Today’s post is sponsored by KitchenAid as they provided me with a stand mixer and several attachments, so I can teach you a very simple way  how to make applesauce.

Delicious, smooth, warm applesauce.

This time of year of canning and preserving always feels right. It’s like birthing a baby, in a way, with the fruits of our labor coming to fruition in the growing season canning, preserving, and eating from the land. Even though we have a city lot with 14 raised beds, we also head up the street to several accessible farms, to our local Harry & David, and to the Farmer’s Market to buy organic goods.

Every year our dear friends, who live a few miles from us, provide us with apples.

And every year we make applesauce. Often it involves the family, or one of my kids helping me. It’s really a quick process!

It’s one of the easiest ways to harvest and enjoy apples in the winter months ahead. And what I love is that everyone can get in on the canning process, and YES, you really do NOT have to peel or core the apples!

Did you hear this, folks? Cook them down with skins, cores, stems, and all.

Attach the Fruit Strainer/Food Grinder attachments to your KitchenAid stand mixer. (The links to what you will need are at the bottom of this post.)

Make sure there is one LARGE bowl ready to receive the pressed applesauce, and one smaller bowl ready to receive the residue from the apples.

How to Make Applesauce:

Wash the apples. I usually put them into my deep kitchen sink, add cold water, and let them soak.

Cut the apples. Taking the cut apples from the sink, slice into quarters. LEAVE SKINS AND STEMS ON. Place in a big pot.

Cook the apples. Fill the pot as high as you can. Add about 1/2 cup of water. Cook the apples down, which means you cook them until they are soft and tender.

Press the apples. Ladle the apples into the top of the fruit strainer on the KitchenAid stand mixer. Push the apples through.

How it works. The Fruit Vegetable Strainer/Food Grinder does 2 things. It separates out the stems, seeds, and skins of the apple into one bowl, and the applesauce into the other bowl.

Fill the jars. Fill the sterilized canning jars with applesauce and process in a hot water canner for 25 minutes.

Enjoy it hot. There’s nothing better than a warm bowl of applesauce with fresh whipped cream.

The applesauce process is amazingly quick and efficient, and one of the things I love to can each year.

There are different ways to add flavor to the applesauce, too, if you like to can. (Very top photo: Home canned applesauce and cherries.)

You can add sugar (but I don’t), cinnamon, even melted red hot candies! These add a cinnamon flavor, and also quite a bit of sugar to each jar, but in the long run, the “pink” applesauce is what kids love the most!

You can eat it fresh, or if you have an abundance like I usually do, follow the canning process (go to Ball.com for any canning questions.)

Thank you KitchenAid for sponsoring this post today. If you have any questions about the process of making applesauce, leave me a question and I’ll try to answer it for you.

Our family has been enjoying this scrumptious treat for years and am thrilled to share the process with you today!

Oh, and an empty pot is a good sign of happy tummies in the household!

Do you have any secrets for making home-canned applesauce?

Here are the attachments you will need:
KitchenAid® Fruit/Vegetable Strainer Set
KitchenAid® Food Grinder

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Our tomatoes are vibrant and beautiful this year. I love the varieties that we have, and when it comes to harvesting them, I’m always asked by friends how to can salsa.

This time I invited my friend, Jessica, to help! She’s never canned before and I’m a big proponent of the more seasoned (me!) teaching the younger (her!)

You can read her story, here, which is so sweet! Plus, she went home with her own beautiful 12 pints of fresh canned salsa.

This year was slightly different for us, as we have a new 2-burner Camp Chef Pro 60 Modular Stove.

It’s set up on our back patio and I couldn’t be happier. Seriously, this beautiful piece of equipment has changed everything.

How to Can Salsa

1. Make sure you have all of your canning pots and tools ready, with jars and lids sterilized. Decide if you will can inside or outside.

2. The night before, DO THE FIRST STEP and follow my delicious Smokey Zucchini Salsa recipe. This entails grating and pickling 30 cups of zucchini, 12 peppers, and 6 large onions, and adding pickling salt. You let this sit and brine overnight.

3. The day of canning, add the rest of the ingredients, including 20 cups of fresh washed tomatoes from the garden! Leave the skins on – nice and easy!

4. Make sure you have on a cute apron! Jessica is wearing a Hip Hostess polka-dot apron.

5. Get the pot of salsa boiling on the stove, and then simmer. At the same time, get your water bath canner boiling on the other burner.

6. Jar the salsa into pint jars and process for 15 minutes.

7. Allow the jars to cool, and add a touch of “you” to the jar if you plan to give away as a gift. (I used my RE stamp for the stickers.)

This is the first year that the canning process was really enjoyable. I loved canning with a friend, teaching her about the art of canning, and I so appreciated how fast and easy the process was, by canning outside!

The mess was not there. The burners heated the pots of salsa and water so quickly, we could hardly keep up with the process! We were done in no time.

With a beautiful 26 pints ready to enjoy, and the “blue canning jars” for me will be saved for Christmas gifts this year.

Do you can in the indoors or the outdoors? 

Camp Chef provided me with the stove, but I was not paid for this post. As always, all opinions are my own. But this stove is really awesome, and will perfect for camping, too!

The post Outdoor Canning and How to Can Salsa appeared first on Reluctant Entertainer.

People in our lives.

Infinite creativity.

Weaving in and out. Every day a new experience.

Last night I was canning pear sauce. I made it differently this year, using my Dad’s wife, Ginny’s Pear Jam recipe. It’s actually a chunkier recipe, which I like, because it’s yummy to serve HOT on vanilla ice cream or on a slice of cheese cake. Yum!

As I was reaching in the sink to grab a pear–so many different sizes and colors– I was thinking of the uniqueness of the heavens, the rain drops (yes, lots of rain now in Oregon!), beautiful colored leaves, and people in my life.

The creativity of each piece of fruit–the pears are not all the same–there’s no mass production.

Each pear, some even rotten inside, had to be cut out, and put into the big boiling pot of jam.

People in our lives. The way they come and go–the stories, the memories–seem to be varied from year to year. Our kids are older now, 2 in college (coming home today for the weekend!), 1 still in the home; our friends’ lives are changing right along with ours.

And life does change.

I love this paragraph by Joyce Meyer …

“The people we spend time with affect us, it stands to reason, if we want a more simple life, we should not have a lot of complicated people for close friends. If I’m around people who are intense and always stressed out, they get me stressed; but if I’m around people who are peaceful, it helps me remain peaceful, too. When I’m around people who are lighthearted and thoroughly enjoy even the very simple things in life (my words: like pear sauce!), it reminds me to do the same.” – Joyce Meyer

My mom made pear jam. My Dad’s wife Ginny makes pear jam. I make pear jam and now sauce. Abby will, I’m sure.

I wonder if the boys will want to can this fabulous recipe?

Different pears, different recipe, different people, new sauce.

What do you reflect on this time of year?

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The post People in our Lives with Homemade Canned Pear Sauce appeared first on Reluctant Entertainer.

Canning.

Smells of autumn.

My sisters and I would dance around in Grandma’s mud room, from where we’d step down into the cold, dark pantry lined with canning jars. We’d play house, act, play and pretend, all in the midst of the wonderful scent of the jars. Have you ever noticed how absolutely yummy a pantry of canning jars smells? Sweet and savory both. And then there was a big bucket of fresh dill ready for Grandma’s canned dill pickles. I’ll never forget that scent.

The memories this time of year.

My sisters and I would tie on Grandma’s apron, while one would wear Grandpa’s knee-high rubber boots, and the other would put on a garden hat. (Win this beautiful apron, here.)

Learning how to can.
My mother taught me.

Teaching others.
Sharing the love.

Canning with my kids.
Finally, they’re appreciating the art.

Canning with my sister.
I wouldn’t trade our time for anything.

Canning with a friend.
The canning in her mother’s kitchen.

Canning to me is more than ‘putting up’ the harvest into beautiful glass canning jars. It’s the art of learning how, and community. The act of sharing in the workload with others, as you work busily with your hands, side by side, sometimes standing in the same space for hours, doing the same thing over and over.

You wash, cook, peel, blanch, chop, … stuff the jars.

You’re hot and sweaty, steamy, dirty, hands parched from water and heat.

You talk, reminisce, laugh, cry.

You clean up.

Canning to me is an aspect of the art of community living; of being together.

Autumn reminds me of this art, year after year.

Canning.

Do you have canning memories to share, and do they remind you of Autumn?

Want to take a peek at my cute little Grandma? And what’s on my list to can next? Pear Butter! This time I’m trying a new recipe!

Catch up on my first 28 Days, HERE. :)

The post Day 29. Canning. Smells of Autumn. appeared first on Reluctant Entertainer.

Back at the ranch in Oklahoma, where it was nice and cool inside (and very hot outside), Rebecca from Foodie with Family taught us how to make a very delicious Roasted Red Pepper Spread.

If you haven’t checked out Rebecca’s blog, be prepared to spend some time there – it’s fascinating how she cooks for her family of 5 young men, well, 6 … if you count her husband.

Oh boy, was it good. I brought some home to Oregon with me. Several times I served it to my friends and they couldn’t believe the flavor.

I called it “tomato jam,” which is what it looks like.

Last year I canned a similar sauce for Christmas gifts. I canned with a friend, which always makes life a little more fun, when you can not only share the load of work, but just be together.

This time around, surrounded by lovely blogging friends.

(Bridget, Robyn, Wendy, me, Amy, and Georgia; photo by Miz Ree)

So the beauty of this recipe is a really nifty and quick way to roast the veggies: you put them in the oven with the skins on!

How easy is that?

-Layer the veggies on a tray and roast in the oven, turning often until they’re blackened.

-Put them immediately into a paper sack, seal, and allow to cool.

-This makes the rubbing off of the skins and seeds so easy. Brilliant!

(photo by Wenderly)

From there, the recipe is very easy and self-explanatory.

As I always tell people new to canning, if you have any questions about the process, you can always go to Ball.com for help! They are the canning experts!

You can also check out Rebecca’s Basic Canning page on her site!

So … I know it’s only August, but will you be canning this year and if so, have you thought about little Christmas gifts you could give?

The post Roasted Red Pepper Spread with Foodie with Family appeared first on Reluctant Entertainer.

I pulled our last jar of fruit from the pantry this week.

Homemade canned fruit, that is.

I’ve been trying to be disciplined lately and not run to the store for every little thing we run out of. And I’ve been trying to teach my teens the same thing.

No fresh apples or bananas? Head to the pantry, kids!

This week I grabbed our last jar of home canned cherries. It actually made me sad, because I’m not sure that I will can cherries this summer. I love them, but the rest of the family is not crazy about them. I’ve been able to cook with them on occasion, but this time I grabbed the last jar and made myself breakfast.

I love to make a “shake” in the morning with fresh fruit, or whatever fruit I can find.

I’ll be canning peaches, pears, applesauce, lots of jams and relishes this year (yes, I’m dreaming of summer.)

But probably not cherries.

If you are a canner, what is your family’s favorite fruit?

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The post Replacing Fresh Fruit with Home Canned Fruit appeared first on Reluctant Entertainer.

I love how my daughter whistles while she works …

Even in the midst of a messy kitchen, while canning homemade pear applesauce, Abby and I can have fun together.

When the apples arrive from our dear friends, Roger and Faye, we know what comes next: the canning process.

Thanks to Kitchen Aid and the nifty attachments that hook up to my stand mixer, all you have to do is wash the apples (pears), cut in quarters, boil down in a heavy pot, and then run it through the attachments.

I never add sugar. I jar and process for 25 minutes. Cool, wipe down the jars, and place in the pantry, jars ready for winter enjoyment.

The canning between a mother and daughter is very simple.

We talk about the love between our family friends of 30 years, their home being one of our favorite homes in southern Oregon, the forging and sharing of friendships and good foods, the importance of multiple generations, gratitude for elderly friends being a part of our children’s lives. Some retired friends have shared the responsibility in getting Abby to her violin lessons every week for 12 years when I was not able to drive her. The saying “it takes a village” does make it easier for a child to understand the role of multiple generations in a life.

Thinking back to this day, I watched Abby take over. She basically did the whole canning process by herself after I cooked down the apples. We’ve done it so many times, she knew exactly what to do. This kinda makes a mama proud–kids who know what to do in the kitchen.

It gives me a sense of “if something happens to me, I know everything is going to be alright.”

Warmer connections come when we can work in the kitchen alongside our kids.

It not only gives us face time with our child, but when you hear the whistling going on, you know there’s a little happiness somewhere in their heart, too.

Now I wanna get me some warm pear applesauce. :)

When’s the last time you worked alongside one of your kids in the kitchen, and how did it make you feel?

Here’s a past about applesauce and soul … I think you’ll enjoy.

If you missed Day 1 or 2 …
Day 1: Secret Ingredient to Warmer Connections
Day 2: Bringing the Beauty of Autumn to Your Table

The post Warm Connections {Day 3}: Multi-Generational Homemade Pear Applesauce appeared first on Reluctant Entertainer.

Do you hear your friends talking about an area of their house that is hard to keep clean and uncluttered? (I’m really looking forward to Nester’s 31 Days of Housekeeping coming up in our October 31 Days series.)

Ambush their space for an hour and help them organize – they will love it!

When my friend Steph came down from Portland with her family, we were on a mission to make early Christmas gifts together, Sweet Onion and Pepper Relish.

When Steph opened my hall closet, and most everything fell out, she wanted to get in there and organize it for me. I said, no, no … you don’t want to do that. But she did want to.

And I reluctantly let her.

Now look how beautiful and organized it is? (Sorry, no before pictures, it all happened so fast) :)

It is much easier to help someone else than work on your own troubled areas. It is super fun, satisfying and it motivates you to organize your own house. Steph also walked away with a few new (to her) tablecloths of mine, which I was happy to pass down to her.

Another good thing: She made me get rid of stuff I never knew I had.

Now moving on to the canning process … spending a few hours together in the kitchen–chopping and chopping and more chopping–gave us hours to get to know one another, which was awesome time spent. Remember in this post how I told you we prepared a lot of jalapeno peppers?

Today I’m sharing my special homemade Christmas gift recipe I’ll be giving away this year (sh-h-h, don’t tell my friends!). In a future post I’ll show you how to package it for the holidays.

One of the things I love about building relationships with friends is the memories that last forever!

So very wonderful!

Have you thought ahead to homemade Christmas gifts to give this year? I’d love to hear what you will be giving? And what about doing it with a friend?

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The winner to the DesignzDivine jewelry is Teresa from Whatever blog. Congrats, Teresa!

The post Sweet Onion and Pepper Relish and Ambushing a Trouble Area appeared first on Reluctant Entertainer.

How in the world does our garage get so messy? Your family is probably a lot like ours, very active and busy in the summer months. The boys went backpacking, we’ve been camping, we set up our ping-pong table, in the midst of freezers, laundry, canning supplies, tools, bikes … you name it.

One of the things I came across in my garage a few weeks ago were my Mom’s handwritten recipes. Boy, did that bring back a flood of memories, to see her handwriting. I could almost feel her presence, standing there in the garage …

And then I saw her easy peach cobbler recipe, the one in which she’d substitute whatever fruit was in season.

We always had fresh fruit in the house growing up. Sometimes we went to the orchards to pick, or sometimes Mom would buy already-picked fruit. Mom was a big canner. You name it, it went into the canning jars.

Our friends came for a spontaneous dinner party last week, and just like Mom, it only took minutes for me to prepare her cobbler and place in the oven.

Since beautiful peach season is here, I hope you enjoy my Mom’s old-fashioned recipe from years past.

What’s your favorite kind of cobbler to make?

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Old-Fashioned Peach Cobbler

Delicious cobbler that can be made with any kind of fruit, any time of the year.

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Sandy Coughlin

Ingredients

• 6 cups peeled sliced peaches
• 2 cups sugar divided
• 1/2 cup water
• 8 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Combine the peaches, 1 cup sugar, and water in a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.
• Put the butter in a 9×13 baking dish and place in oven to melt.
• Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, flour, and milk slowly to prevent clumping. Pour mixture over melted butter. Do not stir.
• Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup. Sprinkle the top with ground cinnamon, if desired. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes.
• The batter will rise to the top during baking and will look like a cake/cobbler.
• To serve, scoop onto a plate and serve with vanilla ice cream.

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Disclaimer: New studies have shown this “bottled” method is not safe. Visit the canning experts for any questions you may have on inversion canning. To be safe, if you use this method, refridgerate and eat it right away!

BUT … this is my FAVORITE method of canning jams and jellys, and I’ve done it for years.

Last post, I shared our family’s favorite jam combination and recipe, using both strawberries and raspberries right from our garden.

How to ensure a good seal

This post I’m sharing how the method of “Flipping the Jar Over to Seal the Jam Method” works beautifully, effectively and quickly.*

Flipping the Jar Over to Seal the Jam Method

When you’ve completed the recipe and the jam is boiling for the last time, you’re now ready to fill the jars.

1. The jars are steralized and kept hot in an oven at 170 – 175 degrees.
2. The lids are kept in hot almost boiling water until I put them on the full jar.
3. The product is poured into the jars while boiling hot. (I USED A FUNNEL)
4. Very quickly the jar rims are wiped down with a hot cloth and the hot lids are put on along with the bands.
5. Invert  and allow the jars to sit in this position for 30-40 minutes.
6. When the lid does not pop, or move up and down, then the jar is sealed.

The product is softer and easy to spread where as if it is processed it tends to set firmer. I also think the fruit tastes fresher–so good!

Disclaimer

I have never had a jar not seal and they are just as tight as if I water bath them. The key is to have hot jars, hot lids, and hot product. In 25  plus years of doing this I have never had a jar go bad or fruit spoil.

*Here’s a disclaimer: canning websites and books don’t recommend this method; they recommend you use a full hot-water bath for canning jam. I prefer this “bottled”method for jams and jellies only, to be eaten right away, exactly the way my Mother and Grandmother taught me.

Ball recommends against it for seal quality reasons. They say, “Do not invert, move or store jars while cooling, as this may cause seal failure.”

For any other type of canning (besides jams and jellies)–vegetables, pickles, tomato sauces, fruit, etc.–process exactly according to current food safety recommendations for canning.

Sealing tip

When I can (bottle) jams and jellies, if the lid doesn’t seal, refrigerate and eat as soon as possible. There will be nothing wrong with the food, so don’t throw it out, but it must be refrigerated and used soon.

Here’s our jam on a yummy breakfast treat … Hootenanny (recipe in my book.)

Thank you for joining me this week in my 5-Part Canning Jam series. It’s been really fun reading your comments. So many of you have very similar stories of learning to make jam the way I did!

If you missed …
Canning Jam Part 1: How to find you passion and get started
Canning Jam Part 2: Supplies you will need for canning
Canning Jam Part 3: Getting your family involved in canning
Canning Jam Part 4: Strawberry Raspberry Jam Recipe
Canning Jam Part 5: Using the “Flip-Over” Method to Seal the Jar

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