1. DO NOT attempt to do this alone. Preparing the apples takes time. Especially when one uses completely organic trees from one's overgrown and aged backyard apple trees. The more abnormally shaped your apples are, the longer it will take to prepare them. If you aren't quick enough, your apples will turn to brown mush before you are able to get them into the jars. Citric acid and cold water can only do so much.
Also, when I say don't do it alone, I don't mean that a 5 year old should help you. You're better off to do it alone. Like I did on Monday. Because giving advice is a whole lot easier than practicing what I preach.
2. Apples don't have to be pretty to preserve them. Ours are everything but pretty. The kids won't eat them straight off the tree, and honestly, I don't blame them. However, the ugliest of apples sometimes turn out to be the very best ones.
And when I say flying, I mean flying directly at you.
4. DO NOT can apples on a day soon after you scrubbed your kitchen floor or wiped down your cabinets or washed your kitchen walls. You'll have to do it all over again.
I told you that corer/peeler/slicer sent the juice flying! Oh, and the peels make an awful mess, too.
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| Bucket on the floor between my feet for the peels to fall into. Or in it's general vicinity. Note: Cheerios have nothing to do with canning apples, but everything to do with the "Do not scrub your floor" directive. |
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| When your bucket runneth over... |
5. Make sure your children know that you spent countless hours canning these apples. The looks on their faces when they see those jars lined up will make the entire effort worth it. Dreams of apple cinnamon pancakes will be dancing in their heads, and they may actually be especially kind to you for the rest of the day.
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| Probably should have shown you their excited faces. Oh well. I didn't have my camera ready. |
Linking up with Josie today, who's prompt was "before or after".
Have a lovely day!
That's a lot of work. I can remember my mother canning stuff when I was a kid. Put all the summer stuff up for the winter months. That woman worked hard. I've always been impressed with people that still do this. I don't, but it's impressive nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day. ☺
The trees came with the house. We get so many apples, and I just can't stand to see them go to waste. Plus, they are so good!
Delete:) Ditto all of the above for canning pears.
ReplyDeleteHa! Very true! I canned pears once. Nobody liked them. Fortunately, our pears always look more appetizing than the apples, so the kids will eat them right off the tree.
Deletecanning fruit is so labor intensive... Its one of the few things Ive given up canning ... its just ... well, its everything you said! You have my respect.... but you knew that!
ReplyDeleteAck. The only reason I can apples is because we have a truckload of them growing in the back yard. I can't stand to see them go to waste. There's only so many we can feed to the pigs. :)
DeleteI have to say, though, that I do enjoy it. I just wish I had the time without worrying about the clock.
I am completely in awe. I would love to do this sort of thing, but I have zero skill. I need to make that canning date with my aunt!
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, apple pancakes? Yum-my.
No skill needed! Trust me. I had someone show me how to can green beans many years ago. Once you know the lingo and have the tools, you can can just about anything.
DeleteJust today, I was thinking that I need to can some applesauce. Of course, I don't have the luxury of homegrown apples. Well, I have one apple tree, but the wind blew all the fruit off. (The wind might have been helped by Drexel, too.)
ReplyDeleteYou had me laughing with your "If you have to wear clothes" line. I thinking canning in the nude would be way too sticky.
Bummer about the apples falling off. I thought about making applesauce, too. I've never done it before, but how hard can it be? Perhaps with the next batch Bryan picks...
DeleteIt's super easy!
DeleteChristine, how delightful to see you joining in at Two Shoes Tuesday... and with such a fun piece! You brought back wonderful memories of my mother's canning/freezing efforts and the hours of intensive labor that went into them, and the sticky messes that ensued... and she was such a fussy housekeeper that it drove her crazy, but how we loved the results! I would give anything now for her homemade pickles or pie fillings, or my grandma's homemade jelly. Your apples look so beautiful canned and an a line! The only thing I can in jars is banana bread, and it keeps amazingly well. You just bake it in the jar, then screw the lid on tightly as soon as you remove it from the oven, it will self-seal and last for months on the pantry shelf... mmmm! We were our mother's "apple peelers" she didn't get an automated one until we were grown and gone. I think that's why I rarely make an apple pie now... hard work for sore old fingers!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to be joining. It's been a long time!
DeleteMy grandma was appalled when I fist told her that I canned something. The girls in her family always had to help their mom can hundreds of jars each year. My grandma would have to scrub and scrub some more, as my great-grandma (and now all of her children) was very picky about cleanliness. What sent my grandma over the edge was that her mom would go around telling everyone how many jars she canned, giving no credit whatsoever to her daughters. :)
You can banana bread?!?! I have never, ever heard of such a thing! How, exactly, do you eat it out of a jar??
Peeling apples without a peeler is hard work, especially if you have "sore old fingers". (I have them, too.)
looks like fun… (similar to the fun of 'baking bread' which is usually an all day process that will yield a single, lovely $25.00 loaf of homemade bread! fun though and worth it, at least once a Fall season.)
ReplyDeleteCan you believe I've never made bread? With all of these pioneerish things I do, bread has not been done. Maybe someday...
DeleteYummmmm!..canning ugly..looks good,I have one those slicers too - need to get out east for some apple picking ! :)
ReplyDeleteNever judge an apple by its peel. :)
DeleteIm sorry to be having such a laugh at your expense....but I am. You are a braver woman than I to even attempt this task with a 5 year old within a 50' radius, lol. The jars of apples look Sooo lovely. Hard to believe they came from such ugly apples. But ugly organic apples are a hundred times better than beautiful, tasteless, pesticide filled apples ANY day!
ReplyDeleteWe started out with me peeling 2 for every one he peeled. And then I "forgot" to call him when it was his turn. The forgetting got more frequent until he gave up. :)
DeleteOne of the reasons I like to can apples is because I love to see the transformation from ugly whole apples to pretty, white, delicious-looking apples.
How I remember both my mother and my wife busy bottling fruit preserves and pickles. There is some much satisfaction in doing this.
ReplyDeleteThere IS a lot of satisfaction! That's why the jars sit on the table for a week before I put them away. Every time I walk by them, it makes me happy all over again.
DeleteI've never canned apples myself, but I can imagine what it would be like. I especially like #3 and #4.
ReplyDeleteIt is a mess, but I do like doing it!
DeleteWow, Christine. That looks great! I'm going to check out that tutorial as soon as I finish writing this comment. Love the part about the five year old helping. And that apple peeling gadget is wonderful. Yum.
ReplyDeleteApple canning would be a serious drag without the peeler. Kids especially love it. They have contests over who can shoot the core the farthest after the apple is peeled. :)
DeleteI got my apple peeler from Pampered Chef. At this time of year, they should be all over stores.
Mmmm sure looks good!! Makes me want to go plant some apple trees right now!
ReplyDeleteYou should! There is nothing better than food out of your own yard. You have room, and it's not a lot of work to grow a tree.
Delete"If you have to wear cloths" are you implying to can in the nude?
ReplyDeleteApparently. It just came out. Probably because I had 5 loads of laundry waiting to be folded and I didn't want to make another set sticky and in need of a wash. :)
DeleteThe jars of apples look beautiful...but I am thankful for grocery stores.
ReplyDeleteHa! I am, too, because there's no way I can grow and can enough for my family for the entire year. :)
DeleteYou never cease to amaze me!!! I can barely peel enough apples to make a piddley little apple crisp for 4. ;) That is a pretty skookum looking peeler I might add.
ReplyDeleteWell, without the snookum (What the heck is that word??) peeler I wouldn't be canning apples. I can peel, core, and slice an apple in 2.5 seconds!
Delete"SKOOKUM"....uber cool!!! :D If I tried to even peel an apple in 2.5 seconds, I'm pretty sure I'd have nothing left to core and slice. Bahahaha!
DeleteWe just had some on Saturday. The kids were THRILLED! I saw those photos. It's right up their alley.
ReplyDeleteOnly more labor intensive because I prepared so many of them at once. When I use them, I just have to open the jar and heat.