JUST PLAIN APPLESAUCE

The Fam and I scored a bunch of apples at a great price from a local orchard.  I love apples.  I love the way they smell, how they taste, the variety in color and flavor and their culinary versatility.  An apple fresh from the tree is as much of a delight as an artfully crafted caramel apple or the ever-famed apple pie.

I have many fond memories involving apples.  When I think of the semester I spent studying abroad in Estonia, apples come to mind.  Most restaurants served apples in some way.  There was one restaurant in particular that had an apple appetizer on each table.  It was a small bowl with the main ingredient of chopped apples.  The bright, sweet fruit provided a splash of sunshine in a long, cold winter.  I was impressed with the love of apples the residence had.  I was something I could relate to.  Memories of my first overseas adventure come to mind with the smell of an apple.

Another memory I have of apples is from my childhood, an afternoon spent making applesauce with a family friend and local applesauce legend (at least in my young mind).  This woman made the most phenomenal applesauce from the trees growing in her farmyard.  No other compared.  She had shared with my family and we raved of her skill.  In the normal way that kids perceive things, I don't know how one thing led to the other but my mom, two sisters and I were invited to make applesauce and observe her method.  I remember the excitement as I watched her cook the apples and how she exclaimed that it wasn't any secret and it wasn't a hard thing to do.  I was certain it was some kind of magic.  This woman's name?  Just Plain Barb, if you would have asked my younger sister back then.  Last names weren't important and she knew her simply as "Barb".  Barb earned this name when my sister was asked a question to which her answer was Barb's name.  She responded with "Just Plain Barb", and the pseudo-name stuck.  Her applesauce, it had a name too.  It was Barb's Applesauce.

Our recent wealth in apples had me pondering how best to enjoy them.  We could eat all of them fresh; just slice them up and dip into some peanut butter or caramel.  I could certainly manage that.  Mackenson asked for caramel apples which I gallantly attempted and royally failed in making (they were still yummy, just not too pretty).  Thinking back to Estonia and how much I enjoy apples in the middle of winter convinced me to purchase more apples and preserve the heck out of them.  I decided to try my hand at making and canning applesauce.  I have long since forgotten how the magic I witnessed years ago worked in that farmhouse kitchen.  With wishful thinking I chopped a bunch of huge, wonderfully smelling apples, put them in a pot with a little water and lemon juice.  I sprinkled sugar, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger over the apples.  Not measuring, just guessing.  When the apples started to soften, I mashed them with a potato masher.  Now I had to taste them.  With my first bite I was left exclaiming, "Barb's Applesauce!  I made Just Plain Barb's Applesauce!".

This morning I made a small batch of Just Plain Applesauce for my family to eat today.  This is how I did it, my method is very imprecise:

• 4 huge apples
• sugar
• water
• lemon juice
• ground cinnamon
• ground nutmeg
• ground cloves
• ground ginger 

Core, peel and chop apples into small pieces.  Put in large pot with a little water at the bottom.  Add a little lemon juice to keep the apples from turning brown.  Cook until the apples can be mashed with a potato masher.  You could skip this step if you like super chunky apple sauce or you could go one step further and process with a food mill or food processor.  I like slightly chunky sauce and the potato masher was perfect for this.  Add about 1/4 or so cup of sugar, it just depends on how sweet you like your sauce and how sweet your apples are to begin with.  You may want to add a lot or none at all.  I used about 1/4 cup of sugar (remember the apples I used were very large).  Add spices to taste.  I like a lot of flavor.  I gave the apples a few good sprinkles of each spice.  I used more cinnamon than the other three spices.  Use the spices you like.  Maybe just cinnamon or cinnamon and nutmeg or cinnamon and clove.  Cook it to the consistency you like it.  I like it a little bit juicy but not runny.  When it is on my plate I like it to stay in it's own little puddle.  There was enough applesauce so that if I were canning it would have fit into two pint jars.   

So you see, Just Plain Barb was right.  It is easy to make applesauce.  Now my family has apples to enjoy on the bleakest day this winter.  And that is the magic...