Apple Butter & I canned!

My family used to go apple picking, we'd climb the trees, shine the ones we ate against our jeans and made apple sauce in the sink. I love orchards and my mom got me hooked on apple butter.

So when we got back from Bellingham with a paper bag filled with apples I was dying to try making my own for the first time. Plus there is a place where we live that sells biscuits with apple butter on them only on the weekend, but they are pricey and there's a line- so of course I had too many reasons not to go for it.

It turned out so delicious, plus it was really fun to come up with what add-ins I wanted to make it sweet, I opted to not add any white sugar, and use spiced apple cider, etc. Made it feel more special when it came out so tasty!

Apple Butter:

1 lemon

2 cups apple cider; fresher the better, I used spiced apple cider
a crockpot full of apples (about 15-20); peeled, cored, and sliced
2 tsp vanilla
1/4-1/2 cup honey
3-4 tbs brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

1   squeeze the lemon into the crock pot
2   put the apples in the crock pot as you finish peeling and slicing them, stir in lemon juice frequently
3   then put the crock pot on high and add the rest of the ingredients
4   leave on high for 1 hour, and cover with lid
5   stir, then reduce the crock pot to low and cook for 1 more hour with lid on
6   stir, and keeping it on low set the lid slightly ajar for 7-9 hours, stirring occasionally
7   in the last 2 hours add apple cider if they apple butter gets too thick, I added about another cup or 2
     the mixture should get dark brown and most of the apple bits should be broken down
8   then strain the entire mixture through a fine mesh sieve, most of the apple should go through
     since it is so cooked, but save the bits that don't go through for an apple crumble,
     or pancake toppings! (or use a food processor which I'm sure is much easier and faster)
9   then place the smooth, delicious, arromatic apple butter into jars

I canned! for the first time and followed these instructions!
(I didn't buy any special equipment just jars with seals, a big pot, regular tongs, and a trivet to keep the cans off the bottom of the pan which = you can do it!)
and my cans all sealed YAY
It made 2 pints of apple butter, and 3/4 pint of apple remnants for other baking adventures

We have been slathering it on biscuits like crazy, so far I've made 2 batches of biscuits and I've been experimenting with whole wheat flour and coconut oil, so far some are better than others but luckily I never tire of apple butter slathered on biscuits so I'll keep trying for the perfect healthish biscuit and let you know when I've got it :)

Plus Liz's sister, Anastasia, gave us a tube of sausage from the pig she raised, which was by far the best sausage ever, I mean in the entire world! and the perfect accompaniment to biscuits.