Spiced Apple Rings

If you have been following my blog recently you will know that I am in the midst of an Apples Everywhere collection of recipes.  In this third installment I will be sharing with you Spiced Apple Rings. 

Spiced Apple Rings are a bit more complicated than the previous two recipes but it’s well worth the extra effort.  I spent a decent 30 minutes sitting on my kitchen floor going through 2 large paper bags full of apples just to find the prettiest ones.  With the apple sauce and the pie filling, it didn’t realy matter what the apples looked like.  But for this recipe it’s best to have nice, round, uniform apples so you get the perfect slices. 

Fill a large bowl with cold water and the juice of half a lemon.

Again I needed two bowls so be prepared.

Make a spice bag by placing stick cinnamon, whole cloves, and sliced fresh ginger onto a 7inch double thick cheese cloth.  Tie corners together with clean kitchen twine.  The amount of spices you use depends on how much flavor you want in your apples.

With a total of 8 pounds of apples, peel, core, and slice apples into ½ inch thick rings one at a time.

Immediately place rings into lemon water.  The lemon juice keeps the apples looking fresh rather than browning as they are sliced.  I know some people use Ascorbic Acid Color Keeper but I prefer to keep it as simple and natural as possible and the lemon water works perfectly for me.

In a large pot combine 6 cups brown sugar, 6 cups water, and 1 cup apple cider vinegar.  Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. 

Reduce heat, add spice bag, and simmer covered for 10 minutes.

Drain apples and add to hot liquid.  At this point I had to do two batches since I could not fit all my apple rings into the pot at once. 

Simmer apples for about 5 minutes or until tender. 

Using a slotted spoon, pack apples into hot, sterile canning jars leaving a ½ inch headspace.

Ladle hot liquid into jars (leaving a ½ inch headspace), apply lids and rings and process in a boiling water canner for 20 minutes.

After packing all my apple slices into 4 quart jars and 1 pint, I had a lot of liquid left.  I hate to let anything go to waste so I ladled the extra liquid into 4 pint jars and processed them with the apple slices.  I labeled them Spiced Apple Broth and plan to use them in cooking chicken, turkey, pork, or other meats.  I firmly believe the apple broth will make for a deliciously tender meal and I cannot wait to try it out. 

Apple Pie Filling

This is the second installment of my Apple’s Everywhere collection.  Last time I shared an easy recipe for Apple Sauce and some great alternatives for sweetening without using sugar.  In this post I will share an easy apple pie filling that will give you delicious pie all through the winter, even after fresh local apples are long gone.

Apple Pie Filling is also quite easy:

 Fill a large bowl with cold water and the juice of half a lemon.  I ended up needing two bowls so be aware you may not fit all your apples in one. 

With a total of 10-12 pounds of apples, peel core and slice each apple and immediately place them into the lemon water mixture.  The lemon juice keeps the apples looking fresh rather than browning as they are sliced.  I know some people use Ascorbic Acid Color Keeper but I prefer to keep it as simple and natural as possible and the lemon water works perfectly for me.

 In a large pot bring water to a boil.

 In small batches, cook apples in water for about 30 seconds.  Transfer the apples to a large bowl and cover to keep warm.

 In a large pot combine 5 cups of sugar (Here you can also use the honey or maple syrup instead of sugar), 1 ½ cups ClearJel or pectin (a thickening agent), 1tbs ground cinnamon, ½ tsp ground nutmeg, 1/8 tsp fround cloves, 5 cups apple juice (I used apple cider), and2 ½ cups cold water. 

Cook to boiling and simmer until the mixture starts to thicken. 

Add ¾ cup lemon juice and boil for another minute.

 Stir in apples. 

Pack into hot, sterile canning jars (leaving 1 inch headspace), apply lids and rings and process in a boiling water canner for 25 minutes. 

This recipe makes 7 quarts, enough for 7 pies.  The apples are softer than if you make the pie with fresh apples but it is just as delicious and you won’t have to search for apples when you want pie in February.

**This post is shared in The Prairie Homestead's Barn Hop #129**

Apples Everywhere

It’s that time of year folks!!  The official start of Autumn is upon us and here in the north east the leaves are already starting to turn.  With this change in seasons comes a whole new crop of fruits and veggies.  I just planted my apple trees in the yard earlier this year and the large trees around the property have not been maintained so none of my apples are viable.  But my neighbor has a huge tree that seemed to produce an abundance of apples this year.  My son was so excited about picking apples that we pulled the wagon over for two days straight and just started picking.  Befor I knew it we had close to 100 pounds of apples sitting in our kitchen. 

What the heck does one person do with over 100 pounds of apples?!?!  Lots and lots of recipe research ensued as soon as I got these apples home.  I decided on 4 different recipes; Apple Sauce, Apple Pie Filling, Spiced Apple Rings, and Apple Butter.  I will share these recipes over the next two weeks so as not to overwhelm you with one huge post.  I will start with the apple sauce.

Maple, Cinnamon, and Honey Apple Sauces

Apple Sauce is rather straight forward:

 Core and slice about 8 pounds of apples.

 In a large pot with 2 cups of water cook the apples for 25-30 minutes.

 If you peeled the apples, at this point mash them to the desired consistency.  If you did not peel your apples, run them through a food mill.

 Ladle into hot, sterile canning jars (leaving a ½ inch headspace), apply lids and rings and process in a boiling water canner for 20 minutes.

 Most recipes you find online or in books will say to add a cup of sugar to sweeten your sauce.  I made one batch with sugar and cinnamon sticks but did not want to have 12 quarts of sugary apple sauce so I needed other options.  I made a second batch with pure maple syrup from a local farmer and the third with raw honey, also from a local farmer.  The syrup and honey add a bit of sweetness as well as other natural flavors that bring a little twist to traditional apple sauce.  I plan to make a fourth batch of Maple Honey Cinnamon Apple Sauce and I will be sure to tell you how it turns out.



This post is shared on The Prairie Homestead's Homestead Barn Hop #128

Technical Difficulties

Howdy Y'all.  It seems that the internet at my house no longer wishes to cooperate with me.  Because of this, I am unable to post from the comfort of my own home.  This in no way means I will let this blog fall apart.  It does however mean that I have to get myself to the local library on a regular basis.  What this means for my readers is quite simple.  There may be an extended period of time between posts (but I will do my best to not let this happen.  I have already started the epic search for a flash drive.  I know there must be dozens in my house courtesy of my beloved husband, but I have absolutly no clue where they are) and it may take longer to moderate comments. 

I will try my best to rectify this issue as soon as possible but computer/internet problems are my husbands area of expertise.  I can put up an entire pasture on my own in a matter of days but I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to electronics.  

Home Made Wheat Bread

Recently I decided to venture into home made bread.  My husband gave me the final push I needed while he was home recently.  I searched for recipes and ideas that would work for me and ended up taking a recipe and tweaking it to fit what I preferred.

6 ¼ cups of flour (I use whole wheat or unbleached flour.  At some point I will try this with fresh milled flour but I do not currently have a grain mill)

¼ cup of honey (I use local raw honey)

2 packages instant yeast

2 tsp salt

1 ½ cups hot water

½ cup milk

2 tbs butter

Combine 2 ½ cups of flour, yeast and salt.  Heat water, milk and butter to 120 degrees (just befor boiling).  Gradually add hot liquid to dry mixture.  Add Honey.  Slowly continue to add flour to make a soft dough (At this point you may or may not use all the flour you set aside or you may use more.  Keep adding flour until the dough is soft and malleable but not sticky).  Knead dough for 6 minutes.  Cover with a damp cloth and let rise for 20 minutes.

Split dough into two even balls.  Roll one ball out to a 12 inch x 7 inch rectangle.  Roll tightly into a log, pinch ends to seal.  Place in prepared loaf pan (a thin layer of butter and a powdering of flour) seam side down.  Cover and let rise for 25 minutes.  Bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. 

This is what happens if you fail to bake your bread seam side down.  This loaf was just as delicious but a bit difficult to slice.