Homesteading tasks - making applesauce

A portion of this morning was spent cutting up apples for our first fresh homemade applesauce of this season.  We had been gifted with a bushel of newly picked apples from our friend's farm.  Turns out these are real old-fashioned baking apples from a very old tree, tart and a little dry for eating, but perfect for saucing or baking into pies - the batch transformed quickly (in less than 30 minutes) into a smooth creamy rich sauce.  You can't find apples like this at the store, that's for sure!  Our little one couldn't help but try a bite out of apple after apple, putting each one down with another look of disappointment on her face at the unexpected sourness of the flavour - I guess having a whole bushel of gleaming apples standing on the floor was just too
irresistable.  She was amazed at how the flavour changed into delicious sauce, after the apples cooked down.

Here are a few simple techniques for making perfect homemade applesauce to you liking:

Method A) Quarter, core and chop apples, including skins.  Place in large pot with enough water to cover the bottom.  Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, and then simmer on reduced heat until softened.  Check to ensure the sauce does not burn on the bottom, stirring occasionally and adding a little more water if necessary.  Sauce can be pureed in food processor or food mill if you want a uniformly smooth texture.  Optional, add sugar or other sweetener, and/or cinnamon.

Method B) Using an apple coring device, peel and core apples.  Then chop into smaller sections.  Follow above directions for cooking down into sauce.  This sauce, without skins, creates a slightly smoother texture.

Method C) Quarter and chop apples, but do not take the time to core them.  Follow directions for cooking down into sauce.  Then, using a food strainer, or apple sauce sieve, strain the sauce through the mesh and compost the seeds/peels.