Looking for something to eat, I opened the drawer in the refrigerator. Uh oh - there were the apples we'd bought a few weeks ago. I had intended to make and can baked apples, but had never found a recipe for them - and they slipped my mind. What the heck was I going to do with four pounds of apples? I really don't care for Golden Delicious just to eat.

I got out the Ball Blue Book and looked through it. Apple butter! Looked easy, and we like apple butter.

 

 

The ingredients are simple. Four pounds of apples, four cups of sugar, two teaspoons of cinnamon, and a 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves.

First I washed the apples, the peeled, cored and sliced them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The slices went into a pot with two cups of water. They simmered until soft, then went into the blender and were pureed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The resulting puree should equal about two quarts. Then it is put back into the pan with the sugar, cinnamon and cloves. My puree had a few pieces of apple in it, but I figured it would add to the texture and left them in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The mixture is heated on medium heat until it thickens, the is put into the hot jars.

I used 8 ounce jelly jars instead of the suggested pints. Christmas is coming, after all, and wouldn't a jar of apple butter make a nice giift?

Once filled, the jar rims are cleaned, the lids and bands put on, and they are placed in the hot water bath for ten minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Placed on the counter top to cool, six jelly jars of apple butter, ready for the pantry - or gift basket!

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing like a piece of butter bread with fresh apple butter.