Apples - At Last!

13 years ago, I planted a "Transparent" apple tree. I have never yet done any spraying to prevent insect damage or disease. The tree, up until this year, would only make a few little nobbly pathetic apples. But this year, I have a REAL harvest! I picked up the more decent ones from the ground. Here they are!



Now they are in the sink, being washed and I am cutting out the bad parts:



I filled a 2 gallon pot with little pieces of apples (WHY is blogger underlining my typed words??)



Here are all the little things I cut off of the apples. That will go in the compost pile.



I put 2 cups of apple juice in the pan, and simmered it all until the apples were tender. Now, I will put them through the Foley Food Mill:



Here is all that was left in the mill:



Now, all the apple sauce goes into my crock-pot. I added 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon salt.



I leave off the lid, set the Crock Pot on "low" and cover it with a cloth. I let it cook for about 12 hours, I think. It would depend on the moisture content of your apples.



I stirred the contents occasionally, but not at night. Here is the result! Lovely, delicious, apple butter:



Then I filled canning jars to within 1/2 inch of the rim, put on the caps and water-bath processed them for 15 minutes.



I am very happy!