Fall Food Favorites: Apple Butter

Just in case you didn't see my guest tutorial last week over at The CSI Project, I'm reposting it here for you today!


Hello fellow CSI Project fans!  I'm Angie from The Cellar Door Stories, and I'm so excited to be here for Fall Food week!  True, when you think of fall food, pumpkin is probably what immediately comes to mind.  But for me, nothing says early fall like apples!  We live close to several apple orchards and have a family tradition of picking apples each year.  Along with homemade applesauce, I like to try out a few new apple recipes each year.  This year I decided to try apple butter, and I'm going to be sharing my recipe with you today!

A friend had mentioned to me that she made apple butter in her slow cooker.  I was intrigued and decided to try it out myself.  Her recipe started with whole apples, and I had already turned my mountain of apples (1 1/2 bushels) into applesauce (go here to see how it's done), so I needed to improvise a little.  I scoured the internet and my recipe books for ideas, and ended up creating a recipe that is kind of a mish-mash of about approximately 36 other recipes I looked at!

First, gather all your ingredients and dump them into your slow cooker (I recommend spraying your crock with cooking spray ~ makes clean-up a LOT easier).  I used the following, but you can definitely tweak the amount to your taste:  10 cups applesauce, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup white sugar, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground cloves.

I cooked my apple butter on HIGH for a total of 12 hours.  By the end of the 12 hours, it was time for me to go to bed and I didn't want to leave my slow cooker on any longer.  I turned it off but left the apple butter in so it kept cooking.  Yes, that seems like a long time!  It takes a long time for some of the liquid to cook out.  Your time will vary depending on the amount you are making and your slow cooker.  Stir occasionally to make sure your applesauce doesn't scorch.  I took the lid off for the last 5 or so hours.

Here's what my apple butter looked like after about 6 hours...

And here's what it looked like in the morning...you can see a lot of the liquid has cooked out, and it's a few shades darker.

I spooned the apple butter into jars - from my original 10 cups of applesauce, I ended up with 8 jars of apple butter.  I still haven't figured out the whole canning thing, so mine went into the freezer, but this could definitely be canned!

Bonus ~ who doesn't love homemade food?  This could make a great little gift for someone!  I decided that as a gift, the jars were looking a little too plain, so I added a raffia bow and some scrapbooking paper stamped "Made Especially for You!"

Add a loaf of homemade bread, and you have a perfect hostess gift for your next fall night out!

Thanks to the CSI Project girls for having me today ~ hope to see you all over at The Cellar Door Stories, where I love to blog about DIY & crafty ideas, food, family (including our adoption journey), frugal tips, and any other random thing that crosses my mind!

Fall Food Favorites: Homemade Applesauce

Ahhhh......fall!  Cooler weather, soon-to-be-changing leaves, apple cider, pumpkins....I love it all!  One of the things I really love about fall, especially this month ~ apples!  We have fun apple picking at a nearby orchard, and enjoy tasting all kinds of apple treats.  I typically try out new recipes each year, but the one tradition we have that must happen every year is applesauce.
When you make homemade applesauce you not only save money, but you know exactly what ingredients you are using, and in this case it's only one ingredient:  apples.  It tastes much better than what you can buy in stores and it's really not as hard as you might think!  I can remember my grandma and mom both making applesauce over the years, but I didn't really learn how until after I was married, when Jon's grandpa taught me.  I'm a little biased, but I think this is the best applesauce ever.  :)

So here's what you do...
Get some apples.  This year I bought 1 1/2 bushels.  Following Gramps' advice, go for Ginger Gold.  To us they have the perfect taste, so you will not need to add any sugar.  We usually wait a few days and let the apples soften up a little bit.  Then wash them, and use an apple cutter to core & slice them.  (There is no need to peel them if you will be using something like a Victorio Strainer).  Fill a heavy duty pot about 3/4 of the way full, and add a little water - not much, just enough so the apples don't scorch on the bottom.

Cook on medium heat for a little while, stirring every so often (do you like my precise measurements?), until apples are mushy.

When the apples are mushy, dump them into the funnel of your strainer and crank that handle!  You will want a bowl to catch the peels, and also something to collect the actual sauce.  If you have added too much water, most of it will come out with the first couple turns of the crank, and you can dump it out so your applesauce isn't too runny.  **My son loves to help turn the crank, but it is important to have your child stand back when you are dumping your apples into the funnel....they are HOT and could easily burn you!**

When the applesauce cools, fill your containers.  I use plastic containers I buy from my local grocery store's deli.  I wash them out and and save them from year to year.  If I ever learn to can, I could can my applesauce, but since I am intimidated by the canning process, I choose to freeze mine.  Here's a glimpse of my freezer...

my fresh homemade applesauce nearly fills the top shelf!  (Yes, I know I need to defrost!)  We'll have plenty of applesauce and will be able to have a taste of fall throughout the year!

Linked to:  Remodelaholic Recipe Party, The Frugal Girls,

Fun Fall Activity Repost

Looking for a fun fall activity to do with your kiddos?  I'm reposting this from last fall, back when I was the only one who regularly checked my blog!

Ok, so probably everyone has done this craft.  It certainly isn't original but it came out of the recesses of my brain today when I was trying to think of a simple fun activity to do with Jackson while Carly took her nap.  It's easy, cheap, already had all the supplies on hand, and it can double as some fall decoration - so that makes it a win-win-win-win in my book!

Materials needed:  crayons (preferably old or broken ones), crayon or pencil sharpener (or old cheese grater), wax paper, newspaper, scissors, iron, marker.

Layer newspaper, one sheet wax paper, crayon shavings, wax paper, newspaper.  I used an old tea towel on top of it all, too. 

Iron on low setting just until the crayon is melted.  Draw your leaves (don't be jealous of my sweet leaf drawing skills!) and cut them out.  (For the pumpkins, we drew them first so we knew where to put the orange & green). 

Tape or hang them on a window and admire your new cute suncatchers!



(Yep, it's definitely afternoon & he's definitely still wearing pajamas).



Linking to:  The DIY Showoff's Fall Festival Party

EEK and BOO!

I've been in a funk lately.  A blah sort of mood, where I feel unmotivated, lazy, and let's face it....annoyed.  Anyone watch The Office on Thursday?  Where Pam was all hormonal and crying?  As my husband was sitting on the couch laughing at her, I was sitting in my chair holding back tears.....because Pam........she really gets me.  As much as a fictional character can get someone, at least.  Unlike Pam, I don't have the pregnancy hormones to blame my blah-ness on, but seriously, the ups and downs of adoption, the hurry up and wait, the unknowns.....it's been taking it's toll lately.

Why am I telling you all this?  Really, I have no clue.  I'm actually posting to show off the cutey little Halloween decorations I made yesterday!  I'm typically not a Halloween person.  I don't really decorate for it, because I don't like the witches and goblins and all that spooky stuff.  But yesterday as I was digging through my craft supplies, forcing myself to do something creative to hopefully get out of my funk....I found some black glittery letters that just screamed Halloween!

So, I gathered up some supplies...

The frames were part of a cheapy 3-pack from Ikea.  I painted them with DecoArt Americana's Burnt Orange.

When the orange paint was dry, I gave it a little more character by using a paper towel to rub on a little black paint in spots.  I cut some scrapbooking paper to fit, and put on my sparkly black letters.  Easy peasy.

Here's what I ended up with:

A close-up of the glittery letters...

And again, the end results...

No witches or ghouls, but just a nice little touch of Halloween!

 

Linked to a few of my favorites, including The DIY Showoff's Fall Festival Party

Friday Favorites #4

I've been a bad, bad blogger lately.  Basically because I have not been doing anything creative!  Just 'cause I miss posting, how about a Friday Favorites?  We'll even add another F-word.......FALL that is.  So here's a list of some of my Fall Friday Favorites.....all originally seen on Pinterest, but linked back to their original spot.  (Click on the picture to take yourself there!)

I've already shared this on my facebook page, but aren't these pumpkins adorable?  Made from a dryer vent and spraypaint!  LOVE!

Cutest little acorns ever......these would be a perfect fall treat for the kiddos!

Pumpkin Spice Latte?  Yes, please!  And...you even make them in a crock pot, and you know about my crock pot love affair!

And finally....not fall related, but can anyone else out there relate to this??

Happy Friday, everyone!

Frugal Finds - Thanksgiving Edition

Although I am SUPER pumped for Christmas, I'm still holding myself back from decorating.  I'm following the unwritten rule that I must not break out the Christmas decorations until the day after Thanksgiving (or possibly Thanksgiving evening.....) and plus, I'm finding some super cute cheap (or free!) Turkey Day decor.  Thought I'd share it in case you are looking for some last minute additions to your thanksgiving table.
Carli at Dimpleprints has created a seriously adorable *HUGE* package of Thanksgiving printables.  There's banners, food labels, signs, recipe cards....you name it, it's there - for *FREE!*  I printed off some cute favor tags to put on the goody bags for J's class party tomorrow.  I would love to print a ton more stuff, but I'm not too stocked up on printer ink and cardstock at the moment!  Here's a glimpse as to what is in the package....

There are sooo many possibilities with this collection!  If you see something you like, click here to visit Dimpleprints!  Since I just finished the goody bags, here's a pic of how they turned out - simple but cute!

Another great find was this Faux Burlap Thanksgiving Print - I ordered it as an 8x10 photo from Shutterfly - it came today and looks so great!  I'll pop it in a frame and have an instant Thankgiving decoration!

Some other deals today...

If you are a fan of Dunkin' Donuts coffee (my husband's favorite kind), it's worth mentioning that on Black Friday at Dunkin' Donuts (at least our local one), coffee will be on sale - 6 lbs for $25.  That's a great price for stocking up, considering in stores a pound can sometimes be almost $8!  Is anyone else using the Free Coffee Mondays punch card?  I cannot get enough of the Pumpkin Spice Iced Coffee!

If you read many savings/couponing blogs, I'm sure you've seen the $5 Hallmark coupon advertised - I picked up a Family Circle the other day, got the coupon, and made a stop at Hallmark today.  I picked up 2 rolls of their wrapping paper and paid $1.58 total.  (Normally $4.99 each, but on sale for Buy One, Get One for 99cents, and then minus the $5 coupon).  Not bad - they have the best wrapping paper!

One last thing to mention - if you have the Kmart Rewards Card, don't forget to sign your kiddos up for their Birthday Club!  They get a little pack that includes $5 off a toy purchase of $5 or more!  I tried to use it today to get some Star Wars action figures for J - unfortunately the coupon is not valid on BOGO items.  Technically, I shouldn't be spending Carly's birthday money on toys for Jackson anyway :)  I'm planning to go back later this week to find something for Carly's stocking.

Melted Crayons & Falling Leaves

Ok, so probably everyone has done this craft.  It certainly isn't original but it came out of the recesses of my brain today when I was trying to think of a simple fun activity to do with Jackson while Carly took her nap.  It's easy, cheap, already had all the supplies on hand, and it can double as some fall decoration - so that makes it a win-win-win-win in my book!

Materials needed:  crayons (preferably old or broken ones), crayon or pencil sharpener (or old cheese grater), wax paper, newspaper, scissors, iron, marker.

Layer newspaper, one sheet wax paper, crayon shavings, wax paper, newspaper.  I used an old tea towel on top of it all, too. 

Iron on low setting just until the crayon is melted.  Draw your leaves (don't be jealous of my sweet leaf drawing skills!) and cut them out.  (For the pumpkins, we drew them first so we knew where to put the orange & green). 

Tape or hang them on a window and admire your new cute suncatchers!



(Yep, it's definitely afternoon & he's definitely still wearing pajamas).