It’s that time of year…Fall! I love it even more now, because of the house we just bought. Chet and I bought our first house in Kalispell and it’s right in downtown and has tons of beautiful orange, yellow and red leaf trees. Another reason I love fall is because apples are ready to be picked. At the families apartment complex are tons of apple trees. We never knew there were fruit trees until two weeks ago, but now that we know it makes the backyard even better. We’ve gone picking several times and have given so many apples away. I made some delicious apple crumble pie, which I’ll have to write a separate blog about. The second thing I made was applesauce and Chet said it’s the best applesauce he’s ever had so I went to pick more. Well I had so much that I thought I might as well do some research online and learn how to can applesauce. So yesterday I peeled and cut all my apples, cooked them with water over the stove, mashed them, and then added some sugar and cinnamon and let it sit in the pan to stay warm. Meanwhile I boiled water and put the mason jars, including the lids, in the boiling water to sterilize them for 10 minutes. I then took them out with tongs and put applesauce in all the mason jars. I left ¼ in. on the top for room. I then sealed them tight and placed them in the boiling water for 20 minutes. Once that step was finished I took them out and pushed down on the top of each jar to make sure it didn’t make that popping sound. None of them did, which means they are canned properly. I enjoyed it so much and still have apples so I bought more mason jars at the grocery store today to do more canning this week. I definitely recommend doing this. It’s fun, very inexpensive and you’ll have applesauce all winter long and they even make good gifts!
