Saturday, August 31, 2013

Slow Cooker Applesauce

There is an apple tree in our yard. Five years ago, when we bought the house, it had about a half dozen apples. The next year about a dozen, then about 25 and over 35 apples last year. Then I gave it a big pruning. This year we had a bunch of apples- I didn't count this year. But it was maybe a bushel's worth of apples.

The tree used to be a "combo" tree with a few varieties grafted together. However one apple has taken over. Not quite a Granny Smith, and not quite a Golden Delicious. Just before they are totally ripe, they are tart like a GS, but if you wait, the skin turns pale, and the flavor is mild. The apples were about half still green and tart, and about half pale and mild. So I picked them all, and made applesauce.


I washed, sliced, and cored the apples. I did not peel them. I think if you peel them it is more work at the beginning, but if you leave the peels on, then it is more work at the end. So you choose.

Add all the apples to the slow cooker, and sprinkle with cinnamon. Cover it up, and turn it on- I like 4 hours on low for my slow cooker.

Taste a spoonful once in a while, and when you like what you have, turn it off. I let it cool for a bit before moving them to a colander. You can use a colander, and a food processor, blender, or sieve- whatever you like.  My big colander has bigger holes- so my sauce is slightly chunky, and mashing it was pretty easy. This was good for me, since I left the skins on. It was easy to make without clogging everything up with skins. I used a potato masher, and set the colander in a large bowl (to catch the sauce).

This was a small batch that won't last long, so I just put it in a few quart jars, and into the refrigerator. If I have a chance to pick apples again this year, and make a larger batch, then I will actually can the applesauce. Another option is to freeze it.

Dee. Lish. Us.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Original Brownies

Just made this recipe. It's actually an original recipe. I read a few others, and figured this would get me in the neighborhood of a brownie.

coconut oil (for greasing the baking dish)
1/2 cup almond flour
1/3 cup tapioca flour(starch)
1/3 cup palm sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup chocolate chips (I like Chatfield's and Enjoy Life chips)
6 tablespoons butter
2 eggs


Heat over to 325F. Grease baking dish with coconut oil.
Combine almond flour, tapioca flour, palm sugar, and salt, then set aside.
Melt butter and chocolate chips. If using cocoa powder, you may want to add that to the dry mix, not the melted butter.
Stir chocolate and butter into dry ingredients.
Mix in eggs.
Pour into greased baking dish.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Since this is my first attempt with this recipe, I have no idea if it's going to be good. Maybe I should have poured extra chocolate chips on the top. We'll see what happens. The brownies should be done in about 5 minutes.