Harvest

1) slice & steam
2) strain

3) sweeten & stir
4) steam & seal (Lynda thank you for sharing your steam canner...it is 100 times better than a water bath canner!)
5) store
I made 23 quarts of applesauce yesterday.
7 pints are unsweetened for Baby Guy.
7 pints have cinnamon and nutmeg and are rockin' awesome...wish I had made more.
the other 16 quarts are regular applesauce.
I checked, and one pint of applesauce costs $1.33 at Walmart
...so 23 quarts at that price would be $61.18
Making it from scratch cost $12.00.
Even if I were to add in the cost of propane (I did the canning on the camp stove, so as not to disturb my "black power" kitchen and start another revival), and canning jars...I still saved like $35 (probably more, since baby food applesauce costs double) by doing it myself, and I will be able to reuse the pint jars so they are more of an investment, anyway.

How 'bout THEM apples?!

Carrie and I whipped up 4 pans of apple-berry crisp today with some of my leftover apples.
Mmmmmm bake me.