ALL ABOUT APPLES
This weekend I took my 2 little men to Pingles Farm Market in Hampton, Ontario to pick some apples. They have a cute little fun farm and petting zoo, as well as pumpkin cannons and a horse drawn wagon ride. The boys were so excited. We picked 40 lbs of apples and I have been busy in the kitchen putting them to good use. Apple sauce, apple crisp, candy and caramel apples so far! Later this week I plan to make canned apple pie filling. Also I have been saving the cores and peels, and I run them through my juicer. The juice I am saving and I will use it later to make a clear apple jelly.
Here is a link to another one of my recipe posts -Slow Cooker Apple Crisp.
Above you will see a picture of the Candy Apples I made today. Most local grocery stores and farm markets carry the kits for making your own at home. They come with a package of the dry food colour and flavouring and about 10 Popsicle sticks. I happened to have extra sticks in my craft box, and I used small apples so I ended up with about 15 in my first batch. I am donating these ones to the Bake Sale at my boys school to raise funds for the School Community Council.
Here is a quick recipe for Apple Jelly - This can be made with canned or freshly squeezed apple juice or cider. I use my apple jelly for glazing pork and I use it in marinades. Here is another of my recipe links for Apple Jelly Marinade. You can also use the recipe below for various other Fruit Juice Jelly recipes.
I have also included a recipe below for Slow Cooker Apple Sauce.
Apple Jelly
Ingredients:
4 cups apple juice (or any other fruit juice)
1/4 cup bottled lemon juice
1 1.75-ounce package of regular powdered fruit pectin
4.5 cups white sugar
Directions:
Pour fruit juice and lemon juice into a heavy kettle or pot. Sprinkle with pectin. Let stand for 1-2 minutes; stir to dissolve. Bring to full rolling boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Stir in sugar. Return to full rolling boil, stirring frequently. Boil hard for 1 full minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; quickly skim off foam with a metal spoon.
Ladle jelly at once into hot, sterilized half-pint canning jars, leaving a quarter inch headspace. Wipe jar rims and adjust lids. Process filled jars in a boiling-water canner for 5 minutes (start timing when water returns to boil). Remove jars from canner; cool on wire racks until set.
Slow Cooker Apple Sauce
Ingredients:
15-20 medium apples (peeled, cored and sliced)
1 cup white sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup water (or apple juice)
Directions:
Peel, core and slice apples. In a large bowl - add apples, cinnamon, sugar, water and vanilla. Toss to coat. Add apple mixture to a 5-7 quart slow cooker and cook on low for 4-6 hours. About half way through the cooking time - open the lid and stir. Replace the lid and continue cooking. Mash or puree with an immersion blender.
This can be eaten immediately, or stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Alternately you can process in a hot water bath following the steps used in the Apple Jelly recipe. The apple sauce will be shelf stable for up to a year after processing.
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