Crock Pot Applesauce

I am a total Pinterest junkie and I really think I need help! ha ha I have been finding a TON of great ideas and recipes on there and I found another crock pot recipe for applesauce. I had about 6 apples that were going bad fast and needed something to do with them and I didn't want to heat up the oven since we are having 90 degree weather. I came across this recipe and thought why not try it, I really have nothing to loose. I put all the ingredients in the crock pot, when to bed and in the morning I had some really good applesauce! Plus this is great for Weight Watchers as it only has 1 point per 1/4 cup.

 

8 medium apples (Use a combination of Golden Delicious, Honey Crisp, Fuji, Gala, etc.)

1 strips of lemon peel - use a vegetable peeler 

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

3 inch cinnamon stick

5 tsp light brown sugar (unpacked) - or agave

1.  Peel, core and chop the apples.

2.  Add the sugar, lemon peel, lemon juice and cinnamon stick.

3.  Set crock pot to low and cook for 6 hours. Stir apples occasionally, apples will slowly become a delicious applesauce. Remove cinnamon stick and use an immersion blender to blend until smooth or if you prefer a chunky sauce, leave sauce intact. (I used a food processor.)

4.  Can and process as you would other recipes or keep refrigerated up to 3 weeks.

I didn't have a cinnamon stick so I just sprinkled some cinnamon in there and I didn't have a lemon so I used and orange peel and it turned out great. I didn't have the best apples for sauce, as they weren't very juicy,
so when I processed them in the processor I added some apple juice to thin it out and it worked great.

I took some of this in to my Guinea pigs at work (co-workers) and they thought it was fantastic!

Freezer Berry Jam

This is really a good and easy jam recipe.

Freezer Berry Jam

4 c raspberries or strawberries
4 c sugar
1 pouch (3 oz) liquid pectin
2 tbsp lemon juice

Mash berries. Measure 2 c berries, stir in sugar and let stand 10 mins.
until sugar dissolves stirring occasionally. Combine pectin and lemon
juice. Add to berry mixture and stir constantly for 5 mins. Ladle at once
into steralized 1/2 pint jars, leaving 1/2 in headspace. Seal and let stand
at room temperature until set then freeze

Refridgerator Pickles

My friend Tammy called me and asked me if I had a recipe for refrigerator pickles and of course I said yes but after searching through all my recipes I couldn't find it. I knew that I had made them before and a recipe must be here but still couldn't find one. I searched through my mom's recipe box and found one from my Aunt Dorothy. She was a fantastic cook, even had her own restaurant, so I knew I couldn't go wrong with her recipe and I was right!

Refrigerator Pickles

7 cups of unpeeled sliced cucumbers, smaller the better
1 large onion, sliced
Combine:
1 c vinegar
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp celery seed
2 cups sugar
Heat just until sugar dissolves, let cool and pour over cucumbers. Let sit for at least 24 hours. These will last in your refrigerator for many, many months.

My boss said that his wife freezes these and then takes them out as needed. I have never tried to freeze them but it sure is worth the try since these pickles would sure taste great in the middle of winter!

Pickled Green Tomatoes

This recipe is great for all those tomatoes that are not ripe but it is going to freeze and you just can't bear to see those little green balls of goodness go to waste. These are fantastic and very easy to make!

Pickled Green Tomatoes

Wash and cut tomatoes into quarters. Place in jars
with 1 bud garlic, 1 hot banana pepper cut into thirds
and fresh or dried dill. Do not stuff to the top.

For the brine cook:
2 qts water
1 qt white vinegar
When boiling add 3/4 c pickling salt. Boil 10 mins
pour over tomatoes, seal and cool.