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Sunday, October 11, 2009

Sustainable Sunday

Yesterday I was going to make a run to our local orchard …30 miles away for a bushel or 2 of apples, the .99 a pound was better than the $1.49-$1.69 we  normally pay. The beautiful drive through the hills would have been worth the gas $ but 2 of the access roads were still flooded or closed due to erosion.

So, instead I ran to Meijer as a few items I needed were on sale.

As it turns out, they had a truck load sale on apples!  .49 cents a pound! 3 large produce bags later I figured I had enough to make pies for the winter or, at least enough to slice and freeze for pies. 

22lbs of apples.

  apples 042

Mr. Fix~it came home and I told him about my deal …we ended up going back and picking up another 24 lbs!

There is one staple in Mr.Fix~its diet….APPLESAUCE!

With the first trip I had planned on simply pealing and cutting by hand… but with this much I was off to housewares to find an apple corer. Mr. Fix~it bless his heart is a firm believer of tool usage.    If there is a tool to make the job more efficient…he’s all for it.    And…..We….were in kitchen tool Heaven!  While I was comparing the qualities of  various corers, he was looking at other “tools”. I now have an apple corer & peeler! 

apples 046 Nothing fancy schmancy but it will get the job done! I bet Isaiah will be all over this one!  Peals, cores & slices all at once.  For $14.99…its worth it if it holds up.  Not sure how much I’ve saved after the purchase but, it will pay for itself in the long run.  Or so I’m hoping!

This morning the boys headed to the gun range and Evelyn & I started cooking & canning.  I had some Rhubarb to put up..

apples 040

We like it prepared like applesauce, just cooked with a few chunks only we do add about 1/4 cup of sugar.

apples 047  Its tastes just like sweet tarts!  I had a few pints of it done and started on the apples.

apples 045

Miss Evie helped by finding anything low and within her reach! But it kept her busy and away from the stove

So I washed, cored & cooked apples 041

apples 051

 

And canned.2 quarts & 22 pints left as some jars are already on the way to family

apples 054

The boys were home in time for the last of the jars to come out of the canner and helped peel for freezing…lots of willing hands for this chore….now don’t you just love those 60’s green counters!apples 053 6 pie size bags ready for the freezer!apples 048

Well time to clean up and then head to the back & finish building the compost bin

8 comments:

  1. This is a familiar sight in our household right now too! We went to the orchard yesterday and they had a bad year with insects....so we got 33 cents a pound!! I got 2 bushels of a variety of apples and 13 lbs of pears for 33 cents a pound! Score!

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  2. Thatw awesome! I missed a 13gal offer of Pears on free cycle....I almost cried. I would have shared as that a LOT of pears!

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  3. Interesting that you put the apples in the freezer whole. Never thought of that, I always run a knife through them after I peel and core them. Like your way, much faster. I think if I were to find some cheap apples I might be tempted to put some up. We do like applesauce.

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  4. Actually Evy they are spiral cut, the knife is right behind the pealer! I just left them intact to store. It also helps take the guessing out of how much is in the bag for pies

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  5. Hold on a minute... Something is missing here... Aplle butter! You need to make apple butter! MMM :o)

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  6. Well, so much for Sunday being a day of rest! It all looks so yummy and I know how good it feels to pull those apples out of the freezer and pop them into a pie mid-Winter.

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  7. Thanks, I didn't know that you could just freeze the apples whole...well, peeled and cored first. I have always just made applesauce but it isn't the same in pies, I like the chunks...

    Gillian
    Ballina, Australia

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Katie