Apples
(left) and Pears (right)
Happy Feast Day of St. Matthew! We are rather partial around here to celebrating the Feast of St. Matthew, lucky me as I even got to attend the all-school Mass this morning at Guerin in honor of such, and it was very nice seeing our Matthew in his choir robes singing for the Mass. Very nice Mass, very nice homily, and a very good time afterward chatting.
The real reason I am writing this entry is because I had 14 emails requesting the applesauce slow cooker "recipe." (I use that word loosely as basically, here it is, a no-brainer for sure...mere child's play.) Guaranteed to have your family coming in the door saying, "Oh, wow, what smells so good and are we having it for dinner?" It takes so little to please them on a daily basis...am I lucky or what?
Slow Cooker Chunky Applesauce
10 medium apples
Juice of one fresh lemon
1 or 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 cup of white sugar (for tart apples) or brown sugar if you want a caramel taste
Splash a little water in the bottom of a 3 quart crockpot...just to barely cover the bottom. Wash, peel, core, and slice apples (not too thinly if you want it chunky) and add to the crockpot. Juice one fresh lemon and mix with the apples. Add cinnamon. Add salt. Add sugar (or not), depending on tartness of apples...you can always add more, so don't add it all at the beginning and adjust as it cooks. Cook on high about 2 hours or on low for 4 hours. (I also made one with pears, used 1 t. ginger, 1/4 t. cinnamon, and did not add sugar as the pears were very sweet...no need to add any water as pears are very juicy when cooked down.) Enjoy...we did!