Applesauce

So yesterday I decided to try making my own homeade applesauce. I had some when I was in Washington a week ish ago, and it was wonderful! I can't eat apples raw, but I love them, so this is a perfect way to get my apple supply! This was my first time canning anything other than fireweed jelly, so I decided to document the process. I should have starting taking photos sooner, like of the pretty organic gala apples I used, but oh well...

Ingredients:

• Apples (approx 3 lbs)
• Water
• Cinnamon

The only "special" tool I used for this was my immersion blender. I love it - it makes things so much cleaner and easier to blend! But you can use a food processor or blender for your sauce.

Step 1. wash & peel apples. Remove cores/stems etc.

Step 2. Boil the apples in about 1" of water until soft (I added a cinnamon stick to the water for flava - just be sure to remove it before you blend!)

Step 3. Blend to desired consistency, which for me is very chunky. Add additional cinnamon to taste

Step 4. Jar it up! I had my prepared sterilized jars ready to go... be sure to wipe up any spills before putting the lids on.

Step 5. finally, Water bath! This sterilizes and ensures that you can store your cans safely. This is where I started photographing... Boil approx 15 minutes (depending on jar size and elevation)

The final product - yummy delicious homeade applesauce, no sugar added!

Guinness was a big help too...

Portland

I didn't take a whole lot of photos on my recent trip - partly because I got sick as a dog a couple days in and didn't have the enegery to even get dressed, let alone drag my camera around with me... it's a bummer, but that's life... I still had a great time and the weekend before I got sick, I did take a few pics of the family...

Mike and his gf Megan, waiting outside the downtown Voodoo Doughnuts- the line was insane... and he hates having his picture taken...

Voodoo Doughnuts... the magic's in the hole... highly recommended. They also do weddings. Go figure...

Hair of the dog...

At one of the nicer restaurants that we visited for happy hour, they made these amazing flaming coffee's - the bartender was a pro, and it was great fun to watch him work.

Megs always looks like a model...

Cristen hurt Mike's back by jumping on him a few moments before this, so here she's returning the favor by giving him a piggy-back ride.