Farm to Table - Applesauce

We spent an afternoon recently at a small family run farm in Belleville, IL doing some apple picking. The farm was the anti-thesis of other area farms that are uber-commercialized, with just a small family working in the barn. We were driven out to the orchards by one of the sons who then sat on the tractor and waited for us as we harvested apples! It was slightly weird having him waiting, as we almost felt rushed since he was sitting in the sun baking, while we frolicked in the fields!

We brought the harvest home and I decided to whip up some from scratch applesauce. I looked for a few recipes online, but altered them to suit my tastes.

Applesauce

8 apples, peeled and cubed

approximately 1 cup on apple cider

approximately 1-2 Tbsp. cinnamon

sugar to taste (about 1/4 cup)

Add apples, cider and cinnamon to saucepan. Heat until boiling. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Mash apples after simmering (apples should be soft and shouldn't take much effort to mash to desired texture.) While still on the heat, add sugar to taste. After sugar is dissolved, take off heat and eat.

This makes the house smell AMAZING! And my family is obsessed with this stuff. My dad actually took it from our fridge because he loved it so much, and the man doesn't eat ANYTHING!