It’s lovely, then, to find something to make for dinner that add bright color and spicy, smoky flavor to the room. This soup is just the ticket?

This recipe is adapted from one I learned at a cooking class in North Carolina. The base of the soup is composed of two fall market items that store quite well, so it’s just as easy to make in the winter as in late autumn.

Sweet potatoes and apples: such good friends these can be in dishes both sweet and savory! The sweet potatoes don’t need any special treatment before heading into the oven, and meanwhile, you can prepare your apples and other ingredients.

Once peeled and sliced, the apples are gently spiced with curry and coated with olive oil. They’ll join the potatoes for the last 15 minutes of roasting.

Next, the remaining ingredients come out to play. Here’s where things really get fun: a chipotle en adobo (just one, believe me, it will give PLENTY of spice), a few slices of nice, thick bacon, some garlic, onion, and pepper, and apple cider and chicken stock to give the soup some sweetness and some liquid. All of the above except the cider and stock are sauteed right in the stock pot and would probably be good enough to eat all on their own.

I mean seriously, SO GOOD. The smell is overwhelmingly delightful.

Meanwhile, your potatoes will be finishing up in the oven. One key to this soup really is a nice, long roast for the sweet potatoes. They’ll roast for a full hour, developing their sweetness, and will pop right out of their skins once they’ve cooled down a bit. Plus, we got everything else ready while they cooked, how efficient!

From there, it doesn’t take much to finish; dump the peeled potatoes and the apples in with the aromatics, add the stock and cider, and simmer for about 20 minutes before blending. I’ll put in my usual plug for an immersion blender at this point: who likes trying to transfer boiling hot soup from a giant pot to a tiny food processor to a different pot in multiple batches?

Once blended, dish up what is seriously the most vibrant soup I’ve ever tasted. Each component is equally important: the sweet apple cider nicely cuts the heat from the chipotle, the chipotle gives heat to the potatoes and apples, the potatoes and apples provide a filling and flavorful base, and best of all, the bacon lends its smoky, meaty flavor to the soup in all the right ways.

So if you, like me, are counting the days until the return of green trees, blue skies, and bright yellow flowers sprouting from every crack in the sidewalks, I encourage to stop counting long enough to enjoy this perfectly delightful soup. It really goes best with cold weather, and for many of us, we have several weeks of that left!

Spiced & Smoky Sweet Potato Soup
Adapted from Durham Spirits Company

2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes (3-4 large)
3 small, tart apples
2 T olive oil, divided
1 tsp curry powder
4 slices of bacon, chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 chipotle en adobo, chopped
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 c apple cider
4 c chicken stock

Preheat oven to 400°F. Wash sweet potatoes and place on a baking sheet, leaving about a third of the baking sheet open (you’ll be adding the apples partway through). Roast for one hour. While the potatoes are roasting, peel, core, and slice the apples and place in a small bowl. Add 1 T olive oil and curry powder and mix well. Add the apples to the baking sheet for the last 15 minutes that the potatoes are roasting. Once the roasting is done, remove baking sheet from the oven and set aside until the potatoes are cool enough to handle. Once cool, slice into the skins, peel them off, and discard them.

While the potatoes are cooling, heat 1 T olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Roughly chop bacon and sauté in the pot. Add the onion, salt, and pepper and cook until onions are soft and translucent, stirring occasionally. Add the chipotle and the garlic and cook for about 5 more minutes. Add apple cider, chicken stock, apples, and the peeled potatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Puree the soup using an immersion blender or a regular blender. Soup should be fairly thick. If you prefer a thinner soup, add a bit more chicken stock or apple cider.

Serve immediately. This also makes great leftovers.

There is rarely a time when, if one is put in front of me, I will turn down a savory bite of something served on a cracker. Whether it’s cheese and fruit or creamy dips or thinly sliced cold cuts, if I lived alone and chose to appease only my deepest food-desires, I might never lift a fork to a plate of un-crackered food again.

These little bites grew out of a fortuitous collection of ingredients I happened to have on hand after returning home in January. A last hoorah of apples from the fall, a couple packs of crackers I didn’t use at my food-filled Christmas party, and a precious gift of maple cheddar from some dear friends who live in Wisconsin.

Apple & cheddar cheese are a match made in heaven. The pairing of a sharp, creamy bit of cheese against a sweet, juicy apple would be delicious enough, all on their own, on these crisp little crackers. And I won’t lie, I’ve eaten my fair share of little bites just like that. But these little bites are more than that. The apple and cheddar are chopped into tiny little wedges and cubes with a tangy, punchy dressing.

The dressing on this little salad is a lovely little vinaigrette, one that can easily be adjusted based on what you have on hand. I used red wine vinegar, lemon-infused olive oil, honey, dijon mustard, and a little seasoning. If you don’t have lemon-infused olive oil, you can use regular with a dash of lemon juice, as I’ve listed in the recipe.

Then it’s just a spoonful of the mixture onto crackers. I added a bit of thyme as a garnish as well, for a burst of herby goodness when you take a bite.

These little crackers would make a welcome guest at any little party, but they make a perfectly justifiable meal if you want to pretend your normal, January dinner is a party. And why not Party food shouldn’t just be left to the holidays, should it?

I think not.

Cheddar & Apple Salad Bites
Adapted liberally from Eating Well

Makes 50-60 bites

1 crisp apple, such as Pink Lady, Jazz, or Honeycrisp
5 oz of your favorite sharp cheddar cheese
3 T red wine vinegar
1 T olive oil
1/2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp honey
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp granulated sugar
50-60 crackers (I used two sleeves of Carr Water Crackers)
dried thyme to garnish

Chop apple into 16 wedges (the easiest way is to use an apple cutter and then slice each wedge in half), and then chop each wedge into 1/2″ pieces. Chop cheddar into tiny cubes, each one about 1/4″ long. Combine apples & cheddar cubes in a medium bowl.

In a small ball, whisk together red wine vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, honey, salt, pepper, and sugar. Pour dressing over the apples and cheddar and mix until all pieces are evenly coated. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Place about a tablespoon of the mixture onto each cracker, making sure you have a good balance of apples and cheese on each one. Place them on serving trays as you go. Sprinkle very lightly with dried thyme and serve immediately.

I told you on Thursday, when I posted this Ginger Apple Chutney, that I would have a recipe utilizing it that would blow your dang socks off. This, my friends, is it.

I must be honest: until about one year ago, I never so much as ordered potstickers or Chinese dumplings as take-out. I thought they looked, frankly, kind of gross. So sad and pekid compared to the seemingly superior fried wontons farther down the menu.

Oh, how times have changed.

Suddenly, I’ve become obsessed with these tiny pouches of savory filling. I order them whenever I find them on a menu and often abandon any pretense of planning to order an entree, simply doubling up on potstickers. As someone who loves ravioli, finger food, and anything dippable, I really can’t say why it took me 25 years to see the salty, potsticker-y light.

And what better way to truly embrace the potsticker than to make them from scratch Having found this fantastic recipe for filling, I also wanted to try my hand at making homemade wonton/potsticker wrappers. That’s just sort of what I do here.

While it is a bit time-consuming and I totally understand if you want to buy yours from the store, I urge you to try it at least once from scratch, especially if you have a pasta crank. These homemade wrappers are soft, not at all rubbery, and can be made in any size that you want (though I found a 3-inch diameter to be absolutely perfect).

Like most doughs, homemade wonton wrappers start with a sifter full of flour, some warm water, and a fork.

Once the dough is mixed, barely pliable due to its low moisture content, it needs to sit for a while. Just cover the bowl with a damp cloth so the little moisture that IS in this dough doesn’t escape.

After an hour or so, the dough is kneaded for a few minutes until it’s fairly smooth. From here, you have a few options to turn this mound of wheat flour into paper thin wonton wrappers. The source recipe I used for these recommends rolling the dough into a log, slicing the log into discs, and rolling each disc to the desired thickness that will hopefully yield a 3-inch circle.

I decided to scrap those suggestions and take advantage of two of my favorite kitchen gadgets: my pasta crank and a 3-inch Tartmaster (whose full talents weren’t utilized today but that I’ve used on other projects).

Let me once again bestow praise upon my pasta crank. No, it’s not something you absolutely need in your kitchen. But if you have any of the DIY pasta impluses that I do, I highly recommend the investment. I bought a pretty cheap one for about $35 a couple years ago, and for my purposes, it serves me incredibly well. I daydream about those beautiful, fandangled KitchenAid pasta attachments, but I’m gonna need to wait for a wealthier day than this to add those to my arsenal.

But in the meantime, I still used this cheap little crank to form about 50 perfectly round, uniform wonton wraps.

With my tidy little stack of wonton wraps ready to go, it was time to start the filling. I’d already made a batch of ginger apple chutney, so the rest of the filling came together rather quickly. Don’t worry: if you don’t can and don’t want to make the full-size batch, I’ve included a proportional recipe below that will give you just the right amount to make this filling. So you have no excuse.

The chutney is added to a pound of ground pork, which is seasoned with a bit of soy sauce and studded with some fresh, green scallions. It took all of my willpower not to shovel spoons full of it before a single potsticker was made.

But I resisted. And soon, my little potsticker factory was a-churnin’.

To cook them, the key is to have a flat-bottomed pan with a lid. A sauté pan is perfect, but a lidded frying pan or even a wide, lidded pot will work in a pinch. The potstickers are first pan-fried on one side in a bit of oil and then blasted with a little chicken stock to steam. They cook very quickly, so make sure you don’t start cooking them until right before you are ready to eat.

Because trust me: once you do have them cooked, you will absolutely not be able to resist eating every single potsticker in sight.

Homemade Wonton Wrappers
Adapted from La Fuji Mama

Makes 40-55 wrappers

2 c all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
about 3/4 c very hot water
additional flour for rolling

Sift flour and salt together into a large, wide bowl. Add water a little at a time until you have about 1/4 c of water remaining. Mix flour and water with a fork or chopsticks to form a dough, switching to your fingers when it becomes too difficult to mix with a fork. Add as much of the remaining water as you need to gather all dry ingredients into the dough. Dough should be very stiff and not sticky. Form dough into a ball and leave it in the bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and allow dough to rest for one hour.

Once dough has rested, remove it from the bowl and knead for 5-10 minutes until dough is fairly smooth. Break off a small chunk of the dough and return the rest to the cloth-covered bowl. If you have a pasta crank, run the small piece of dough through the machine several times, starting on the largest setting and running the dough through at least one time on each setting all the way to “1”. The result should be a long, very thin piece of dough about 4-5 inches wide. If you do not have a pasta crank, roll the dough as thin as you can with a rolling pin on a floured surface.

Use a round cookie cutter or biscuit cutter about 3″ in diameter to cut out your wrappers. Dust each side generously with flour until the whole wrapper feels dusty and slightly gritty. This will allow you to stack the wrappers without them sticking together. Continue this process until all dough has been utilized, recombining the scraps to prevent wasting any.

Wrap stack of wrappers tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to add the filling.

Pork & Ginger Apple Potstickers
Adapted from Katie at the Kitchen Door and Alton Brown

Makes 40-45 potstickers

NOTE: I thought it would be a brilliant idea to cook half of these & save the rest for the next day in the fridge. It was not. They all stuck together and tore as I tried to separate them. If you don’t want to cook them all at once, I recommend either keeping the filling separate and making the potstickers right before you cook them, or, you can freeze the constructed potstickers on a cookie sheet and then bag them up for storage. Then, thaw them out for a couple of hours before cooking.

For the Filling
40-50 wonton wrappers (see recipe above or use store-bought, round if you can find them)
1 pound ground pork
1/4 tsp black pepper
2/3 c scallions, chopped into 1/4″ pieces (whites & greens)
3 T soy sauce
1 c ginger apple chutney
OR
Combine the following ingredients according to the instructions listed here to make a batch of chutney proportioned for the potstickers.
1/3 c onion, diced
2 tsp minced fresh ginger
2 medium crisp apples, peeled & diced into 1/4″ pieces
1 T lemon juice
1 tsp canola oil
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 c apple cider
1/4 c apple cider vinegar

If you are making the small-portion batch of chutney, prepare that recipe first and set chutney aside.

Cook pork until lightly browned using a spatula to break chunks into small pieces. Drain off the excess grease and place pork in a large bowl. Add the black pepper, scallions, soy sauce, and chutney and mix well. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Place 12 wonton wrappers out on a cutting board. Scoop 1-2 tablespoons of filling onto the center of each wonton wrapper. It may take you a few attempts to determine the right amount: the potsticker, when sealed, should be full but not so full that it cannot be sealed closed. Dip the tip of your finger into water and lightly moisten the edge of the wonton wrapper all the way around. Fold the edges together to form a half-moon shape and squeeze the edges to form a seal. For added seal and decoration, you can fold the corners in slightly and make small folds in the edging. Place filled potstickers on another board and cover with a cloth to prevent them from drying out. Continue until all filling has been used.

Cooking the Potstickers
canola or vegetable oil
chicken stock, about 1 cup
chopped fresh chives (for garnishing)

Heat a sauté pan that has a lid (though the lid should not be on it right now) over medium heat. Measure out 1/4 cup of chicken stock and set aside. Brush a bit of oil onto the surface of the pin to form a very thin layer. Place potstickers on their sides into the pan, adding as many to the pan as will fit with a bit of space separating them (I was able to fit 12 in at a time). Allow potstickers to cook WITHOUT MOVING THEM for 2-3 minutes. Holding the 1/4 cup of chicken stock in one hand and the lid of the pan in the other, quickly pour the stock into the pan and immediately place the lid onto the pan. Allow potstickers to steam, undisturbed, for an additional 3 minutes.

Remove lid and remove potstickers to a serving plate. Deglaze the pan with water and repeat the cooking process for the remaining potstickers.

Serve potstickers immediately, garnished with chopped chives and served with dipping sauce if desired.

For the Dipping Sauce
3 T soy sauce
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground ginger

Combine ingredients in a small dish. Stir well. Dip potstickers very lightly into the sauce, a little goes a long way!

Ginger has never really been something I’ve thought about very much. Occasionally, my dad would add some ground ginger to stir fry, or I’d use some in fall desserts. But the farmers near Durham have been showcasing mounds of baby ginger at their tables for the last few weeks, and my curiosity about this knobby little root grew with each table I passed.

And with fortuitous timing, I came across this recipe for ginger apple chutney. Combined with apples & onions, also plentiful at local markets, this seemed like a perfect opportunity to buy a chunk of ginger. The recipe wasn’t written as one for canning, but I suspected the acid content would be high enough for canning and checked with a deft canning blogger to be sure.

This chutney likes a firm, tart apple. I used some of my last, precious pick-your-own Pink Ladies (sniff, sniff) but this would also work nicely with Fuji’s, Jazz, or Honeycrisp apples. Just make sure you peel them well, you won’t want any apple peelings invading your chutney.

Now how, you might ask, does one use ginger apple chutney Thus far, I’ve only used it for one out-of-this-world meal, which I promise to tell you about in my next post you can find right here! But how else I suspect this is delicious served atop a pork chop, or mixed with cream to create a spicy, flavorful sauce bursting with autumn flavor. I am eager to try it mixed with cream cheese as a dip, or even as a dip all on its own. I’ve used one of my half-pints, and I imagine I’ll use the remaining four before I’ve exhausted the ways I want to eat it.

Ginger Apple Chutney
Adapted from Katie at the Kitchen Door

Make 2-3 pints

NOTE: I’ve tested the pH of this chutney, and it is safe as written for waterbath canning. Avoid the urge to add extra onions, as they are low in acid and may alter the pH.

1 medium onion, diced
3 T minced fresh ginger
8 medium crisp apples, peeled & diced into 1/4″ pieces (Pink Lady, Fuji, or other firm apple)
1/2 c lemon juice
1 tsp canola oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 c apple cider
1 c apple cider vinegar

Dice onion, peel & mince ginger, and peel apples. Dice apples into 1/4″ pieces and place them in a separate bowl, sprinkling a bit of the lemon juice over them after adding each diced apple to prevent them from turning brown.

Heat canola oil in a large pot, at least three quarts in size. Add onion & ginger and sauté for about 5 minutes or until onions begin to soften. Add apples, salt, & pepper and cook an additional 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add apple cider & apple cider vinegar and stir well. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about 35 minutes, stirring occasionally. The liquid should reduce by about 3/4 and the mixture should be thick, not liquidy. Adjust seasoning to taste with additional salt & pepper if desired.

If you are not canning the chutney, store in an airtight container for 1-2 weeks.

For Canning
Fill 4-5 sterilized half-pint jars with chutney. Pound the jars on the counter to remove any air bubbles, and ensure that each jar has 1/2″ head space. Place flat lids on the jars and spin on the rings finger-tight. Process in a water bath canner for 15 minutes. Remove jars from canner and allow them to sit overnight to cool.

Remove rings from jars and lift by the edge of the flat lid to ensure a tight seal. Label jars and store in a cool, dark place.

ATTENTION STORES EVERYWHERE:

I love Christmas, I really do. But I’m not ready for it. Not for candy canes and glittery pine cones and red ribbons on the ends of the aisle. I’m not ready for the ghost and goblin decor to be heaped haphazardly on a clearance rack by the checkout while pine boughs and Santa hats flood in from the back room. It’s Halloween this week, thank you very much, it’s Thanksgiving in a month, and there are several beautiful weeks of autumn between now and then.

And for you big-budget stores, I’m really not ready for jingle bells and dancing elves to adorn your circulars & commercials.

So in defiance of the ever-earlier Christmas season, I offer these treats that scream “Halloween!” loudly enough to drown out the dancing elves, at least for the next few days.

I speak, of course, of caramel apples. It’s no wonder this treat is a classic: a tart, crisp apple enrobed in a sheen of chewy honey caramel is one of the greatest joys of fall. These apples are Pink Ladies, my favorite variety, and they hail from this year’s annual apple-picking trip, which has become a cornerstone of every fall for me (my little blog is named after it!)

Photo from Monica B.

The goal is to acquire enough fruit to span the gap between the last blackberries of summer and the first strawberries of spring, so I pick as many as I can. This year, the limit was half a bushel, so I filled my basket to the brim. But I’m willing to use a few of these precious fruits for a batch of caramel apples.

And what to dress them with I enjoy caramels of all sorts,  but I really love honey caramel. With only cream, sea salt, and honey, it’s a great way to celebrate local ingredients beyond even the apples.

And it’s super easy! With a cheap candy thermometer (available at any home goods store), a medium-sized pot, and a wooden spoon, you can make this caramel in less than 30 minutes.

Then the apples just get a quick bath in the hot caramel, and you’re done! A classic, delicious, show-stopping Halloween dessert.

Going to a Halloween party this weekend Show up with a tray full of these! But save one for yourself. The others will disappear faster than those fall decorations on the clearance rack.

Happy Halloween weekend!

Honey Caramel Apples
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

8 small apples, washed, dried, and cold
8 lollipop sticks
1 1/2 c heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 c honey

Line a medium cookie sheet with parchment paper. Twist off the stems from each apple and all it to sit naturally. Insert a lollipop stick into the apple where the stem was, but make sure the stick is vertical. It may not follow the same track as the stem, but should stay vertical when the apple sits naturally. Set apples aside. Fill a large bowl half full with cold water and set near the apples. Make sure you also have a trivet or pot holder adjacent to the bowl and the apples for the pot of caramel when it’s time to coat the apples.

In a heavy medium pot, stir together cream and sea salt. Heat over medium until just before simmering, stirring occasionally. Stir in the honey with a wooden spoon and place a candy thermometer onto the pot to track the temperature. Increase heat to medium-high, stirring constantly. Mixture will come to a boil and will cook for 10-15 minutes. Once the mixture reaches hard ball stage or 260°F, remove the thermometer and remove the pot from the heat. Continuing to stir, dip the base of the pot into the cold water, taking care to ensure that no water gets into the pot. Stir until the caramel is smooth and beginning to thicken. Place pot on the trivet and tilt so the caramel pools on one side.

Spin each apple on its side in the pooled caramel until it is covered to your liking. If the caramel is sliding off the apple or is thinning too much, let it cool for a few more seconds. You may also need to blot the bottom of the apple on the bottom of the pot above the caramel pool to allow extra caramel to come off. Place each apple on the parchment-lined baking sheet.

You’ll need to work quickly to prevent the caramel from becoming too cool. If the caramel becomes difficult to work with, place it back on the stove for a few seconds to heat it back up.

Once all apples are coated with caramel, allow them to cool for 1-2 hours until set, then store in the refrigerator. Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Apple cider. It is,without question, my favorite thing to drink. I’m rather fond of apple cider cold and unpasteurized, straight from an orchard, but I also believe that apple cider is truly at its best served warm, in a cozy little mug, for a soothing drink on cool nights in the fall and winter. From early October to New Years Eve, I need only the tiniest hint of a social gathering to bust out the crock pot and a half gallon of cider and am forlorn when parties I attend elsewhere don’t feature this essential holiday beverage.

The singular challenge I face with my affection for spiced hot cider Unless I am hosting a party, I simply need one mugful. I’ve tried various packets of instant cider mix, but I usually find them far too sweet and not apple-y enough for my tastes. And the Caramel Apple Spice from Starbucks Tasty, but not good for the wallet. And again with the too sweet.

But fortunately, Marisa over at Food in Jars has my back. Last year, after my fall supply of apple cider was gone, she posted this incredible recipe for an apple cider preserve. Not a preserve that tastes like apple cider but is actually spread on toast, but a preserve with which one can make “instant” apple cider all year long! The apple cider syrup, which is essentially reduced and sweetened apple cider, is spooned into a mug of hot water to create a delicious cool-weather drink whether apples are in season or not. I added it to my MUST MAKE NEXT YEAR list and waited, patiently, for this October to arrive.

And arrive it has. When I made my annual apple-picking journey in the last days of September, I picked up a gallon of cider and couldn’t wait to boil it down into syrup. Added a couple of extra spices as well, but did not want to can them into the finished product. Even when making a crock pot of spiced cider for a party, I’ve found that making a little baggie of spices tied with kitchen twine makes serving much easier, so I used the same technique here.

The cider will need to reduce by more than half. Once it does, the spice bag is removed and sugar is added to help it become a syrup. How do you know when you’re there Get. A. Candy. Thermometer. They’re pretty cheap at most home goods stores, and I find I use mine for many applications. It is very important to get this syrup to 218°F, but not to 220°F. Below 218, and your syrup will be too runny. Above 220, and it will turn into jelly (which sounds tasty, but not what I wanted). So keep an eye on that thermometer, and keep on stirring!

Fair warning: this syrup is not a thick, gooey, maple syrup-y syrup. It’s rather thin, actually, more like a simple syrup than anything else. But that doesn’t mean you can’t use it as a syrup. With a bit of additional thickening (try adding a bit of cornstarch immediately before serving, not before canning) this is a dream over ice cream. It’s probably phenomenal on pancakes, or even over pound cake. Add a few spoonfuls to apple pie filling. Dip a doughnut in it.

But for now, I’m gonna stick with my favorite use for it: a way to drink spiced hot cider all year long.

Apple Cider Syrup
Adapted just a smidge from Food in Jars

Makes 3-4 pints (I used quarter-pint jars, but half-pints would be lovely too)

Note: I used fresh, unpasteurized apple cider, and I have yet to try it with pasteurized. As with cold apple cider, apple sediment settles on the bottom of each jar as it sits. Simply shake up the jar before using. It doesn’t necessarily make the prettiest jar, but it is mighty delicious.

3 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp allspice berries
1 tsp whole cloves
1 gallon apple cider
2 cups granulated sugar

Wrap cinnamon sticks, allspice berries, and cloves in a square of cheesecloth and tie securely with cooking twine. Pour the apple cider into an 8-quart (or larger) stainless steel pot along with the spice bag. Place pot on the stove over high heat and bring the cider to a boil, then reduce heat to medium high. Allow cider to boil steadily for about 75 minutes, uncovered, until it has reduced by a bit more than half.

Once the cider has reduced, remove the spice bag and discard. Add the sugar to the pot and stir until dissolved. Increase the heat to high and place a candy thermometer in the pot to monitor the temperature. Stirring constantly, bring the mixture to 218°F. Be careful not to reach 220°F, which will cause the mixture to set into jelly when it cools.

Ladle the syrup into sterilized jars, wipe the rims, and place a fresh flat lid on each jar. Spin on the rings until they are finger-tight. Process filled jars in a boiling water bath for ten minutes. Remove jars and allow them to rest for 24 hours before removing the rings and storing.

For Making “Instant” Cider
Heat 1 cup of water in a mug in a microwave (or boil 1 cup and add to a mug). Stir in 3-4 tablespoons of apple cider syrup. Drink up!

So.

Remember the apples?

I brought home about 45 pounds of them and have hardly mentioned them since?

Yeah, those apples.

I’ll be honest, my favorite way to eat apples is whole and raw, so I don’t actually use them in many “recipes”. But I decided this year that, in order to ensure none went to waste, I would cook some down to make something I could use as a breakfast, a snack, a side, or a gift: applesauce!

Applesauce is, I think, drastically under-appreciated. It can be a cool, refreshing snack or a warm, hearty accompaniment to a well-seasoned pork chop.

I grew up on applesauce canned by my grandma, and I tried my first batch last spring with the end of that year’s batch of apples. However, I couldn’t actually can my own, as I did not have a water bath canner, a key piece of equipment for safely preserving a variety of foods.

But finally! The gi-normo pot has made its way into my apartment. Oh, the possibilities to come.

You can definitely make apple sauce without one of these guys, but you won’t be able to safely store your goods outside of refrigeration.

Next! Another handy tool: an apple peeler. Now, you can DEFINITELY make applesauce without this, but I don’t particularly recommend it. Peeling apples is… tedious. And it creates a lot more waste than this slim little blade.

Before you know, you’ll have big pot of peeled apples and the start of your very own compost pit.

From there, applesauce is pretty straight forward. Cooking apples, blending them into mush, adding sugar and spice (and everything nice?), scooping the hot sauce carefully into jars, and then boiling the jars, and voila!

But we can’t stop there. Oh no. Of the fifteen pints of apple sauce I diligently prepared, I gave thirteen of them away as gifts. I couldn’t simply give jars away.

Pretty jars! Pretty jars are better jars.

I think next year I’ll need even MORE apples. So that I can save more than two jars for myself. Maybe.

Because this is better than anything I can find in the store.

Spiced Applesauce
Adapted from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

Makes about 8 pints

Note: This recipe includes considerably less sugar than the original. Add more if you like a sweeter sauce, or remove it completely. The lemon juice, however is NOT negotiable. It will prevent your apple sauce from becoming darker over time and maintains a high acid level to ensure your canned goods remain safe to eat.

6 1/2 lbs apples peeled, cored, and quartered (about 10-12 pounds of whole apples)
water
1 c white sugar
4 T lemon juice
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Place prepared apples in a large stock pot with a lid. Add enough water to allow the apples to be stirred easily, which is enough to cover all but 2-3 inches of the apples. Over relatively high heat, bring apples to a boil. Place lid on the pot and cook for 10-18 minutes or until the apples are tender (this will vary with the variety of apple).

Remove apples from heat and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Working in batches, transfer apples with a slotted spoon to a food processor or blender, shaking off as much water as possible before the transfer. Pour sauce into a second pot. If you prefer a chunky applesauce, you can simply transfer the apples to the second pot and then mash with a potato masher.

Add lemon juice, sugar, and spices to the apples and stir thoroughly. Taste the sauce and add more sugar or spice if desired.

Serve immediately OR store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks OR can.

For Canning
Before slicing  your apples, sterilize jars and lids. I run mine through an empty dishwasher and keep them on the heated dry cycle to ensure the jars stay warm. Prepare your waterbath canner as your apples are cooking. Once applesauce is prepared, return it to the stove and keep at a low boil as you ladle it into your jars, allowing 1/2″ headspace. Remove air bubbles from jars by tapping gently on the counter and wipe the rims with a clean, damp cloth. Place flat lids on jars and spin on rings until they are fingertight (do not over-tighten).

Place jars in canning rack bring to a boil. Process for 20 minutes (time should be increased at higher altitudes). Remove canner carefully from heat by sliding it to a cold burner and remove lid. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, then remove jars using jar tongs, being careful not to tilt the jars. Set jars on a towel and don’t worry about the water collecting on the top, it will evaporate as the jar cools.

Allow jars to sit undisturbed for 12-24 hours. Remove rings from jars and ensure that a solid seal has formed. Label and store in a cool, dark place. Refrigerate after opening.

The time has come:

For apples!

After a few weeks of rather slim pickings of fruit at the farmers market, I’m happy to say I am now set for months, with a fridge full of the fresh, juicy apples. For breakfasts, for lunches, for sauce, for pie, for crisp, for… everything!

Obtaining these apples is so much more fun than the grocery store, or even my other pick-your-own adventures. Rather than making an early morning solo march into a strawberry field or a blueberry patch, I worked a drive to a Maryland apple orchard into my whirlwind trip to DC to visit friends.

And it’s actually becoming a bit of a tradition. For three years running, anywhere from two to four of us have made our way out to Homestead Farm in Poolesville, Maryland for apple picking.

And we could not have asked for a more perfect day! Blue skies, pleasant sunshine, and a cool autumn breeze set the scene as we arrived.

Us and everyone else, of course. It may look like a quiet country farm, but since it sits a mere 20 miles outside of the bustling DC metropolis, we weren’t the only ones looking for a beautiful fall day. Oh well. Here’s to pretending it was just us!

Upon arriving at the farm, green buckets able to hold about 20 to 25 pounds of apples sit in teetering stacks near the entrance. We grabbed three of them, commandeered an abandoned wheelbarrow (I’ve learned that lesson… always grab the wheelbarrow), and walked out toward rows of trees heavy with fruit.

Well, we mostly walked.

But despite the mud, our journey was a success. While many of the lower branches had been stripped by those who were willing to wake up earlier than we were, bunches of them could be found just overhead. Some were low enough for us to reach without effort, others required a bit of climbing.

It wasn’t long before our buckets were full and all options of riding in the wheelbarrow had disappeared beneath blushing, pink apples.

We got a lot of funny looks while toting around about 65 pounds of fruit. Many of our fellow orchard-goers picked only a few apples, or were taking their kids for the hay rides or the pumpkin patch and the apples served more as a souvenir.  For me, though, picking apples (or strawberries, or blueberries) is fun, yes, but I was there with a different purpose.  Pink Lady apples, one of my favorite varieties (and the literal fruit of our efforts), are crisp, tart, ideal for eating raw, and great for baking. But they also store extremely well, which means I can eat handpicked fruit all winter long. The many pounds of apples we picked (I ended up with about 45) will find their way into lunches, salads, pies, and more until spring returns.

Which makes the funny looks totally worth it.

Including the ones I got from Brad when I came home…