food noob

A couple weeks ago I bought a bag of local apples from the Merc, our friendly neighborhood natural foods co-op. I’m guessing they were the last ones of the season, as they were bunched into ridiculously cheap bargain bags and mostly hideous. Since I didn’t get around to eating them before our trip to Pennsylvania, I stuck them in the freezer in an oh-crap-last-minute effort to save them. Thawed, they’d be too mealy for munching. Applesauce, then.

As it turns out, frozen apples peel easily but chop terribly. I hacked them into chunks, removing the brown and gluppy bits. Then I tossed them into the giant pot over medium-low heat with a splash of water and the lid on. Twenty five minutes and some enthusiastic potato-mashering later, I had applesauce.

The peeling was easy, aside from my frozen fingers.

The chopping was not easy. It took forever.

Ten smallish apples made a quart of delicous sauce, which will go into the fridge for my snacking pleasure. I’d have added cinnamon if I had any around. It didn’t need sweetening. I wish I’d remembered to note what kind of apples they were, and what farm they were from, but I’m not that observant. Also, next time I need to freeze apples, I’ll chop them first.

A quart of yum.

Next fall when I’m feeling more hardcore I’ll try making a metric frak-ton of sauce and canning it, for yummy local apples all winter long.