Making Delicious Applesauce

The other week we went to the apple orchard and picked some delicious Jonagold apples for canning applesauce.  We went to a local apple farm Beilke Family Farm and picked 2 buckets worth, about 44 pounds of apples.  They charge $9 a bucket and each bucket holds about 22 pounds...that is $.41 a pound people!  Doesn't get much better than that.  Three quarter of the apples that we bought were for canning and the rest are for our tummies.  

Make sure to wash your apples.  Still very important even though we remove the peel.  

Last year my mom bought the BEST apple tool ever!  It peels the apple and cores it all at the same time.  If you are going to make applesauce yearly I highly suggest getting this, it is such a time saver.  

Once you have peeled and sliced your apples, put them into a large pot and add a couple of inches of water.  I say inches because it  is not an exact science-you just need some water to help the breaking down process.  Because my apple gizmo makes such nice small slices of my apples it breaks down pretty fast.  

This is what you are aiming for.  It can still have some chunks in it, you will work those out when you put the apples through the strainer.  

Into the strainer your cooked chunky apples go.  This will get out any peel or core that may have been missed when you peeled them and it makes for a nice smooth applesauce. 

Once all of your apples have gone through the strainer you want to return it to the pot.  This is the time to add your sugar and cinnamon.  I don't measure out how much I am going to put in I just do it by taste.  For a large pot of applesauce I probably only use 3/4 cup of sugar and lots of dashes of cinnamon.  Just keep tasting it until you reach your desired taste.  Bring to a boil.

Make sure that your jars are warm when you put your hot applesauce into them.  You don't want to shock the jars into cracking.  These are pint jars which feet about 2 cups of sauce.  Make sure to leave 1.5-2 inches of space between your applesauce and your lids.  Cap with warm lids and screw on the lid.

I use a steam canner but you can also use the boiling method.  It is the same amount of cooking time for each- 20 minutes.  When steam canning don't start the time until you have a steady stream of steam coming out.  When boiling them make sure to cover the tops of the jars with at least 2 inches of water.  When the time is up remove the jars to cool.  Leave them be for 24 hours before moving them to their new home.  Enjoy your delicious applesauce!!!

  He sure did!

Total cost per pint of applesauce: $.54 Yes that is 54 cents!!!

My 30+ pounds of apples made 24 pints

Boo to You!

I saw this idea on Pinterest and decided that I must make one of my own for Halloween  I love decorating for Halloween almost as much as I love decorating for Christmas, it is a very close second.   

 These are all the things you will need to make your very own BOO sign.  I had everything already except for the letters which I picked up at my local Michael's store.

 When painting or gluing anything I use an old cutting board to keep things clean.  I know I didn't really have to paint the entire letter as I would be covering most of it with paper, but it seemed silly to just paint the sides.  

 After the paint dried I adhered the letters face down on the WRONG side of the paper I had chosen.  

 After that dried I used an exacto knife and good old fashioned tearing to get my letters out.  

 I decided to drill holes in my letters so I could string the ribbon through to connect them all.

TA DA after adding on some embellishments it is all done.  Now I just wish it was October 1st so I can officially start decorating!

Total cost for me was $4

I only bought the letters and the bat, everything else I already had.

Back to those Tacos...

I have been on the hunt for the perfect Taco night serving dish.  I have a picture in my mind of what I want and I can't seem to find it anywhere.  Until I find exactly what I am looking for I purchased this at the dollar store for taco night, works really well.  You can put all your different toppings into one dish and cut down on dishes as well as being able to pass all the toppings together.  I have been on a crunchy taco kick so of course I had to get taco holders!  

Attack of the Canned Tomatoes!

It has been a wonderful season for tomatoes in my house but that means that I have been up to my elbows in them!  It seems that every week I have had to do some canning.  Now don't get me wrong, I am not complaining about my abundance of tomatoes, but it does get tiring.  I have filled my pantry shelves with lovely jars of tomatoes to use throughout the year and I am thrilled.  Canning tomatoes isn't difficult, it just takes a little bit of time.  Most of the tomatoes that I can are Roma's, however I do throw in some Willamette slicing tomatoes if I need to fill space.

 Freshly picked from my garden...doesn't get much prettier than that!

 After blanching them with boiling water you can slide the skins right off.

 Squish them into warm jars, add a little salt then put the warm lid on and screw the top on.

Into the canner they go for 30-35 minutes and then out come beautiful jars of tomatoes

It is recommended to use either the boiling water method or the pressure canner for tomatoes.  I switch back and forth depending on my time.  Now for some people I know that this seems like a waste of time but it really is a money saver.  My tomato plants only cost me $6 dollars and the price for a can of stewed tomatoes at the store averages $1+ for a name brand.  Plus you are getting added preservatives  in store bought that you really don't need, and lets face it home grown always tastes better! 

Approximate savings: $30+

This amount doesn't even play into account all the tomatoes that we have eaten fresh throughout the summer or the fact that I will probably have one more batch to can before the plants are all done.  

Tacos Anyone?

Ever since I joined Pinterest I have become a bit addicted to it.  I found this recipe for homemade taco seasoning and decided to whip myself up a batch.  

Equal parts of the following spices:

Garlic Powder 

Chili Powder

Onion Powder

Ground Cumin

and a 1/4 to a 1/2 part Crushed red pepper

I used 2 ounces for the first 4 and 1 ounce for the red peppers.

Mix it all together and store in an air tight container.  Use 1-2 TB depending on taste preferences when cooking.

 So pretty!

I labeled and dated mine, partly because I love my label maker :-)

Approximate cost $4.08

Tweet Tweet

Let me just start by saying I love wreaths!  When I saw the idea for a bird seed wreath on pinterest I had to have one.  It was super easy to make and a great activity for any little ones you may have.  

You will need:

4 cups bird seed

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup warm water

1 package of plain gelatin

3 TB corn syrup

cooking spray

Bundt pan (I love saying the word bundt!)

A whisk and a wooden spoon

 Here is everything, minus the water, that you need.  Now whisk the water, gelatin and corn syrup together.  Next stir in the flour and the the bird seed.  Spray your bundt pan with the cooking spray and press the bird seed mixture in using the back of your spoon or your finger tips.  

 Let dry over night.

 I took mine outside to flip out. 

Tie with a beautiful ribbon and tada you have a functional yet adorable wreath for the birds!  I hung mine in front of my kitchen window so I can hopefully catch a peek at some of the birdies.

Approximate cost of project $5