Last year I was all about apples.

I went to visit my brother at college and we attended the Ithaca Apple Festival, I made Old-Fashioned Apple Cake from the Moosewood Restaurant dessert cookbook and for the first time since kindergarten, made homemade applesauce.

This year, making applesauce was practically a rite of passage into autumn. Though I never made it out to actually pick apples, the market across the street took care of the task for me and offered bins of Jonagold, Honeycrisp, Gala and Fuji apples from the end of August right up until now.

Even though I eat apples year round, they just seem to taste better in the Fall. Fresher, crisper and just right. They also taste right in apple pie, apple crisp, apple streudel and apple brown betty but we’ll save those for another day.

Homemade applesauce is a great healthy snack but sweet enough for dessert

Classic Applesauce

Ingredients:

3-4 lbs. Golden Delicious apples (I used 7 small ones)
1 T. Fresh Lemon Juice
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup water
3 slices of lemon peel (cut with a vegetable peeler or paring knife)
1 3″ cinnamon stick

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in a large stockpot and set to a boil. Let cook, uncovered for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until apples are tender.

2. Remove from heat and discard three pieces of lemon peel and cinnamon stick. Let apple mixture cool down and puree in a food processor, blender, or mash with a potato masher. Serve hot or cold.

If you want to fill your house with the scent of apples and spices, you can also make applesauce in your slow cooker.

Did you notice that I’ve been posting more frequently than usual this week? In celebration of National Novel Writing Month, some bloggers choose to commemorate November with NaBloPoMo, or National Blog Posting Month. I’ve challenged myself to post daily this month and hope that you’ll challenge yourselves to read them all!

Tagged as: applesauce, classic applesauce, homemade applesauce, side dish