Craigslist Apples and Cardamom Apple Butter

Applesauce. Apple Butter. Better yet, Cardamom Apple Butter*
The last few must-dos on my preservation list...

Thanks to craigslist, I found a quirky local couple in Vancouver selling their you-pick, no-spray apples for $.40/lb. I drove up Saturday morning with my friend, Miranda, and came back with a brimming laundry basket of fruit in exchange for a handful of dollars.

Plucking Gorgeous Pinks and Reds and Greens
Blue Sky Blazing (In October!? In the Pacific Northwest?)

Gravensteins + Unmarked Varieties...

He was a crotchety old man with stories galore, and she was a helpful, no-nonsense woman who had already put up 70 quarts of her own apple-pear and applesauce. In addition to raising one daughter and five sons.

The Farm Geese. Too funny.

My husband, Ted, stepped in as master chopper and chef, wielding his knife and stirring his spoon through several batches of applesauce... Relegated to Sous-Chef de Cuisine, I was glad to take over at the tail end, confiscating the last bit of sauce for my own batch of apple butter.

Applesauce
Several Cups of Chopped Apples
+
Enough Water (or better yet, apple cider!) to Cook Apples Until Soft
+
Sweetener to Taste (honey and cinnamon for us)
~Cook apples until soft, Run through the food mill, Sweeten to taste, Pack into sterilized jars, Process 20 minutes in boiling water bath canner.

Cardamom Apple Butter*
Milled Apple Mash (stolen from applesauce above)
+
Seeds of Four Cardamom Pods, Ground
+
Sweetener to taste
~Combine apple mash, cardamom, sweetener; Simmer until thick, stirring as necessary; Pack into sterilized jars, Process 10 minutes in boiling water bath canner.
*See The Real Recipe in
Canning and Preserving by Ashley English

You never know what you might discover when you respond to those promising craigslist ads... You may just meet a quirky farmer with delicious produce.

Be inspired. Go forth and find delicious food!

After a while, come on over for tea & biscuits & a sweet spread of apple-y goodness...

~Bethany