The Apple Machine

Last weekend, Peeper and I picked a bushel of apples, and so far, we've eaten a few on their own, and I've made a couple of apple crisps, but I still had probably over a hundred left.

Saturday, at the farm potluck, I was talking about them with "The Falafel Guy" and he mentioned that his wife has a tool to peel, core and slice apples. I said that I've seen those, but figured they were pretty pricey, but it turns out she got hers from Amazon for about $15.

Well, then.

So, yesterday, I ordered one ($16.99, with shipping) but it won't be here for several days, so I was still worrying about getting them taken care of before they go around the bend, when R, one of our MOMS Club friends who was at the orchard with us, mentioned on Facebook that she and her family had picked another five bags. After a bit of conversation, she said that she'd bought one at the orchard, and I was welcome to borrow it, if I needed to get my apples processed before my apple machine arrived.

So, I met up with her and her husband this morning and picked it up, and this afternoon, Peeper and I got busy.

We did four big colanders full - which filled two giant mixing bowls after the machine was done with them.

That made six pies worth (1 qt each) of filling, which is all bagged up and in the freezer.

I used sort of a made-up recipe. I started by chopping up the apple spirals into small pieces, because I like my pie with little bits, rather than big old slices.

Then I melted a pound (yes) of butter, along with a big bunch of honey (1/4 cup? 1/2 cup?) and a bunch of cinnamon, and not-so-bunch of cloves and nutmeg. I didn't think to get a photo until after the bowl was empty.

I dumped that in with the apples, which pretty much filled two big pots, and sprinkled each one with about a tablespoon of corn starch, the boiled and cooled it, to thicken it all up.

And that was it, really. I packaged it up in ziplock bags and popped it in the freezer, to use later. I'm thinking I'll probably make an apple crisp to give to R when I return the machine, and pies or crisps for a MOMS Club apple-themed recipe club in a few weeks, Halloween dinner with Shrike's family, and Thankgiving dinner. And some other things, too, I suppose.

The ends that didn't quite get peeled, I tossed with the honey/butter/cinnamon sauce, and baked low and slow to make apple chips.

There are still quite a few apples left, and they're still very crispy-deliciousy, so I haven't decided what to do with the rest - More pie filling? Machine and freeze? Just eat as-is? D- All of the above?