Feeling Saucy

The food mill arrived yester-day and so I'm in business. In fact, I am making apple butter as I type this. Earlier I brought in the remaining 4 dozen apples from the garage. They were a tad soft, most of them, but that won't hurt anything. I washed them, chopped them (seeds, skin, and all), and cooked them in a big pot with a container of pure apple juice (no sugar added) until they were all cooked through. Then I put them through the food mill (after allowing them to cool a bit while I had lunch), which worked wonderfully well. According to the online source from whence my recipes came, the new easy method of making apple butter is to cook it down in a slow cooker for 6 to 12 hours. So I put about half of the applesauce into the slow cooker with about an inch and a half of room left at the top, added some cinnamon, allspice, and sugar, and turned the cooker on Medium. The lid is ajar so that steam can escape which will allow the mixture to cook down properly.

When the applesauce mixture has reduced by about half, then I will add the rest of the applesauce, more spices and sugar, mix well and cook all that down. While that's happening, I can sterilize my jars and lids and get everything ready for canning. In a way, I'm awfully glad that there were only 4 dozen apples left because this way the operation starts and finishes in just 2 days. We're out for dinner tonight and have nothing going on tomorrow, which leaves me plenty of free time to deal with the various steps of the process.

Our friends Val and Bill Campbell from Arbroath (north of Dundee) are spending a getaway weekend on Loch Earn and have invited us to join them for dinner tonight at their hotel, The Achray House, which restaurant is one we always enjoy going to. We have invited them to come to our house for Sunday lunch before heading back home. In the morning on Sunday they'll come here. Then Bill and Don will go play golf at St. Fillans while Val and I go to the Rapha Centre near Braco for coffee and a browse.

Other news is that I finally finished the little quilt I have mentioned off and on for a few weeks. Its name is "In the beginning..." and you can probably tell why when you look at the photo below. I think the title will be applicable to whatever approach to the origin of life you happen to espouse. (Remember you can click on the photo to see an enlargement.) Already I have another little quilt taking shape on my studio design wall.