No apple orchards for me

Well, September has come and gone, friends. And with it goes almost all chance of taking a trip to the beloved apple orchard. This makes me sad.

See, I have this thing for fall.

A life-long, deep-rooted, sweet sweet love for fall, and all the joy it brings.

September and early October are for apple picking and soups, stews, and casseroles. Late October is for pumpkin carving, trick-or-treating, and walking under colorful leaves. And November is for hot apple cider, wood-burning stoves, and blankets.

(Really though, there is no order here and all these things can be intertwined and done throughout the entirety of the season.)

I say all this nonsense to state this fact… I did not go to an apple orchard this year.

For the second year in a row, people.

Why, you ask?

Let me tell you why.

Because I live in the dang South in a place called Tennessee where Apple Orchards don’t exist and nothing is here to give joy and happiness to any of the little Tennessee children. I can promise you that Michigan wouldn’t ever dare deprive people of such a perfect experience as an apple orchard.

That’s why.

Curses.

Okay. I’m getting a little worked up. There is bitterness in my heart.

SO. Yesterday, I went to Kroger. Yes, Kroger… And picked up a bag of Jonathon Apples from the apple table. Man, what a delightful autumn experience it was. And here is what I did.

BOOM. Applesauce.

Take that, Tennessee.

Here is the recipe, in case you want to try it too!

Crock Pot Applesauce

- 8-10 medium apples. Enough to fill the crock pot. I used Jonathon and a couple Honey Crisp.

- 1 strip of lemon peel. Use a potato peeler.

- 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice.

- 3 inch fresh cinnamon stick.

- 5 or 6 tsp. brown sugar.

- a crock pot.

Here’s what you do.

1.     Peel the apples. Get the core out, and chop them. Put them in the crock pot.

2.     Add everything else into the crock pot.

3.     I put about ¼ Cup of apple cider in there, also, just to see what it would do. And it turned out yummy.

4.     Set crock pot to low/6 hours. Stir every so often. It becomes apple sauce! So easy! Take out the cinnamon stick and use a whisk to blend and chop up the bigger chunks.

5.     You could can the applesauce or just keep it in the fridge. (Should stay fresh in the fridge about 3 weeks)

This made just over two 8-oz Mason jars of applesauce. And let me tell you, it is so delicious.

Needless to say, I will be going back to the orchard Kroger and getting more apples to make more applesauce and other apple goodies.