Apples Again??!

I think it's a little strange that apples keep finding me. Right now I've got a case box full of bruised apples that came my way and they're waiting to be turned into applesauce and apple pie filling. Or maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment?

I held a canning class for some ladies from my church last Saturday. It went really well! We canned most of the cranberries I had sitting in my freezer from Christmas time. Hooray for more freezer space! It was my first time making whole berry cranberry sauce and I was delighted with how easy it was. 8 cups cranberries, 4 cups sugar, 4 cups water. That's it! And I loved how the finished product is this luscious, glistening ruby red. I was really thrilled to be able to share my knowledge and expertise with eager students. Anything I can do to help other be more self-sufficient just makes me happy!

I also had some grape tomatoes come my way and decided to try my hand at tomato sauce. I was surprised that it was a lot like making apple sauce. Cook the tomatoes, run them through the food mill, strain them in the sieve to get rid of seeds (an extra step applesauce doesn't have), cook down to 1/2 the original amount (another extra step), and put in your jars with some lemon juice. Imagine my surprise when the jars came out of the water bath and the sauce was orange! I'm really curious as to how it tastes... :-)