Apple Harvest Preservation: Butter

Moss Apple Tree
Moss Apple Tree (click image to see rest of album)

By the end of the first week of September, our apple tree had dropped several dozen apples.  Everyday I went out to glean fallen ones and to pick fresh ones right off the branches.  I had to do a bit of research to learn the proper way to pick an apple.  By placing an apple gently in the palm of my hand and then twisting my wrist over, back towards the branch, a ripe apple would easily pop off the tree.  I had six or seven dozen apples in baskets and other containers by the time I got home from work Friday evening.

Terry made a trip to our local Kmart to purchase the Ball Canning Kit with 21 Quart Waterbath Canner And Accessories plus a dozen Kerr quilted crystal jelly jars (half-pint size).  It started raining when he left the store, so he called to tell me he didn’t want to also do the grocery shopping.  Good thing I got home a few minutes earlier than normal Friday afternoon.

I called my mom and asked her for her Apple Butter recipe.  I looked through my old, dusty metal recipe box, where I thought I’d last seen her recipe.  I looked through hundreds of yellowing recipe cards but couldn’t find the one I wanted.  She couldn’t find her copy in her recipe box either.  She would have to call me back.  While I waited, I washed a couple of dozen apples to being peeling and coring in anticipation of receiving the recipe from mom.

First dozen for apple sauceYears ago, soon after we moved into our current home, I attended a Pampered Chef party and purchased several kitchen gadgets, including their Apple Corer/Peeler/Slicer contraption.  For at least ten years, it has languished in the  bottom of one of my kitchen drawers, underneath an old electric an opener and electric knife.  I used it perhaps once or twice, but discovered that you can’t use it on store bought apples.  Only fresh apples will peel, core and slice successfully.  Terry helped speed up the process by manually peeling a few, which I would then afix to the gadget, retracting the peeling part so that it only cored and sliced the already peeled apple.

Mom found her recipe and finally called me, but the amount of spices listed for the amount of apples seemed a bit over the top.  I modified the recipe somewhat.  I already had two dozen apples chopped up and in my large crockpot, planning to slow cook the apple butter overnight and do the canning first thing Saturday morning.

Angie’s Apple Butter

  • 16 c. thick apple pulp
  • 1 c. vinegar
  • 8 c. sugar
  • 14 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. cloves
  • 1/2 tsp. allspice
  • 1/4 tsp. salt (optional)

I asked her twice about the cinnamon.  I thought that was way out of proportion to the other ingredients.  I ended up changing the above a bit, and if I do this again, I’m going to further refine the spices and sweetening.

Revised Apple Butter (first batch)

  • 16 c. thick apple pulp
  • 1 c. vinegar
  • 4 c. white sugar
  • 1 c. brown sugar
  • 8 tsp. cinnamon
  • 3 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (it’s what I had on hand in my spice rack)

Since Terry stays up most nights until three or four in the morning, I asked him to stir the crockpot every hour or so.  By the time I woke up before six o’clock Saturday morning, the apple butter was thick and ready for canning.

I didn’t head off to bed right away though.  I finished reading a book I started the previous weekend and then stepped outside to check the quality of seeing for astronomical observing.  The evening was cool and clear so I decided to drag out Dob to search for Neptune.  I somehow knocked the finderscope alignment out of whack and could not get it dialed in (something I need to do today during the daylight).  I still managed to find the Andromeda Galaxy near the constellation Pegasus and M13, the Great Globular Cluster in the constellation Hercules.  I tried, again, to find Neptune, sailing with the Water Bearer, Aquarius.  Frustrated once again by the light pollution, I realized midnight was just minutes away.  Time to hit the hay or the apple butter might boil away before I got it canned.

∞∞∞

I lazed around in bed until after dawn.  I checked the apple butter in the crockpot, using a whisk to smooth out the texture of the thickened mess.  I placed the waterbath canner on the largest burner on my stove top, which probably only covered 75-80 percent of the bottom of the canner.  I filled it half full of water and turned the burner on to medium-high heat.

Sanitizing JarsOnce the water warmed up a bit, I took the freshly washed half-pint jars from the dishwasher and slipped them into the canner.  I turned up the burner a bit, to start a low boil.  I placed the lids (but not the bands) in a separate smaller sauce pan and turned the high to medium-low.  Per the instructions I read at Ball’s Getting Started web page at the FreshPreserving.com web site, I didn’t want to boil the lids as that might damage the seals before attaching them to the jars and securing them with the lids.

I used the jar lifter accessory to take the jars out of the canner, dumping the near boiling water back into the canner before gently setting the jar on the counter.  I used the funnel accessory that came help get the apple butter into the jars.  I used the magnet lifter to get the lids out of the small saucepan.  I put the band over the lid and tightened it snugly, but not overly tight, per the instructions I read earlier.

One of Eight Half-PintsI filled eight half-pint jars and got them evenly spaced around the inside of the canner.  I removed the extra jars I didn’t need and let them cool down on a rack before putting the extra lids and bands on them for easy storage and future use.  I cranked up the burner to high and waited for a roiling boil.  Once the canner began boiling, I could set my kitchen timer to ten minutes and take a short break.

The timer buzzed and I turned off the burner.  Using two pot holders and most of my sorry muscle power, I heaved the canner off the burner to the opposite corner of my range top.  I removed the lid and set another timer for five minutes to allow the water and jars to start cooling off enough for me to remove them to the rack.  I reviewed the post-processing directions (again) and made sure not to touch these jars for twelve hours.

First batch of apple butter
First batch of apple butter (click image for rest of album)

As I pulled them out of the water and placed them on the rack, most of their lids popped audibly.  When I returned to check on them in a couple of hours, all eight of them had properly sealed.  None of the lids would move up-and-down when I pressed on them.  Success!  My first ever effort to preserve something a complete success.  And easier than I thought it would be.

Next post I’ll discuss processing another dozen or so apples into chutney.

Duck Season

First Wednesday rolled around again, faster than it seemed possible.  I drove back to the plaza after work, barely stopping long enough to grab a quick bite to eat.  I arrived with a half-hour to spare, waiting on my long-time friend, Marge, and her husband, Bill.  I stayed in the lobby of Unity Temple until about ten minutes to seven, hoping to catch them as they arrived.  I gave up and grabbed some seats about midway down the aisle.  Marge and Bill arrived with just a couple minutes to spare.

The evening’s program featured the rich, velvet vocals of Lester “Duck” Warner, performing with Tim Whitmer & The Consort Band of Spirituality and All That Jazz.

Lester Warner, affectionately known as “Duck,” is a quiet, soft-spoken man who transforms himself into a spectacular entertainer when he takes the stage. His voice is a rich baritone with a beautiful full falsetto that has been compared to Nat “King” Cole. He is also a gifted instrumentalist who plays trumpet, flugelhorn and trombone. Duck has headlined Japan’s first International Jazz Festival, Kansas City’s Spirit Festival, and The Kansas City Blues and Jazz Festival. He was voted Kansas City’s Best Male Vocalist three years in a row. The International Trumpet Guild has recognized duck as a veteran of the revered “old school” associated with the special brand of Kansas City “Swing” music. Benny Powell, trombonist with the Count Basie Band, calls Duck a “premiere entertainer.”

Tim and the usual suspects took the stage and played a short set of jazz standard instrumentals.

  • Autumn Leaves
  • Cute … County Basey tune
  • They’ll Never Be Another You

After those three songs, Tim introduced Duck Warner and the concert proceeded with only a couple of restarts.

  • I’m in Love
  • Witchcraft
  • Georgia
  • Almost Like Being in Love
  • Everyday I Have the Blues
  • My Romance
  • Route 66
  • L-O-V-E

After the last song, I finally had a chance to snatch a few minutes of conversation with Marge as we walked to the parking garage. We said our goodbyes and I hit the road for the return trip home (second time, no sunglasses necessary). I made it home by ten after nine o’clock and had trouble finding a place to park. Band practice was still going strong in the band room.

I uploaded the videos I took and went to bed and attempted to sleep, band practice not withstanding.

Tim Whitmer piano interlude:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtBrKtIwBNc?rel=0&w=853&h=480]

Everyday I Have the Blues:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JWXGo8K5ds?rel=0&w=853&h=480]

The Way You Look Tonight:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py2dpD_GK6w?rel=0&w=853&h=480]

L-O-V-E

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNO9JDvvyws?rel=0&w=853&h=480]

Next month, on the first Wednesday, the day after my birthday, the featured vocalist is Diane ‘Mama’ Ray at Spirituality and All That Jazz.  Come on down to the Plaza, sit a spell and savor some cool evening jazz.  The best seven bucks you’ll ever spend.

Just Passin’ Through

Waning Moon Between Jupiter and Venus
Waning Moon Between Jupiter and Venus (Sun 9/9/2012) – click image for larger view

I used the normal lens this morning to capture these three objects in one field of view. I also had to crank the camera back and tip it almost completely vertical, as Jupiter was almost directly overhead.

Moon and Jupiter
Waning Moon and Jupiter Close-up (click image for rest of album).

Fairly clear skies, so I didn’t stick around for sunrise.