For your viewing pleasure, I have posted copies of 2 letters that my family will be receiving this year. Enjoy!The Apple Butter Story!
And so the story begins…
As you may know, this year our family has chosen to bring you holiday cheer with homemade creativity. We chose to make this Christmas different. We wanted it to be more about giving from our hearts and not our wallets. So, about a month ago, I experimented on the stove top with my own rendition of an apple butter recipe. It was amazing! And then I began to think that this would be a wonderful gift for my friends and family for Christmas. Who doesn’t like apple butter? It will be perfect.
I began my research on making apple butter in bulk. I found an “award winning” recipe online with creating the butter in the crock pot. It wasn’t until after I purchased my first 5lbs. of apples that I realized these apples would only make 3 pints!
Luckily, I borrowed an apple peeler, corer, slicer to get my apples in cooking condition for the crock pot. But, unfortunately, because I didn’t know what I was doing, I managed to almost destroy about half my apples because something wasn’t set right! So, I pulled out the handy dandy knife and cut away at the rest of the apples. Apple juice was all over the floor (messy, messy, messy)!
After all the apples were lovingly peeled, cored, and sliced, I began adding all the ingredients into the crock pot. I followed the directions exactly and turned my crock pot on low and began our cooking journey! After an hour of cooking, I lifted the lid (it smelled delicious) and stirred the apples to create even cooking and to mix the ingredients. I then turned it on high to finish the process (while stirring occasionally – as per the award winning directions).
Also, I failed to mention that I forgot something very important if I was going to ship these. I need to can them! I thought “no big deal,” I can do that. So, I researched and then went shopping for canning equipment. After spending well over an hour at Wal-Mart looking for a stock pot that would be cost efficient (which there isn’t anything in my “homemade” price range), I also couldn’t find Mason jars anywhere! The rude lady at the check-out told me where they were. I told her that I had already looked there 3 times from top to bottom. She said, “Well, that’s where they are.” I then very politely asked her to have someone else look for them because apparently I’m an idiot and my kids were snotty and ready to go home! Guess what? After the nice lady that decided to help me (which wasn’t the cashier) returned, she told me that Wal-Mart doesn’t sell them anymore. Did I get an apology? Of course not. I just left and went on a journey to ACE Hardware to get them.
When I finally returned home I stirred again (still smelling wonderful) and got excited for the next few hours to come when I could take my first bite.
Finally the time had come! I opened the pot and used a hand puree to blend the left over chunks of apples (also recommended in the directions). As I pureed, the apple butter began looking more like apple juice (very thin). But that was okay; I thought that maybe it would thicken upon sitting. So I waited…and waited…and waited…and NOPE didn’t think this was going to be a thickening event. While waiting I took my taste test. Umm…not so good on the first bite. Maybe I need to stir it again. So, I tried again. Uh eh…not so much! It was incredibly spicy (nutmeg spicy). What was I going to do????? I didn’t have any more apples to add to the mix. I looked in the pantry for something to save my butter. And shining in the back was a great big bottle of Mott’s Apple Sauce. Perfect! I dumped and stirred and it thickened a little, which I was excited for because I didn’t want to hand out Apple Cider. Then I tasted…yep, still the same…runny and spicy!!!!!!
To make my long story come to an end…this homemade idea FLOPPED BIG TIME! It was not going to save me money. My first batch was ruined. I would need approximately 20lbs more apples to make this “less than desirable” treat! And I had to purchase a huge stock pot, rubber tongs, mason jars, ribbon to decorate, and more to make this inexpensive gift! Not to mention that this was an extremely time consuming invention.
So, I found a much more delicious treat that doesn’t have to be canned or cooked all day. I hope you enjoy your "Homemade Caramel Nut Cheerios" and empty trinket mason jar!
We love you and hope you have a blessed Christmas!
P.S. As I researched where I might have possibly messed up, I found that the award winning recipe was one of the very few that included nutmeg in the apple butter. Most recipes didn’t call for it or used a dash or two instead of ½ tsp! Maybe another year…yeah right!
As you may know, this year our family has chosen to bring you holiday cheer with homemade creativity. We chose to make this Christmas different. We wanted it to be more about giving from our hearts and not our wallets. So, about a month ago, I experimented on the stove top with my own rendition of an apple butter recipe. It was amazing! And then I began to think that this would be a wonderful gift for my friends and family for Christmas. Who doesn’t like apple butter? It will be perfect.
I began my research on making apple butter in bulk. I found an “award winning” recipe online with creating the butter in the crock pot. It wasn’t until after I purchased my first 5lbs. of apples that I realized these apples would only make 3 pints!
Luckily, I borrowed an apple peeler, corer, slicer to get my apples in cooking condition for the crock pot. But, unfortunately, because I didn’t know what I was doing, I managed to almost destroy about half my apples because something wasn’t set right! So, I pulled out the handy dandy knife and cut away at the rest of the apples. Apple juice was all over the floor (messy, messy, messy)!
After all the apples were lovingly peeled, cored, and sliced, I began adding all the ingredients into the crock pot. I followed the directions exactly and turned my crock pot on low and began our cooking journey! After an hour of cooking, I lifted the lid (it smelled delicious) and stirred the apples to create even cooking and to mix the ingredients. I then turned it on high to finish the process (while stirring occasionally – as per the award winning directions).
Also, I failed to mention that I forgot something very important if I was going to ship these. I need to can them! I thought “no big deal,” I can do that. So, I researched and then went shopping for canning equipment. After spending well over an hour at Wal-Mart looking for a stock pot that would be cost efficient (which there isn’t anything in my “homemade” price range), I also couldn’t find Mason jars anywhere! The rude lady at the check-out told me where they were. I told her that I had already looked there 3 times from top to bottom. She said, “Well, that’s where they are.” I then very politely asked her to have someone else look for them because apparently I’m an idiot and my kids were snotty and ready to go home! Guess what? After the nice lady that decided to help me (which wasn’t the cashier) returned, she told me that Wal-Mart doesn’t sell them anymore. Did I get an apology? Of course not. I just left and went on a journey to ACE Hardware to get them.
When I finally returned home I stirred again (still smelling wonderful) and got excited for the next few hours to come when I could take my first bite.
Finally the time had come! I opened the pot and used a hand puree to blend the left over chunks of apples (also recommended in the directions). As I pureed, the apple butter began looking more like apple juice (very thin). But that was okay; I thought that maybe it would thicken upon sitting. So I waited…and waited…and waited…and NOPE didn’t think this was going to be a thickening event. While waiting I took my taste test. Umm…not so good on the first bite. Maybe I need to stir it again. So, I tried again. Uh eh…not so much! It was incredibly spicy (nutmeg spicy). What was I going to do????? I didn’t have any more apples to add to the mix. I looked in the pantry for something to save my butter. And shining in the back was a great big bottle of Mott’s Apple Sauce. Perfect! I dumped and stirred and it thickened a little, which I was excited for because I didn’t want to hand out Apple Cider. Then I tasted…yep, still the same…runny and spicy!!!!!!
To make my long story come to an end…this homemade idea FLOPPED BIG TIME! It was not going to save me money. My first batch was ruined. I would need approximately 20lbs more apples to make this “less than desirable” treat! And I had to purchase a huge stock pot, rubber tongs, mason jars, ribbon to decorate, and more to make this inexpensive gift! Not to mention that this was an extremely time consuming invention.
So, I found a much more delicious treat that doesn’t have to be canned or cooked all day. I hope you enjoy your "Homemade Caramel Nut Cheerios" and empty trinket mason jar!
We love you and hope you have a blessed Christmas!
P.S. As I researched where I might have possibly messed up, I found that the award winning recipe was one of the very few that included nutmeg in the apple butter. Most recipes didn’t call for it or used a dash or two instead of ½ tsp! Maybe another year…yeah right!
The Caramel Nut Cheerios Story
Ahhh!!!!!!!!! The test batch was perfect (believe me...Annalise, Allison, and I ate it all)! The "Christmas Giving" batch (yes, 24 cups of cheerios later).....BURNT to a nice black crisp! I forgot about it in the oven while cleaning, playing, changing diapers, and helping Annalise with her homemade Christmas craft!
Cassie, I sincerely apologize for giving you such a hard time this year for whining about your lack of creativity. I'm officially done with my homemade attempts. I should have stuck with glittery kids crafts this year! I'm much less of a cook!
Merry Christmas to my family! I love you all! Be on the lookout for your empty mason jar and a beautifully cellophane wrapped bag of nothing in the mail!
4 comments:
YOU CRACK ME UP!!!!!
I'm glad we stuck to making sandwiches ;-)
OH!!!!!!!!!! My sides hurt from laughing! I love you, Jaime, but that was stinkin hilarious!!
oh no that is aweful!!!
so sorry, although I do feel better, I thought everyone else must be done with their "home made" gifts!
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