We also use a mixture of apples...about 3.5lbs of Gala, 3lbs of Honeycrisp, and 2 large Granny Smith, 1C white sugar, 1C brown sugar, 1 1/2-2t cinnamon and about 1/2t ground cloves.

I'm in the process of making my batch. I went by Walmart to get a sieve & they are out of every canning supply except lids & lime. Ugh! So, I used my mesh stainer & my hands are killing me. I am wondering how you guys get rid of the skins? I would "blend" them up but I'm afraid they wouldn't be a pleasant surprise when eating it. Tastes good so far & smells wonderful too.

Ok so jen1977.. you DONT use a hot water bath then ? You just put hot apple butter into the hot jars ?? please explain. Everyone seems to do it a different way !

Thanks Jean ! Yes I am also a canner ,have been for many yrs ! I can see why you dont have to do the hot water bath, As long as the jars are hot n ready and the butter is to they should seal on their own. I just wanted to be sure I was reading all of this right. Thanks for the reply!

Nope, we don't use a hot water bath. We put our jars in a very large bowl wit hthe hottest water we can get from the tap and soak them. Fill the jars one at a time with the hot apple butter, but the seal and ring on tight. As it cools, the heat from the cooling apple butter seals the jar. I opened a jar Monday that I had to use a butter knife to get the seal off of! As long as your jars are clean and hot and the apple butter is hot, I think you'll be fine. If there happens to be 1 jar that doesn't seal, put it in the hot water bath for about 10 minutes and it will seal it. We haven't killed anyone yet, and neaither have ant of the really old people in my family who have done it this way for years either!

Just for the record, I'm getting HUNGRY just reading this thread!!

Thanks Jen!

This is the time of year when I prep my doughs for Thanksgiving and the winter holidays. I get the disposable pie pans and put my bottom doughs in, then freeze them individually. When fully frozen, I place a sheet of plastic wrap in between, stack them, then wrap them well with plastic, then foil. When I need some, I pull out what I need, then save the rest for the next holiday.

My cookie doughs are almost all home-made slice and bake. I make double batches of dough, then refrigerate it. Then I portion out the dough and form it into rolls, wrap it and freeze it. My family is not a cut-out cookie kind of bunch, so I don't make them until baking days.

I make my ganaches and buttercreams ahead, too. When made right, they are a perfect candidate for the "freezes beautifully" section of everyone's cookbook.

I use fresh pumpkin for my pie, but I roast it first, which is an awesome smell throughout the house. It's easy. I buy smaller pumpkins, the size which will fit on my baking sheets. I cut them in half, clean them, then put them open side down on a foil, then parchment, lined baking sheet. I cut triangles about 1 inch tall on either side of the half, to allow moisture to escape. Then I slow-roast them at about 300 degrees for an hour, or until they collapse on themselves. Use the "knife in the potato method" for doneness. I let it cool for a little while, then I peel it (the peel comes off sooo easy!). Then I puree what's left before freezing it.

I make my sofrito at the end of October. I use Puerto Rican style sofrito, which is a blend of onion, garlic, green pepper (I use a blend of yellow, red and green, because I like the way the colors look in the jar), both broad and narrow leaf cilantro, salt, and a small pepper called ajices dulces. I get orders for my sofrito, because it's not watery like the stuff you buy in the store, and it's full of flavor, because I don't skimp on anything.

This is also my bulk cooking season. I make soups, sauces, stroganoff, then portion them to family-sized and freeze them. I also make halushki and freeze it. I do not freeze any of these items with the noodles in them, because frozen noodles get nasty when defrosted.

Theresa

playingwithsugar

I so want to try making the roasted pumpkin. I always roast my sweet potatoes and they are so good that way. I will have to try the pumpkin.

For your slice and bake cookies, do you use your regular drop cookie recipe or do you have special recipes for them?

I don't have a deep freeze, I can see now I have to get one. Great suggestions!

Let me know what you think of the roasted pumpkin when you make it. It really concentrates the pumpkin flavor, and looks more like canned pumpkin than boiled pumpkin does.

As for the slice'n'bakes, I just use my regular recipes, form them into a log, and roll them up in plastic. My freezer shelf looks like see-through Pillsburys when I get done. This is great for my shortbreads, which I do not pan, I drop them. I press them down with the bottom of a glass, then fork them and get them into the oven before they warm up. It keeps them from spreading, and they look like buttons when they're done (which is why I call them Shortbread Buttons).

I bake all my cookies on bun pan liners (restaurant grade parchment, as opposed to the silicone coated stuff you get in the craft or grocery stores).

My family is multi-religious, so I have 4 holidays to bake and cook for - Thanksgiving, Chanukkah, December Christmas, and Orthodox Christmas in January, so if I don't get a head start, I'm in deep doo-doo by the time those days roll around.

Theresa

For those interesting in canning, try this link.
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/nutrition/components/DJ0516section1.html
Another. A forum where the women will walk you step-by-step through your canning, if you need it... http://www.mrssurvival.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=30&page=1

Hey BCJean-
Where in CA are you? It was a horribly hot week here. 101/103 on Tues./Wed. 94 yesterday. Looking forward to some Fall weather!

I am located mid way between Bakersfield and Fresno. It has been really hot here also, upper 90's. Today is supposed to be low 80's and tomorrow only 70. That brings out the pumpkin pie and soup cravings for me.

Me too with all the cravings!!! I can't wait. Fall and Winter are my favorite times of the year. Someday I hope to live somewhere where you can tell the difference between all of the seasons more.

luvscakes.. Just wonder how your feeling and if your enjoying the thread ? Theres lots of good ideas and recipes here !

Last year I made a chocolate pumpkin cake that was to die for! I torted a layer of pumpkin cake and a layer of chocolate cake and alternated the cakes then filled each layer with chocolate ganache and iced it all with chocolate fudge icing. Yummy!

Thanks so much guys!!!
I have been enjoying reading this although I wish I could be on more. I'm not even supposed to be sitting up like in a chair at the computer for very long.
Kitagirl- those recipes (and ALL the others!) look grand and have my mouth watering and my eyes a bit too! I can't wait to get back to baking!
It has been over 5 long weeks since my surgery and the last two the Dr has tried some different and painful things but I have high hopes that I'll be getting better in the next couple of weeks!

I love applebutter too and usually make my own. I have never thought about the crockpot- I think I can do that while sitting down- I sense the need to send hubby to the store for a bunch of apples!

Thanks again guys- you've all helped make me feel like there's an end in sight and also have something to cling to for when I get better!!

I tweaked the recipe on allrecipes & it came out very well. I did add 1/2 c cider & did 1/8 tsp allspice & cloves. It filled 4 1/2 jelly jars. I've already eaten the 1/2 jar (oops ) I couldn't find a sieve at Walmart, but will search b/c I pushed it through a mesh strainer with a spoon & it was very tedious.

One of my Fall faves is apple butter on gingerbread muffins. Then a couple years ago I discovered the joys of pumpkin butter on gingerbread muffins -- can you say "to die for"?

Pumpkin butter Sound yummy.......Do you have a recipe?

No, I did a search last year and couldn't find anything that sounded good. But I did find a few recipes using apple and pumpkin butter as ingredients though! I usually get mine from the cider mill.

Here is a recipe for Pumpkin Butter. I just got it from the pumpkin patch we go to every year, so I haven't had time to try it myself yet. If you try it before I do, let me know how it is! There are quite a few tasty sounding pumpkin recipes on here. If I have time later, I'll try to post more. HTH!

Pumpkin Butter
(By: Live Oak Canyon Christmas Tree Farm and Pumpkin Patch)

1 cup mashed, cooked pumpkin
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
1 Tbs. lemon juice
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan, cook on medium heat. Bring to boil, stirring frequently. Turn to low heat and simmer until mixture is thick, about 15 minutes. Stir often, mixture will burn easily. Cool and chill for at least 1 hour before using. You can freeze this.

I'm also a big fan of rhubarb in the Fall -- with orange juice and Vanilla to sweeten it (not strawberry) and very little sugar. I use that combo in my rhubarb crisp which is to die for!

luvcakes hope you get well very soon

luvscakes.. Hope you continue to improve ! I did make the apple butter from this sight posted by BCJean. Its yummy!! I did the first batch just like she posted it and then made a 2nd batch to change it up a little and make it work for me! I like to try a new recipe just like its posted the 1st time and then try and make it mine or more to what my family would want after that . Thanks Jean!

I too have made another (real sugar) batch of apple butter. I ended up adding just a little more spices b/c I like my spicy. But I've had a terrible time w/ mine boiling over & let me tell you that is the nastiest mess I've ever had to clean up. And I didn't even leave it that long. I have a 6 qt cooker. Maybe I did something wrong or maybe my cooker is having issues.

I did try the apple butter pumpkin pie I left a link to & it was sooooo good. You can taste the hint of apple butter as an aftertaste. I think I would leave the nuts out of the streusel topping next time though. I'm not too much on nuts & thought they took away from the flavor.

I've found a butterscotch pumpkin pie I'm about to try that was in a Bon Appetit