I'll admit it: my kids are becoming food snobs, at least where it concerns produce. Applesauce is one of their absolute favorite foods, but they won't eat store-bought. Not even if it's top quality organic.
This year our big apple tree was dormant. This was a huge disappointment, as we have not made applesauce for nearly three years. My kids wanted applesauce in the worst way.
Thankfully, a good friend generously let us come pick apples from her little orchard. We got enough for 70 quarts of applesauce and 15 pie fillings.
Processing apples, though simple, is very time-consuming. We had four large tubs of apples. If we started early in the morning, we were able to work up an entire tub in one day, usually yielding about 22-25 quarts of applesauce.
Everyone pitched in though, which made it all go so much faster. Undoubtedly, running the food mill was the coveted position. Even the littlest guy took a turn. And all of the children, except the youngest, got to be in charge of flavoring a batch of applesauce. Each is quite certain that their batch is the best.
The last batch of applesauce was canned about a week ago. The kids have already eaten seven quarts. I have no doubts that it will all be gone before spring.
