Apple Saucing

A couple of weeks ago, we went apple picking with friends and picked what I thought was quite a conservative amount of apples.

Of course, it is always good to have a bowl of apples on hand for eating, but at this time of year, I always like to take advantage of the seasonal surplus of apples with crockpot apple sauce.

I'm not even sure where I got this recipe, but it is the very essence of simplicity, tastes good whatever type of apple is used, and makes the home smell absolutely divine!


3 lbs of apples, peeled, cored and diced (it usually comes out to 10 large apples if you are averse to getting out your kitchen scales, as I usually am)
1/2 cup of apple juice (although I have also used water in a pinch, and cherry cider too!)
1/4 cup of sugar, maple syrup, honey, sweetener of your choice (you can use more, or less, depending on how sweet you prefer your applesauce)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon all spice

Just mix it all up in your crock pot and cook on low for about 8 hours. You will know it's ready when the sauce breaks up easily as it is stirred; and your home will smell amazing!

At this time of year I always like to keep a batch in the fridge for snacking or as a topping for oatmeal, but I also make sure that we put plenty in the freezer too. Yum!!

Diggin' and Pickin'

One of my favorite harvest of the year was just a couple of weeks ago ... potatoes!

There is something so immensely satisfying about this harvest! It really does seem as though you are digging up an empty field; and then - "Look! Potatoes!!"

Despite our best intentions, we harvested enough to last a year (I may not be exaggerating!) Thank goodness we all like potatoes :-)

And somehow, despite all our years gardening and visiting self-pick farms, digging and growing and harvesting, we had never picked apples, a situation we have now remedied twice in just the past couple of weeks.

Sometimes it's hard to decide just which variety is your favorite, so it's good to try a couple!

Now to find new recipes for potatoes and apples ...