Month: October 2017

October just so happens to be my favorite month of the year.  The changing colored leaves, sweet baked pumpkin and apple goods, on top of creepy decorations, and cooler weather… and the other months simply can’t compete.   If that weren’t enough, our annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s also happens in October!!!

After an amazingly fun night of haunted houses, carpool karaoke, and amusement park rides with friends, I decided it was time to kick off the season and make some apple butter.  Despite the temperature being in the upper 80s with humidity that could rival the rain forest, I am dedicated to my love of fall and this is one of the opening celebrations!

I think a mix of different types of apples is key to creating layers of flavors.  This year I selected Red Delicious for their deep sweetness and soft texture, Empire for their milder sweet flavor and ability to hold thickness after hours of cooking, and Granny Smith for a tiny hint of tartness.  I vowed after last year’s bourbon apple butter, I would never try another recipe, but folks this one is a winner!

As a mom with very limited spare time, I enlist the help of a slow cooker at every opportunity.  It doesn’t disappoint and I’m able to simultaneously do laundry, break up fights (keepin’ it real ya’ll), and do all the other mom stuff while it does the heavy lifting! It’s a rough guess but I’m thinking  7 or 8 lbs total filled the crock pot to the top.  Then I baked them for 4 hours on high with the top on.

Once they came to the below consistency I added my dark brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice and ground clove, removed the top and cooked them 3.5 more hours.  Using the immersion blender (we were gifted this one years ago and I absolutely adore it) they came to the perfect consistency and I pulled my hot jars, filled them and processed them in a water bath for 5 minutes.  VOILA!  Happy babies in the morning and another way to raise some money for a cure!

2017 was the hottest, driest summer I can remember.  Our garden was practically crispy and after a full work day I often found myself toting 5 gallon buckets of water all over the yard, desperately trying to keep something (anything) alive and producing.  I’ll never forget it though, it was the first summer I entered into our county fair.

We live in a relatively small rural town smack in between Richmond and Charlottesville, Virginia.  I adore the solace of country life and at the same time enjoy the easy drive to the occasional hustle and bustle.  Given my passions, I’ve found farm work, easygoing attitudes, no traffic, and the ease with which one can potty train a little boy from the porch are only found ’round places like these where the homes don’t touch.  As many small town country girls know…nothing brings summer to a beautiful close quite like the county fair.  This is a time to visit with neighbors, show off your skills, kick back, laugh and celebrate the year’s work!    And so I entered.

With my family as my guinea pigs I placed things before them that got me “chopped” many times – as Henry would say.  But then I found the most incredible recipe for cinnamon rolls I had ever tasted.  It was nearly perfect, and with just a few tiny modifications it transformed into the epitome of sweet-tooth heaven.  This will forever be my go-to for holiday breakfasts and special occasion deserts.  And do you know what?  When I went to the awards tent, perfectly placed next to them was a big, purple BEST IN SHOW ribbon!!!