Pretty much my favorite thing about fall is going apple picking. I love the pumpkin patch, hot spiced apple cider, fresh donuts, hay rides, cool crisp air, but by far apple picking tops the list. My favorite apple to pick is the golden delicious apples. Months in advance I plan out a day to do nothing else but go apple picking, when the golden delicious apple is ripe for picking. Little L, MJ (one of the other seven sisters) and I go out and pick bags and bags of golden delicious apples and then come home and make tons of applesauce.
Over the years we have become better and faster at making applesauce. Each year we think of an ingenious way to make it go faster. One year it was the potato ricer, which is a must have when it comes to making apple sauce. The next year it was the apple peeler, corer, slicer, this little invention was a HUGE time saver. Then this year we discovered how much faster it would go if only one of us brought a food processor to chop up the apples. 
It takes 24 medium apples to yield 6 pints of apple sauce. We start out by sterilizing all our jars. Bring a very large pot to boiling and place all your jars and lids into the boiling water and leave them there for 10 minutes. Once completed, remove them and place them on clean towels to dry. Once all your jars are sterilized its time to make the applesauce!!
Once we washed all the apples we were ready to place them on the apple peeler, corer, slicer machine. Little L worked so hard and pretty much peeled, cored and sliced every single apple with this wonderful contraption!! Seriously, hardly any work involved!!!
This is what the apples look like when the come off the apple peeler, corer, slicer machine.
Once you have all your apples sliced they are ready to go into the pot. Do we have enough apples!! I have to admit next year we need a bigger pot!! But this one did the job! You place all your apples, 2 cups of water and 10 inches of stick cinnamon into the pot. Bring it to a boil while mashing it down (I use a potato masher). Once it comes to a boil reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring often. While it is simmering the apples become really soft and much easier to mash down. So while it simmers continue to mash it down with your potato masher.
After 25 minutes, remove the pot from the heat, remove the cinnamon sticks and little by little press the apples through the potato ricer or a food mill or sieve. Return the pulp to the pot and stir in 1 1/4 cups of sugar (add more to taste). If necessary, add an additional 1/2 cup to 1 cup of water to reach desired consistency. (I have never had to add more water so I always skip this step). Ladle the applesauce into your sterilized jars. Place lids on top of jars and process in large pot of boiling water for 15 minutes. Remove from pot and viola! Listen for the sealing of your jars by the popping sound! It is by far the best applesauce I have ever eaten!APPLESAUCE
*24 medium golden delicious apples, cored and quartered
*2 cups of water
*10 inches stick cinnamon
*1 1/4 cups of sugar
yummmmm...I have apples waiting in the garage to be made into applesauce! Can you do it for me??!! My grandma made chunky applesauce and sweetened it with those valentine red hot cinnamon candies so it was the coolest shade of pink and yummy! Good job Martha, I mean Mar! Nel
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