Now that you’re laden with bags and bags of apples here are a couple of recipes to make it all worthwhile.
APPLESAUCE
Ala’ Wrights Apple Farm:
Wash 10 apples well. Quarter the apples, so they are not touching, and place in about 1 inch of water in a large pan. Add a little sugar if needed. Use sweet apples and you won’t need sugar. Cover and cook until apples are soft. Place food mill in a large bowl. Pour batches into food mill and stir until pulp separates into bowl, discarding seeds and skin. Add a little cinnamon for a great taste. Refrigerate until serving time. Serve warm and they’ll know it’s homemade.
Crock Pot Apple Sauce:8 apples, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, couple dashes of cinnamon, and 1/2 cup water. Set on high and cook for 4 hours in the crockpot. Once softened and juicy, blend or use hand immersion blender to puree, or mash with potato masher for a chunkier applesauce.
DRIED APPLES
Wash apples in cold water. Peel only if you want the skins removed. Cut off any bruised or soft parts. Slice very thinly. You can use a food dehydrator, an oven, or the hot sun. Spread the apples out on trays so that they’re not touching.
Food dehydrator: Set it for 140˚ F. It will take 12 to 24 hours.
Oven: Set oven at 150˚ or the lowest setting. Cook 10 to 20 hours, checking periodically. Rotate the shelves to get even heating.
Hot sunny day: Put your trays or cookie sheets in a hot spot with cheesecloth loosely over them to keep bugs off. It may take a couple of days. Bring the apples in the house overnight.
Dry them at least to the consistency of a raisin, or they won’t keep. Put in ziploc bags taking out any extra air. Store in a cool, dark place.
HOT SPICED CIDER
INGREDIENTS
• 6 cups fresh apple cider
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 6 whole cloves
• 6 whole allspice berries
• 6 strips orange peel
• 6 strips lemon peel
• 12 pieces of star anise
Pour the apple cider into a large stainless steel saucepan. Place the cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice berries, anise, orange peel, and lemon peel in the center of a washed square of cheesecloth; fold up the sides of the cheesecloth to enclose the bundle, then tie it up with a length of kitchen string. Drop the spice bundle into the cider mixture.
Place the saucepan over moderate heat for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the cider is very hot, but not boiling.
Remove the cider from heat. Discard the spice bundle. Ladle the cider into big cups or mugs, adding a fresh cinnamon stick or star anise to each serving if you like.
APPLE PIE
INGREDIENTS
• 7 cups thinly sliced, peeled tart apples
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• dash ground cloves
• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
• 1 recipe Pastry for Double-Crust Pie (below)
DIRECTIONS
1. In a large mixing bowl toss apples with lemon juice. Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Add to apples and toss until apples are coated. Set apple mixture aside.
2. Prepare Pastry for Double-Crust Pie. Divide dough in half. Form each half into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 ball of dough into a 12-inch circle. Ease pastry into a 9-inch pie plate.
3. Transfer apple mixture to pastry-lined pie plate. Dot with butter or margarine. Trim pastry even with pie plate. For top crust, roll out the second piece of dough. Cut dough into 1/2-inch wide strips. Lay half of the strips on the filling in one direction, and weave the other half in the other direction. Trim the strips even with the edge of the bottom of the crust. Flute the edges.
4. To prevent overbrowning, cover the edge of the pie with foil. Bake in a 375˚ F oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil; bake for 20 to 25 minutes more or until the top is golden brown and apples are tender. Serve warm or cool. Makes 6 to 8 servings.
Pastry for Double-Crust Pie: Stir together 2 1/4 cups flour and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in 2/3 cup butter until pieces are pea size. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon cold water over part of the mixture; gently toss with a fork. Push moistened dough to the side of the bowl. Repeat, using 1 tablespoon cold water at a time, until all the dough is moistened (6 to 8 tablespoons water total).
