Applesauce

'Tis the season... for applesauce! Actually, it's almost past, but in most places you can still get apples for a pretty good price right now. Depending on where you live, you may still be able to go and pick your own in a nearby orchard. (My favorite site for finding pick your own farms is this one here.)

I love homemade applesauce. However, I am an applesauce snob, for sure. While you can make decent applesauce out of almost any variety of apples, there are a few apples that excel in this department. While everyone has slightly different taste and texture preferences when it comes to applesauce, I am all about Cortland apple applesauce. I first came across this apple in 2006 when we lived outside Dayton, Ohio. Once I tasted Cortland applesauce, there was no going back. It has the perfect balance of tart and sweet. The finished texture is everything I want in an applesauce: it breaks down nicely but doesn't end up mealy. It makes life easy because I don't need to run it through a food mill (although you certainly can, if you prefer that texture). They are a beautiful apple. Red with green streaks and green at the stem end or on the shoulders (watch out, if the green is too extensive, then the apples are not fully ripe). The flesh inside is quite white and is slow to brown. While they are not a super crisp apple, they are still wonderful for eating out of hand. I love them. Unfortunately, until recently, it'd been a few years since I'd come across Cortland apples.

A couple of months ago, we went on a short vacation to Door County, Wisconsin. Low and behold, I came across a bag of Cortlands in one of the farm stands there. They were a little pricey, so I only bought a half-peck bag. Unfortunately, that batch of applesauce was small enough that I polished it off in only a few days. I started looking for more. I was so excited when I found a half bushel at the last farmers' market of the season... and for a decent price too! I polished off half of that batch of applesauce in a few days before I managed to finally put some in the freezer. I was a little despondent because I knew that wouldn't last me long (and my boy, who loves the stuff, has started to put away his fair share). Wouldn't you know that the very next time I went to the grocery store, they had Michigan apples, including Cortlands, on sale for 59 cents a pound? I now have fulfilled my applesauce destiny for the year!

In the last eight years, I have processed a LOT of apples. Bushels and bushels and bushels of apples. The method of preparing apples that I will share here is, in my opinion, by far the most efficient way out there. The other day I processed a peck and a half (about 15 pounds) of apples about 45 minutes. Here's how I do it. You need a paring knife, a vegetable peeler, and a melon baller.

Step One: Cut all of the apples in half. This method is an assembly line method. As the years went by, I found I used up a lot of time picking up and setting down my tools. I discovered it was much more efficient to do each step to every apple before moving on. You do not need to worry about excessive browning if you are doing a bushel or less, especially if you are using Cortlands.

Step 2: Core the apples with a melon baller.

Step 3: Notch out the stem and blossom end with a paring knife. It is important to do the coring before the notching in order to save time. Since the melon baller is only so large, you can easily cut out any core or stem bits you might have missed in step 2.

Step 4: Peel with a vegetable peeler. You can use a paring knife. but I find two problems with that. First, I end up with a lot more of the apple on the peel and I like to maximize my efforts. Second, I find my hand cramps a lot less using the vegetable peeler when I'm doing a large batch.

Step 5: Cut the halves into wedges and put them into a heavy duty pan. Obviously the size of the pan needed will depend on how many apples you are cooking.

Now that the hard part is done, you can while the afternoon away to applesauce nirvana! Add a small amount of water to your pot (I use about 1/4 cup water per peck of apples). Place the lid on the pot and place over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples have broken down. They should break apart as you stir. When the apples are close to being completely broken down, add your sugar. There is no recipe here because every batch of apples have a different sugar content. For a peck, I usually start with a half cup of sugar. Stir it in and then taste. Add more as necessary until it is right for your tastes. I like to add cinnamon as well. Again, it's all personal preference, so simply add a small amount at a time and keep tasting. Continue cooking until the applesauce is the texture you want. I think I usually cook my applesauce for between one and two hours. Cool and refrigerate or freeze... or can!

If you want to can the applesauce, you can process it in a water bath canner. If you have never canned before, you can check out my Canning 101 post for instructions. Applesauce should have a half-inch head space and be processed 20 minutes for both pints and quarts. Please note that when canning applesauce, I strongly recommend leaving the jars in the canner for 5 minutes with the heat off after the processing time is done, as they can ooze horribly if you yank them right out of the hot water. Lastly, when canning applesauce, I always add extra water to the mixture before putting it in the jars. I find that the applesauce thickens during canning as moisture is lost during the pressurizing process and I find it unappealing.

Strawberry Topping

I just love this time of year. In many areas, strawberries are one of the first real fruit crops of the season, and it always gets me excited about things to come. While strawberries are undeniably at their best fresh out of the field: warm, sweet, and juicy, they just don't keep long fresh. Fortunately, there is an easy and delicious way to enjoy strawberries year round. If preserved properly, strawberries can come out of the freezer tasting very much like they went in. There's nothing better than enjoying strawberry shortcake in November or strawberry topping on waffles with whipped cream in January.

The first step is to rinse and cut up the berries. Remove any overly ripe parts and rotten spots. Remove the stems and cut into roughly nickel sized pieces. For every quart of prepared berries, squeeze about half a lemon's worth of juice into them. Please note that all of the measurements in this process are very loose; simply taste as you go to be sure it's right for your palate.

Then add some sugar. For a quart of berries, I use between half and one cup of sugar typically. But, again, it will always vary depending on the sweetness of the berries. One point to keep in mind, however, is that you don't want to skimp too much on the sugar. The sugar helps thicken the topping and keeps that beautiful red color vibrant. Use too little sugar and you may be a bit disappointed in the results.

Stir the sugar in and then gently crush the berries with your hands. Do not use any mechanical means to complete this step. You do not want the berries pulverized, just gently crushed. This step helps the berries to release more of their juice and also damages the cell walls in the strawberries enough that freezing the topping will no longer change its texture or structure much.

Don't crush things too much. You still want some nice sized pieces in there. In this image, the topping is sitting in a large serving spoon which is about three inches long. Look at all that delicious syrup that's developed!

At this point, spoon the mixture into freezer containers. I like square ones like these (I picked mine up at Wal-Mart a few years ago). Be sure to leave a half-inch at the top of the container so the mixture can expand as it freezes without making a mess of your freezer. Just as an FYI, this batch of twelve pint containers was from one flat of strawberries.

When you are ready to use, you can defrost them in the refrigerator, on the counter, or in the microwave (just go gently!). Spoon over cakes, ice cream, waffles, or oatmeal. Use to make the best daiquiris or margaritas ever or use to make a delicious smoothie. Or defrost only enough to get a spoon in there to scrape out frozen bits and serve over your favorite cold cereal or as a frozen dessert with whipped cream.

What I love most about putting these little containers in the freezer is that they are so darn versatile!

Berry Freezer Jam

There are certain types of fruits that just don't taste the same when they are cooked. I love strawberries but am not a fan of cooked strawberry jam. In fact, I think most berries are much better before they are subjected to heat. Have you ever noticed how both raspberries and strawberries change color when you cook them? Change color and flavor.

Fortunately, there is a wonderful alternative. Freezer jam is a great way to preserve fresh berries to enjoy year round in their just-picked perfection. I have made strawberry freezer jam for years. Two years ago was the first time that I tried making raspberry freezer jam. Wow! That stuff is phenomenal. Unfortunately, since I've moved to Florida, raspberries are a bit hard to come by.

This week I'm up in Seattle visiting my family. This morning, I went to the Issaquah Farmers' Market, and what did I find? Beautiful, fresh, sweet raspberries. I'm not sure how I'm going to get these jars home, but I'll figure it out! I also noticed that the blackberries, which grow rampant everywhere here, are ripening much earlier than usual due to the recent heat. I decided I would make some of each.

For most applications, I prefer liquid pectin. I think that it is more forgiving and leads to a more consistent product. Every container of pectin comes with a recipe sheet inside. I simply followed the recipe for red raspberry or blackberry. I needed about 2 pints of berries for each batch.

Because berries are so dadgum seedy, I like to process them through a food mill. This is my mom's Foley food mill. She's had it forever. You can see that, even though it is stainless steel, years of berry mashing have given it a purple patina. Any type of food mill will work. While I normally like a little more mashed fruit pieces in my jams, I think the trade-off for less seeds is worth it. I still typically get a good set doing it this way. Many food mills will not remove every seed but removes enough that you don't end up with a mouthful of seeds when you eat the finished product.

Mix the sugar and the fruit puree in a bowl. Stir to mix and let sit, stirring occasionally, for about twenty minutes.

Mix the liquid pectin and lemon juice and add to the sugar-puree mixture. Stir continuously for 3-5 minutes, until the sugar is basically completely dissolved. To test whether it is done, dip in a spoon and taste. If it is mostly smooth, you're good to go. Not every single sugar crystal will be dissolved. Pour jam into clean containers. You can use jars or plastic freezer containers; just be sure that you don't fill the container all the way to the top. Be sure to leave enough room for the jam to expand upon freezing.

Place lids on containers and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours. If jam is set, place containers in the freezer. If the jam still seems a little loose, place containers in the refrigerator until set, up to three days, before freezing. When ready to use jam, thaw in the refrigerator before using. Jam lasts in the freezer at least one year. I have successfully kept them for over a year and a half without any problems. Jam can be used immediately after making without a trip to the freezer, if desired.

Berry Freezer Jam
Yield: 5 cups
from the Certo pectin recipe sheet

2 cups of raspberry or blackberry puree (requires about 2 pints of whole fruit)
4 cups sugar
2 TBS fresh lemon juice
1 pouch liquid pectin

Crush berries, running through food mill if desired to remove some of the seeds. Mix puree and sugar together in a bowl. Stir to mix and then stir periodically over a period of twenty minutes to help sugar dissolve.

Mix the lemon juice and pectin together and add to fruit mixture. Stir continuously for 3-5 minutes, until sugar is almost completely dissolved (a few sugar crystals may remain).

Pour or scoop jam into clean containers (freezer containers or canning jars), leaving at least a half-inch of head space at the top to allow for expansion upon freezing. Close containers and let sit on the counter for 24 hours. If jam has set in this time frame, place them in the freezer until ready to use. If they have not yet set, place in the refrigerator for up to three days to give them more time to set. After three days, place the containers in the freezer.

When ready to use, simply let jam thaw in the refrigerator overnight.

Strawberries & Cream

It's that time of year. Strawberry season usually sneaks up on me because I think of it too early and have to tell myself to wait, and then it seems like I usually get caught up in other things and risk missing them. That happened to me the year before last; I couldn't believe it. A whole year with no strawberries in the freezer. It was horrible.

During their short season, I like to eat them fresh in all kinds of ways, but I always have to have some in the freezer to enjoy their fresh, bright taste during the dark winter months. Strawberries are so easy to put up. I average putting 40 pounds in my freezer each year. I simply hull them, cut them into quarters (depending on their size), smash them with my hands a bit, add sugar to taste, ladle them into freezer containers, and then sit back and feel good about my stash. Be sure to let them sit and macerate in the sugar a bit and, whatever you do, don't add any water! They'll produce plenty of their own juice. When fresh strawberries are available, I prepare them this way for immediate use, too.

I use these little frozen containers through the year on waffles and pancakes, for strawberry shortcake, for strawberry smoothies or blended "adult beverages," and many other similar uses. By far though, the most common use for this strawberry "topping" is the ultra simple strawberries and cream.

First, I gotta tell you that I am a whipped cream fanatic. Hmmm... that may not be a strong enough word. Actually, I am obsessed with whipped cream (have you ever tried whipped cream on a bowl of raisin bran and milk? Sublime!). But, I recently found that I also really like half-whipped cream. Talk about a simple dessert (or snack!). Pour a little heavy whipping cream in a small bowl, add a little sugar and vanilla and start running a fork through it until it gets partially whipped. Pour this over your strawberries and enjoy. Whoops, excuse me... I hear some strawberries calling my name!