While I was at my mom's a few weeks ago, we managed to do a bit of canning...
We put up peaches and pickles...as you can see, some of the pickles were "colorized"...mom put green food coloring into some, the others were left au naturale! And in between the canning we managed to spend a good bit of time with Max...we even went to his little school to see him in action. There are 4 kids in the class, all with autism, and 3 adults. two aides and a special ed teacher, it's a wonderful place for him to be. Below is a pic of Max walking to the bus with one of the aides. I asked the girl why she would buy him such a HUGE backpack! And she said, "I didn't buy it - YOU sent it to him!" If I only had a brain.
Max loves Mahter and anything Cars...so now you know what I spend my money on! Okay, let's make some Crock-pot Apple Butter - it could not be easier! Mom and I made a huge batch in her Crock-pot while I was there, and she sent me home with a suitcase of apples so I could make some for myself!
The hard part of making apple butter is peeling and coring the apples, after that it's a cinch! If you have an apple corer/slicer, it will go much faster, but mine broke so I just used a paring knife. The apples go into the Crock-pot with some spices, vinegar and juice and then the lid is put on and you walk away for about 6 or 8 hours! Your house will smell amazing! When the apple butter is done, use an immersion blender to puree the apples, or you can use a regular blender, pureeing in small batches so you don't get burned. Fill sterilized jars and once cooled, you can keep them in the refrigerator or you can process them in a hot-water bath so they'll keep indefinitely, which is what I did.
My mom's Crock-pot was larger than mine and it must have cooked at a higher temperature, the apple butter we made there was done in 6 hours - it was thick and delicious. My apple butter took 7 1/2 hours until it was thick enough to bottle - but maybe that's because I lifted the lid after 6 hours to check, and then again after 6 1/2 hours...and every time you lift the lid on a Crock-pot you need to add about 20 more minutes of cooking time!
Crock-Pot Apple Butter - Pots and Pins
10 lbs. of apples, I used Granny Smith apples
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cloves
3/4 cup apple cider, or apple juice or water
Wash apples. Peel, core and slice into 1/4-inch slices. I put my slices into a large bowl with a 1/4 cup of water and a 1/4 cup of lemon juice so the apples wouldn't turn brown. This isn't necessary but I took my time peeling the apples so I wanted to keep them fresh. If you do this, be sure to drain off the water/juice and rinse apples before putting them into the Crock-Pot.
Fill Crock-pot with apples. Add spices, sugars, vinegar, lemon juice and apple cider. Put on lid, turn to high and let cook, undisturbed, for 6 hours. After 6 hours remove lid and using an immersion blender, puree the apples. If you don't have an immersion blender (get one!) transfer, in batches to a blender and puree until done. If the apple mixture is thick enough, then you can pour it into sterilized jars. If it not as thick as you would like, put the lid back on and allow to cook for another hour or two, checking every hour to see if it's ready. If you are going to process the apple butter in a hot-water bath, do so for 20 minutes, then allow jars to sit on the counter top until completely cooled. If you don't process the jars, keep in refrigerator, should last about a week. I was able to can eight half pints of apple butter...just enough to last me through the chilly Autumn weeks ahead.
