Look What I Did

I started with these:

I was able to buy 40 lbs. of Ginger Gold apples for $16.50.

I decided to try something new.

So, I did this:

Then this :

Which turned into this:

Then I mashed them up, put them in jars, placed them in my brand new :

Water Bath Canner:

This is what they looked like when they were finished:

And here was the very first bowl of homemade applesauce. Which was very quickly gobbled up by my applesauce loving son, who at least for the moment thinks I am the greatest Mom ever!

This was my first attempt at using apples to can. I have made strawberry jam for the freezer and canned and have canned salsa with a friend, but this was the very first time that I ever canned anything on my own. I definitely did it the good old-fashioned hard way. I do not have an apple pealer or a sieve. So, I peeled the apples with a knife (my hubby helped a little) and after they cooked I mashed them with a potato masher. It's more like chunky applesauce, but that's good here, because most of the picky people around here are picky about texture and prefer it this way. I also don't have a big stock pot, so each of my batches only yielded 4 jars. I think I will borrow my Mom's stock pot next time.

My next project is apple butter!