Apple Butter

We decided to make apple butter to try and raise money for the Old Six Mile Museum.  As a kid my family made apple butter with our church and friends every year.  It has been quite some time since we have done this but dad thought it would be a great idea.  And I have to agree that it was.  The kids loved helping and it turned out to be a great time.

There is a lot of work in making apple butter.  We made it over an open fire in a big copper kettle.  The kettle we used has been a home for some of dads plants for quite a few years so he had some cleaning to do this week.

Thursday night Jon, Ben, Brady, mom, dad, and me went to mom and dads and peeled apples.  5 bushels.  Which is roughly 500 apples.  That's right, we peeled 500 apples in a little over 3 hours.  And the boys did great.  Ben and Brady just loved doing it.  They worked hard the entire time.  Jon did a great job too.  He was a steady, cranking machine.

 Hardest working boys ever

 Even Debbie got in the game for a bit.  But then Cate had dance class and away they went.

 With 3 peelers there was no fighting between the boys.  Small miracles make me happy  : )

Cate tried to help while she was there.  At least for a minute.  Then she heard her "baby's" cry and she had to take them for a walk

After the apples are peeled the peels get cooked down to make juice for the next day.  This was mom and dads job.  Needless to say, their kitchen smelled very appley.  (yes I know this isn't a word.  Deal)

This

 Plus this

 Equals bright red apple juice

 To clean a copper kettle all you need is vinegar, salt, and elbow grease

 And it gets all shiny.  Which in turn makes Cody's mouth water because he knows the cost of copper these days.  Mom has to constantly tell him "don't touch"!

The fire needs to be nice and hot before you put the kettle on

 The spice bag goes between the apples.  In this magic bag are lemons, cinnamon sticks, and star of anice.  It smells delish!

 The first step is to pour the juice that was made the night before into the kettle.  Get this boiling before the apples are added.

Put half the apples in the kettle, then the spice bag, then the other half of the apples.  Wet a large sheet and cover the apples.  

Make sure the apples are covered good.  They will need to steam for about an hour.  Our instructions said to keep the sheet on until you couldn't touch the top because it was so hot but that never happened.  After a while we said enough was enough and started stirring.

The reason there are kids in the background is because the Old Six Mile Community Garden works with the kids from Worthen Elementary school.  They came over today to learn the process of making homemade apple butter and also to plant fruit trees.  Jim and Sharon Parker donated a fruit tree for each class.  The master gardener from the park district came and instructed them how to plant and care for these trees.  The kids were very excited.  They came back in the afternoon while we were stirring and got to taste the applebutter.  They loved it so we will be taking jars to them Monday.

 The stirring begins.  Tim Streid came over in the morning to help get the fire started.  Dad didn't let him leave until he took his turn stirring.

Ann spent the day stirring the pot.  Literally.  She worked really hard and seemed to enjoy it.  It was pretty windy so we had the table blocking the wind so the fire wouldn't die down.  Once you start stirring you can't stop or else it will burn.  We took turns all day stirring.  I think we had to stir about 3 1/2 hours before it was finished.  Once all the apples were broke up we added the sugar.  We ended up adding 25 pounds.  The amount of sugar depends on the sweetness of the apples.  Then keep stirring until you put some applebutter on a plate, whole it straight up, and if no water comes out it's done.  Scientific I know.

 I think Ann likes it  : )

 Mom trying to decide if it is time to can it.  Ben and Brady and their friend Tyler came over after school to help with the canning.  We thought it was going to take quite a few hours to get it finished but it was done way sooner than expected.  Mom thinks it was because the apples were cut thinner which allowed them to break up faster.  I didn't care what the reason was.  I was happy.

 Ben and Mom ladled the applbutter into the jars.  Me and Brady wiped them off.  Ann put the hot rings on them and Lindsey and Tyler screwed the lids on.  Ken and Cody were the muscle and had to tighten the jars and take them away.  It was a whole family affair.

 Scraping the bottom of the kettle to make sure it was all out.  

And that's a wrap. 

We got really lucky with the weather.  I remember as a child being out at Holiday Harvest freezing to death while we did this.  Or in the rain.  But today was great and the kids really enjoyed it.  This will be something they remember for a long time.