Cooked all day

Don was getting a load of wood delivered today; I knew he was going to be busy so I decided to tackle the rest of the apples. We'd talked about what we liked best, and the #1 choice was apple pie and apple pastries.  So the first thing I did was make another batch of apple pie filling. This time I used more apples, and ended up with 6 quarts and 2 pints.

With about 16 small apples left in the box, and a bag of cinnamon red-hots I'd picked up last week, I made cinnamon apple wedges.  Don said that he ate cinnamon apples a lot as a child; I remember Mom serving them often as a dessert.  This was a simple recipe which didn't require much sugar at all (compared to jelly).

Cinnamon Apples
from Miranda via SB Canning

4 cups water
1 ½ cup red-hot candies
⅔ cup sugar
6 medium tart apples, peeled and quartered (I used about 15 small apples)

In a large saucepan, bring the water, candies and sugar to a boil over medium heat; boil and stir until candies and sugar are dissolved. Reduce heat; carefully add apples. Cook in sugar mixture for 10 minutes on low. Turn off the heat for 10 minutes to let the apples suck up the syrup then just heat them back up to a simmer. Turn off the heat and with a slotted spoon, transfer apples into pint size jars then fill with the sweet liquid. Fill to ½” headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe rim, add lid/rings. Process in water bath canner 15 minutes. I ended up with 4 pints and 5 half pints.

The last canning I'll do for a while (I'm worn out!) was a batch of jelly.  I saw a few recipes around the web for jelly using the peels and cores - cooking them for a while to get the good flavoring, adding some water or cider, and using that juice as the base for a jelly.

Apple Core & Peel Jelly
adapted from a recipe on Food.com

cores and peels from 15 -20 medium tart apples
6 cups water (for cooking cores and peels)
1-2 cups apple cider or juice
1 (1 3/4 ounce) box dry pectin
9 cups sugar
1-2 drops red food coloring (optional)

Cook peelings and cores in 6 cups water for 20-30 minutes. Strain through prepared cheesecloth or jelly bag. Add cider or juice as needed, to strained juice, to obtain 7 cups liquid. Whisk in pectin and bring to a rapid boil. Add sugar, bring back to boil and boil hard for 1 minute. If desired, food coloring can be added to juice for color. Pour into sterile jars, leaving 1/8" headspace; wipe jar rims, adjust lids and rings; water bath 5 minutes.  Note:  This jelly will take several days or longer to set up, so be patient!  This recipe made 6 half pints and 8 4-oz. jars, or 10 half pints.

Once I finished cleaning up the kitchen after all the canning, Don decided to take a break from hauling and stacking wood. [Our woodshed is out behind the house. The truck dumps the wood in our driveway, and Don has to put it in a wheelbarrow and go up some stairs and back to the woodshed to unload it and stack it.  It's a two-day job to do a cord.] I knew he'd be hungry, and I had a piece of beef thawing, so I made some gulaschsuppe.  It's a German dish that he and I have had in restaurants when we were stationed there, and I don't recall where I got this particular recipe. It's a bit different from the restaurant versions since it has potatoes and bell peppers in it (in addition to the onions). But we were both pleased with this, and the addition of the potatoes and bell peppers "stretches" it.  We had plenty for dinner and have a bag ready for the freezer for another meal.

Gulaschsuppe

1 lb. beef (round, chuck, arm, etc.)
5 slices lean bacon
2 medium onions
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
3 medium potatoes, peeled
6 cloves large garlic
3 medium tomatoes, peeled
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon caraway seeds (I didn't have any this time, and it was fine)
2 teaspoons dried marjoram
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon black pepper
4 cups water or beef stock
½ cup vegetable oil

Cut beef and bacon into small cubes. Finely dice the vegetables. Heat oil in a large stock pot; add meats and saute onions until brown. Add remaining vegetables. Stir well. Add tomato paste and all other spices. Stir well. Ad 3 to 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour. Stir occasionally.