moratorium (more on that another day.) I could make applesauce, but we don't really eat applesauce, like, ever. But I did see a crockpot recipe for apple butter a while back.... Mmmm, apple butter!

Per the instructions, I quartered and cored the apples. I was surprised that I only had to grab a few more to make enough to fill by 4 qt cooker. Threw the apples in, turned it on low, and went to bed.

In the morning I mashed it and added sugar, cinnamon, and cloves. Looked and smelled like applesauce! I'd read where the original amount of sugar was w-a-a-y too much (plus I was making a smaller batch) so I cut back to about 1/4 cup, I think. Went off to work.

That evening, it looked like apple butter. I hit it with the stick blender. It was still pretty watery so I turned it up to high and took the lid off. It plopped and splorped like that for 2 or 3 hours. I turned it off before I went to bed.

This morning I jarred it up and stuck it in the fridge. I think I got about 2 pints plus some. And it tastes like apple butter, although I probably should have added a little more sugar. I might leave out the cloves next time. Maybe.

All in all, I'd call it a good use of borderline apples!