Apple Butter

If you want your home to smell absolutely delicious for an entire day (or two!), make some apple butter this fall! I love making recipes like this. It's one of those that people remember their parents or grandparents making when they were young, sometimes in huge cast iron pots in the back yard. Other people say "you can MAKE apple butter??"

Slather it on toast, swirl it into oatmeal, make a little sandwich with cream cheese and apple butter, put it on pancakes or biscuits, or make Apple Butter Hand Pies - recipe coming up next!

Note: when sharing apple butter with your friends who have small babies, and you pack it in baby food containers, please do them a favor and label the containers!! Sorry for the tummy ache Emmy :o(

Apple Butter
Recipe from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook
Makes about 2 cups

6 1/2 lbs apples (I used McIntosh and Granny Smith), peeled, cored, and quartered
1 cup sugar
2 T. apple brandy
1 cup apple cider
2 T. lemon juice
1/2 t. ground cardamom
1/4 t. ground mace
1 large cinnamon stick
1 pinch ground cloves
1/2 t. nutmeg
1 t. ground ginger

Combine all of the ingredients in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Place mixture over medium-high heat, and simmer, covered, stirring often with a large wooden spoon to prevent scorching, until the apples are broken down and saucy, about an hour.

Now, either:
A) Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook for at least 2 1/2 more hours, stirring often until very thick and dark.
OR:
B) Heat oven to 200 degrees. Uncover pot, transfer to oven, and cook overnight until very thick and dark.

Let stand to cool. Store in an airtight container for up to one month in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer.

This pot started out filled to the brim with apples!

Cranberry Sauce with Blueberries and Candied Orange

This recipe is original by mistake, and was kind of an experiment, but it turned out so great! I endeavored to make a recipe called Cranberry, Tangerine and Blueberry Sauce from Bon Appetite, but encountered two major problems: cranberries and tangerines are not in season yet. The store didn't even have frozen cranberries. So I bought 2 cans of whole berry cranberry sauce, and since I thought the combination of flavors in the original recipe sounded interesting, so I got a navel orange and half a pint of blueberries. I candied small slices of the orange, heated up the cranberry sauce to melt it, and added the blueberries to cook them a little. Then combined the oranges in to the sauce and refrigerated it. I thought it was good cold, and extra good warmed up. The orig recipe also called for some minced fresh ginger, which I forgot to add LUCKILY. I stirred in some ginger to a small amount of the sauce and thought it threw off the balance of flavors, but my mom did enjoy it that way too.

Cranberry Sauce with Blueberries and Candied Orange
2 cans of whole bean cranberry sauce
1/2 pint blueberries
candied orange slices from one navel orange (recipe below)

In a sauce pan over medium-low heat, melt the cranberry sauce, then add the blueberries and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat to cool slightly, then stir in the candied orange slices. Serve warm or refrigerate and serve cold.

Candied Orange Slices
1 navel orange
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup sugar

Cut the oranges into halves or wedges, and make very thin slices (see pic). Boil the water and sugar together in a heavy saucepan, then add the orange slices. Continue to boil for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to medium and cook for another 30 minutes. Lay out the slices onto a sheet pan lined with non-stick foil (or wax or parchment paper) and let cool. (For the cranberry recipe, you can use while still warm.)

Note: Multiply the recipe to make extra. Navel oranges are a must, or other thick-skinned orange; the white part of thinner skinned oranges is too bitter. These would be great to add to the tops of cupcakes or other desserts, and I can't wait to try this with grapefruit!

Navel orange, sliced and ready for the pot: