What to do with all those apples...

Pretty soon, I'm going to have my hands on gobs and gobs of apples! It is getting cool enough here so that I can temporarily store some of them in a sort-of 'root cellar' that I made out of a clean galvanized trash can that is parked in the shade outside my kitchen door. (Last winter I used it to dump my woodstove ashes into.)

Speaking of root cellars, here's an excellent book about root cellars of every description: Root Cellaring by Mike and Nancy Bubel. This book and many other self-reliant topics are published by Storey Publishing http://www.storey.com . Root Cellering is the best book I've ever seen on the subject, and it's where I got the inspiration for my trashcan 'root cellar'.

Blurb on the book's front cover: "Keep your produce 'harvest fresh' in your own basement, porch, garage, or closet hideaway!"


What I'll be doing with the rest of the apples:

-- Dehydrate (rings and apple leather)...This can be done in the oven, or near a wood stove or in a dehydrator.

-- Vinegar (peels and cores)... It's fun and easy to make gourmet vinegars as well. http://purecajunsunshine.blogspot.com/2007/10/homemade-vinegar-is-fun-and-easy.html

-- Applesauce

-- Apple Pie Jam

-- 'Apple Pie Jam Leather', made with the same yummy flavors in this delicious recipe:



Miss Violet's APPLE PIE JAM

4 cups tart apples, peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
4 cups sugar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 box powdered pectin
1/2 teaspoon butter

Add water to chopped apples to measure 4 cups. (This is NOT 4 cups each, but water placed on top of the diced apples to come up to the 4 cup mark.)

Place apples and water into large, heavy saucepan.

Stir in lemon juice, cinnamon and allspice. Measure sugars. Stir pectin into fruit. Add butter.

Bring mixture to full rolling boil on high heat, stirring constantly. Quickly stir in both sugars. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon.

Ladle quickly into hot, clean jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands on finger tight. Process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes.


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DID YOU KNOW?
Applesauce and apple leathers are considered to be good foods to eat during and after a nuclear crisis. While this is by no means a 'cure' for radiation poisoning, it does not hurt that the pectin in the apples binds with heavy metals associated with radiation poisoning. The pectin (along with some of the bound metals) is removed by the process of elimination. This helps your body to detox better. And of course, you know about how good applesauce is for you! Plus it is a comfort food that is easy to digest.

Here's a link to an excellent tutorial: Making Your Own Apple Pectin

By Sam Thayer From The Forager. Volume 1, Issue 3. August-September 2001
http://www.wildflowers-and-weeds.com/The_Forager/pectin.html



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