Making applesauce and Mommymem added way too much water! d* What would be the best remedy? Boil off the excess water? Skim it out? Other idea?
TIA
1. Boil it off, but watch it. Ain't gonna be as good, but salvagable.
2. Keep as is. Two words; apple soup!
3. Do something else. Two more words; cinnamon rolls!
4. If all else fails, two more words; fruit leather!
5. Keep outta the kitchen.*
*We know you did it Daddymems, Mommymems don't do things like that.
Gary O'mem
Bon Appétit
Danke, I usually do the applesauce and haven't had this problem I was busy making the apple peel and core jelly and didn't notice she put so much in.
Doesn't matter, you're doin' family stuff.
So whatever yer brewin' it's gonna come out alright.
Now go, stir, watch.
Enjoy the fam-mem.
Best game in town....ever.
One more; apple syrup
Y'know, it's funny how sweet memories are garnered from simple things.
Years ago when the boys were small, we picked a mess of green beans. I mean a lot, three gunny bags full.
The boys had fun runnin' up and down the rows of string beans in between pickin' their own sack full.
Sippin' water in a mason jar, trudgin' to the outhouse, eatin' raw beans.....with a little dirt on 'em for flavor.
The farm had several acres of rows and rows, long rows.
Once back home, we all sat at the kitchen table, stringin', snappin', jabbering away at everything.
Empty jars boilin' in the kettle.
Shadows lengthened.
Dinner on the back porch.
Baths for the boys, story time, tuck in, don't let the bed bugs bite.
Wife and I get serious with the canning process.
Cooker steamin, rattlin'. Jars lining up. Lids poppin'.
2 AM, the pile is manageable. Thru bleery eyes we look proudly at the bounty, smiling at each other.
"I didn't know you liked green beans so much."
"I don't, you?"
"No, not so much."
The boys are 38 and 40 now, and fondly remember those days.
Nobody remembers eating the beans.......
I would boil it off -- but on a side not my recipe didn't call for water to be added and I ended up with the thickest applesauce I've ever had! Was/IS good but so thick!
Next time I'm adding a little water.
Hey Daddymem! Good to see you on the forum! We have Glenn's cousin & her boyfriend staying w/us for awhile - they're from Mass. - Staughton to be exact. Glenn & I were just discussing you guys - the 1st Day Cottage & the family - do you have 3 or 4 kids now? Tell Mommymem hi for me. Hope all is going well. The applesauce will be ok :)
Good story, Gary0 - my mom used to make 2 veggies - broccoli & acorn squash (not cooked together) it wasn't until my parents were married for about 40 yrs that she found out my dad didn't like either vegetable :P The 1st dinner she cooked after they were married was meatloaf & corn on the cob. Took hours to make - she couldn't understand why the corncobs weren't getting tender d*
We used to sit around the table & shell walnuts. My dad sat at the head of the table w/a cutting board & hammer & would crack the nuts & we'd take the shells off. It was a several hour job but I still have good memories w/my mom, dad, sister & brothers all sitting around the table joking, teasing each other & having a fun time.
Your story about the greenbeans reminded me of years ago when I lived in Washington state. I took care of my neighbor's garden for a couple months while they were gone visiting family in various parts of the USA (they had 11 kids). Anyway, I picked a big bag of greenbeans & boiled them up w/onions & bacon, yummmm, they smelled sooo good [hungry] We bit into them, started chewing & I just about gagged - they were peas, not greenbeans & the pea pods were so stringy I had to throw the whole pot out :( that was so disappointing.
'It was a several hour job but I still have good memories w/my mom, dad, sister & brothers all sitting around the table joking, teasing each other & having a fun time.'
And there it is
Thanks all, boiled it off and it tastes fine. Not the chunky style we like anymore but oh well. We work well in the kitchen, technically that's where we met at the pizza place we worked at.
Just a little water to keep them from sticking at first is all you need.
Busy yesterday afternoon for Mommymem and I. Together we banged out:
Apple Peels and Cores Jelly-5 jelly jars, 6 pints, 6 quarts
Applesauce-7 quarts
Apple Peels and Cores Cider Vinegar-fermenting on the counter
Baked Squash-4 large trays worth
Squash seeds for toasting.
About to dough in on my Blessed Bitter (Ordinary Bitter Beer) which will mash away while we are in church and boil after. On friday I racked my Dandelion Mead and Dandelion Wine, and bottled my Lemon Wine and Gooseberry Blonde.
Garden did well again this year but I still have my failures-carrots, spinach, and corn. Just about drowned in lettuce. Fell in love with kohlrabi. Trying for winter crops this year with beets, lettuce, and kohlrabi. Still out there picking beans, tomatoes, and squash and hopefully peas before the snow flies. Big crop of hops too. Had my eyes on the best looking crop of rosehips along the beaches but Irene came and burned up everything along the shore, maybe next year. Tried our hand at extracting wax from bayberries but got so very little from so much work, don't think that is a worthwhile endeavor. Hope to grab some cranberries from the ditches of picked bogs and process those into a whole bunch of goodies. Turned a meager grape crop into fruit leather for the kids. Processed bags and bags of squash put up in the freezer waiting to become Mommymem's famous pumpkin cookies and pumpkin rolls. Put up a ton of pickles, bread and butter, half sours, fermented, dill.
So much to do this time of year....
Sassy, we're up to 3 ankle biters and holding. I know Stoughton pretty well. They have a fabulous Town Engineer and my old boss lives there. In fact we were just up to Stoughton for a group homebrew event called Masstoberfest. Beer was brewed and drank, and a loverly piggy smoked hisself for our enjoyment.
Put it in a crockpot and soon you will end up with apple butter. Good stuff.
Crock pot, apple butter! Of course!
'So much to do this time of year....'
Boy, Daddymem, after readin' all that, I need a nap.
No need to remind you to enjoy, seems you got that down pretty good.
Sassy, sometimes mistakes become something wonderful, your pea pod process, not so much. rofl We've been there..several times.
Thing is, when the bride comes up with something truly wonderful, tossing in this and that with what's available, it's a one-time only experience, cause she never remembers the ingrediences. I've shed many a tear from many a great meal after these adventures.........
Great to hear of all the stuff you are up to Daddymem and all the other mems.
I worked away all summer so Sassy worked had to take care of the garden by herself, but she did manage to keep a few veggies going, as well as keep the cows and new calf in check .. most of the time.
Listening to our cousins from Mass talk we find they are quite easy to understand if we just purchase an extra sack full of R's and insert them as needed.
Actually they are not that bad at all. Fun to kid about it though. We are very much enjoying their company. :)
Yeah, them people from Stoughton don't have too much of an accent. Not like people from Middleboro-it's like you yanked them straight outta Hahvad Yahd by the wahda behind the cahs next to the Lobstah shack! Oops, just dribbled some of my Autocrat coffee frappe onto my whoopie pie and American Chop Suey, luckily I missed my Double D's coffee. :)
You can bet I will have to point this post out to them as soon as they get back into the house from calling home..... phone was busy here and our cell phones only work reliably a couple hundred feet over the mountain. rofl