My Food Storage Deals: An apple a day, keeps the doctor away!

An apple a day, keeps the doctor away!

>> Monday, October 12, 2009




One of my favorite things about fall are sweet, crisp, apples. My all time favorite apple is the Jonathan Apple. It is crisp, a little tart, and has the perfect texture for pies, cobblers, and for eating plain. We planted a jonathan apple tree four years ago, but for some reason only get about 5-10 apples per year. In the mean time my grandma has a tree that is producing like crazy and so she gave me four big bags full of apples. Yippee!

So, what do I do with my apples, besides eat them?? Apple Pie Filling! YUM! If you have one of the fancy-dancy apple corer-peeler's from Pampered Chef (or wherever else they sell them), you will LOVE making pie filling. In about 4-5 hours I was able to bottle and can over 30 jars of apple pie filling. This pie filling is perfect for apple pie (Thanksgiving here we come!), apple cobbler, over pancakes (this is awesome with German Pancakes or w/ our Apple Wheat Pancake recipe), or inside of crepes. There are so many uses for pie filling, once you can them and have them on your shelf, the possibilities will be endless!

Here is my Grandma's Apple Pie Filling Recipe:

Jonathan Apples (or whatever kind you have on hand)
10 c. water
1 c. cornstarch
4 1/2 c. white sugar
2 T. cinnamon (or more if you like cinnamon)
2 t. nutmeg
1 cap full Almond Extract
2 T. lemon juice
2 t. salt

Mix the 10 c. of water, sugar, spices, and 1 c. of cornstarch together in a large sauce pan. When stirred together turn the heat to medium/high and bring the mixture to a boil. Boil for just a couple of minutes, or until the mixture becomes thick. When sauce is thick, take off the heat and add the lemon juice and Almond Extract. Set mixture aside until apples are in their jars and ready to be filled.

For apples:

Peel, core, and slice the apples (with the Peeler/Corer/Slicer, or by hand). Remove any blemishes from the apples, and then put the apples inside the cleaned jars. Fill the apple jars with the cinnamon/sugar mixture until 1 inch from the top of the jars. Wipe the top of the lids with a clean and damp rag and put the lid and band on the jar. Place in a wet bath filled with water, and bring water to a boil (with jars inside). When boil comes to a rolling boil, set the timer for 40 minutes.




**Check the comment section of this post that will give you guidelines and rules for 'approved' bottling recipes and processing times. I am not claiming to be a canning expert, so check the link NCHFP: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_02/can_pie/apple_filling.html if you would like an 'official' and approved recipe. I just know what I have done for 10 years, that has worked so far :)


Jonathan Apple

9 comments:

Marne October 12, 2009 at 6:14 PM  

We love apple pie filling too! My sister in law and I canned 26 quarts of it on Saturday. :)

One reason you might not be getting many apples is because you only have one tree. Apple trees cross pollinate so you need at least two of them.

Heather D. October 12, 2009 at 7:33 PM  

I don't mean to rain on your parade here but I have some constructive criticism for you. According to the National Center for Home Food Preservation cornstarch is no longer approved as a thickener in bottled fruits.
Also at our altitude (over 6000 feet) you should add 20 - 25 minutes to your normal processing time.
Links for you:
a wonderful forum about preserving food: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/harvest/
National Center for Home Food Preservation: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/
An approved apple pie filling from the NCHFP: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_02/can_pie/apple_filling.html
You may choose to make your filling or other canned goods however you like but to CYA you should probably base recipes on current guidelines if you are going to recommend them to other people.
Love the blog! Don't mean to be obnoxious here, just wanted to give you some info. :)

onlymehere October 12, 2009 at 9:54 PM  

Is there anything you don't bottle or store, lol! This looks yummy.

realtor from Vancouver BC October 13, 2009 at 8:22 AM  

Hi. Your Grandma's Apple Pie Filling Recipe looks interesting. I like, I love and I eat apples the whole year and so do the whole family. My favorite are Golden Delicious apples. But I like Jonathan Apples too, mainly because you can store them longer than Golden Delicious. Great post.

Good luck,
Jay

Denise October 13, 2009 at 10:36 AM  

You can often pick those fancy apple peeler corer slicers up at thrift stores--at least in California! (Then they're $2-5 vs $30-40 retail)

Brigette October 14, 2009 at 1:30 PM  

just wondering how many bottles of apples you got with that recipe??
thanks

knight2boys October 19, 2009 at 10:07 PM  

What kind of apples do you use? And do you have any recipes for Pecan Pie in a Jar? shereepowell@hotmail.com

Party of Five October 20, 2009 at 3:48 PM  

I would love to see all the different ways you use your filling after you have canned it. Love the blog! Thanks!

Melissa November 2, 2009 at 12:51 AM  

You can use a product called clear gel instead of cornstarch... you will love the results. It will thicken your pie filling, but doesn't break down or become watery like cornstarch will. It is an item I always keep in my food storage. I have enjoyed your blog... thanks for great ideas and recipes. Good luck!

Deals to Meals KSL TV News Story

Three Easy Steps to Food Storage

  © Blogger templates Sunset by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP