One More Day!

I don’t care what the thermometer says (forecasting 105 for this weekend…again), the calendar says it’s Fall.

If you were here last year, you might remember all the fun things I like to do with apples and pumpkins.

Last week, we went apple picking at Riley’s Farm in Oak Glen, Ca. Then Shea made this apple pie. The man knows his way around a crust.

Today I made applesauce with the leftover apples. I’m sharing the recipe again because it is SO STINKING EASY and it tastes MUCH BETTER than the shelf-stable kind. I promise it is worth the work, which isn’t even that much.

Start with 5-6 lbs of apples. NOT red delicious. They are too mushy, have been overbred and have no flavor. You can use Granny Smiths, which yields a (tarter? More tart?) sauce that doesn’t take well to spicing.

Skin and core those suckers. I let my kids do this part because they love it. I have two twisty apple machine-y things that skin and core and slice at the turn of a handle. You will end up with nicely skinned apples and a pile of twirly apple skins. That’s right, I said twirly.

Throw the cored and sliced apples into a heavy bottomed pot. Add a cup of water or apple juice. That’s the only ingredient I measure. If I am making plain apple sauce to use as an oil replacement in baking recipes, I stop here.

If I am making a side dish-, ice cream topping-, oatmeal add-in-, toast topper-applesauce, I spice it up: cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger. All are fair game. Sometimes I add sugar, but not always.

Today I added brown sugar, because we are shaking off strep in this house and Miss Annie needs to eat.

Let that all come to a boil, stirring to evenly coat the apples. Then turn it down, pop a top on and let it cook for 15 minutes. Remove the top, and mash the apples. If there’s an excess of fluid, leave the top off and cook for 15 more minutes. If not, cover it back up for the last 15.

Applesauce can be canned, but it holds for about two weeks in the fridge. Mine never lasts that long.

While the sauce was cooking, I was drunk on the cinnamon smell and almost got all the October decorations out of the garage. Even though Shea and I have a firm agreement that we do not decorate until October 1.

One. More. Day.

Instead I settled for hanging my new wreath in different fun places all over the house.

I know, huh? Suuuper cute.

I got it from Woulf’s Creations. Sara is a local mom putting her God-given gifts to great use. I love this one so much I just ordered a Christmas wreath too. And even though she doesn’t have them up yet, she worked with me to design one early so I can have it before we move.

Man, there is nothing like an Etsy shop for great customer service!

The next three months are going to be crazy. Crazy good, crazy fast and just plain crazy crazy. So, do like we do: ignore the temps, dig out your jeans and warm boots, light the cinnamon candles, order the Fall coffee, put the comforters back on the beds.

And get ready: 100 Days of Holidays starts tomorrow!