Multi-Tasking!

Hokey-smokes! It took three days to make seven and a half PINTS of apple butter….but, ohhhhhhhhh….is it ever good! I started out with nearly a bushel of apples on Sunday. On Monday, I had them mostly cut up. On Tuesday morning, I managed to get them cut up enough to fit them all in two big slow cookers. I thought they would cook up nice and thick but by evening, they were actually swelling up and I was afraid they would spill over. So, I took my immersion blender and puréed them. Now I was absolutely sure the apple butter would be nice and thick by yesterday morning. Nope…still soupy. I needed some way to cook them down.

What started out pale like applesauce is turning dark from the carmelization of the sugars.

I remembered I had a big disposable turkey roaster in the pantry, so I pulled that out. I put as much of the purée as I could fit in that pan and popped it into a 325 degree oven. I put the rest in my big canner, poured myself a cup of coffee, pulled up a stool, and sat down with a big wooden spoon in one hand and my coffee in the other…all while perusing Facebook! After a couple of hours of that, the pan in the oven had cooked down enough to add what was in the canner. Finally! I could leave it alone and just stir it ever half hour or so. I discovered this is the only way to make apple butter if you want to do anything else that day! It came out so nice and thick and the perfect balance of spicy sweet and tart. I can’t believe all of that cooked down into just seven full pints. The half pint I put in the fridge for eating right away. I’m not the biggest fan of apple butter, but I’ll tell you what…you’ll have to be pretty special to get one of these jars!

The apple butter is now a very rich brown color. Reduced by baking for hours at 325, it’s finally ready to jar up and process. Believe it or not, this is nearly a bushel of apples!

After two days of vibrant yet civil discourse on some sensitive topics on Facebook yesterday, I was pretty fried. I have a couple of pages that I can go to with like minded individuals and just get a feel for what everyone else is going through. In one group, a woman asked if we were still going to be friends with our friends who vote differently than us. I was appalled by the number of people who replied with a resounding no. It gave me time to think about what comes next.

True friendships are like a marriage in a way. You go through the good times and the bad times. Sometimes you have to speak uncomfortable truths and stand up for what you believe in. But you still respect each other in the end. At least I think you should. I love all of my friends and it never occurred to me that I wouldn’t continue to love them after the election. We are all, every single person, no matter which side of the fence you sit…we are ALL entitled to our views. We may not understand how or why the other votes or believes the way they do, but as long as you still want to be my friend, you have a friend in me. I draw the line if things get abusive. I do have boundaries.

Dr. Martin Luther King said it best. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” 

I choose love.

❤️

“Love is more important than anything else. It is what ties everything completely together.”

Colossians 3:14 CEV