Applesauce

I had this basket of apples, decided to make applesauce. It is so delicious and so different than store brought, it's a must try. Especially right now, the apples are so beautiful & just off the trees. I added a little vanilla & some all spice. Serve with ice cream or yogurt, warm or chilled. Too good. COOK ON.............

Preparation time: 45 minutes. The sugar amounts are just guidelines, depending your taste, and on the sweetness of your apples, use less or more. If you use less sugar, you'll likely want to use less lemon juice. The lemon juice brightens the flavor of the apples and balances t he sweetness.

INGREDIENTS

3 to 4 lbs of peeled, cored, and quartered apples. (Make sure you use good cooking like Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Fuji, Jonathan, Mcintosh, or Gravenstein.)

4 strips of lemon peel - use a vegetable peeler to strip 4 lengths

Juice of one lemon, about 3-4 Tbsp

3 inches of cinnamon stick

1/4 cup of dark brown sugar

up to 1/4 cup of white sugar

1 cup of water

1/2 teaspoon of salt

METHOD

1 Put all ingredients into a large pot. Cover. Bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes.

2 Remove from heat. Remove cinnamon sticks and lemon peels. Mash with potato masher.

Ready to serve, either hot or refrigerated. Delicious with vanilla ice cream or vanilla yogurt.

Freezes easily, lasts up to one year in a cold freezer.

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