My kitchen smells of cardamom....

I love autumn. I think it's my favorite season. I love sweater weather, the leaves turning every shade of yellow, orange, and red, the bright blue skies, soups and stews. Growing up in Houston, autumn was a little different--autumn meant that you didn't get sweaty the minute you walked outside, you didn't search for the one parking spot in the shade, and you could wear long sleeves and not get too hot. I know, not nearly as exciting sounding, and the only color the leaves turned was brown, but autumn was my favorite season even then.

One of the other great things about autumn in the northeastern United States are all of the pick-your-own apple orchards. I discovered apple picking shortly after I moved from Houston to DC. In Houston, I was familiar with red delicious, golden delicious, Granny Smith, gala, and Fuji apples were just starting to make their presence known in the grocery stores. But, that first day in the orchard, I discovered a whole new world of apple varieties--Stayman winesap, honeycrisp, Jonathan, Jonagold, macintosh (no, not just an Apple computer), mahon, pink lady, and more. As I started to get to know these new varieties, I found that some apples were great for eating right out of hand, others were mushy and best cooked into sauce, and some held their shape when cooked and were best for pies. That first autumn, I think I picked about 10 or 12 pounds of apples and used them to make a couple of pies and other desserts that I shared with my friends. Little did I know how that fun afternoon would eventually evolve into a new favorite, although seasonal, passion.

Over the years, I started to make apple picking not only an annual autumn ritual, I taught myself the basics of hot water bath canning and preserving. You see, that first haul of 10 or 12 pounds eventually grew into a half bushel box, then two, and then with my latest trip to the orchard, three half bushel boxes. A half bushel box usually weighs about 20 pounds, but my boxes are usually mounded pretty high when I get to the checkout stand. The folks at the orchard usually give me a little bit of a glare (I can imagine them muttering, "box stuffer") so I would guess my boxes probably weigh closer to 25 pounds each. Yes, that means I have upwards of 75 pounds of apples sitting on my dining room table. That's more than a couple of pies, learning how to can and preserve them is a necessity. 

I started out just making apple butter, and then expanded into apple chutney. In recent years, I added brandied apple rings and cinnamon apple wedges. The jars of preserved apples become a big part of my holiday gift giving. I send jars to friends, family, and my staff all get gift bags in December. 

Needless to say, working my way through 75 pounds of apples will take more than a couple of days. I've started the process, my first batch of apple butter was made with 12 pounds of apples, and it barely made a dent in the boxes. I've got some ideas for new recipes, so I'll probably have at least one or more two postings on the topic of apples in the coming weeks. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy my Spiced Apple Butter.

Angie’s Spiced Apple Butter

Makes 3 to 4 cups, or 3 to 4 half pint jars

2 pounds apples, peeled and cored and chopped

½ cup apple cider

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup brown sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cardamom (my secret ingredient)

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon ground allspice

juice of half a lemon

Combine all of the ingredients in a very large stainless steel saucepan. (When I made my most recent batch, I scaled the recipe up to 12 pounds of apples. Instead of a saucepan, I used my stainless steel roasting pan and set it over two burners in order to cook that large amount of apples.)

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and boil gently for 30 to 40 minutes or until mixture is reduced and thickened. There should still be some tender apple chunks in the mixture. 

Using an immersion blender, puree the apple butter until it is smooth. 

At this point the apple butter can be cooled to room temperature and refrigerated where it will keep for about 2 weeks. Or you can place the apple butter into canning jars and process in a hot water canner. 

While the apples are cooking, prepare your jars for canning. Remove the lids and rings from the jars. Bring a large stock pot of water to a rapid boil. Sterilize the lids and rings by lowering them into the boiling water for about 3 minutes. Transfer them to a clean towel. Repeat with the jars.

Carefully ladle the hot apple butter into the hot jars, leaving about ½ inch of headspace. Cover the jar with a lid and a screw top ring. Tighten the ring to just finger tight.

When the stock pot of water has returned to a boil, lower the jars into the pot, standing them upright and in a single layer across the bottom of the pot. Make sure the jars are completely submerged under the water. Cover the pot and when the water in the pot returns to a boil, set a timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove the jars from the pot and set on a clean towel. Repeat the process with the remaining jars, being sure to let the water come back to the boil each time.

Let the jars sit undisturbed until they are room temperature. You should hear a noticeable "plinking" sound as the jars cool and pull the center of the lids down. After they have cooled, gently press on the center of each of the lids to be sure they have fully depressed. Any jars with lids that have not pulled down tight have not properly sealed. Place those jars in the refrigerator and enjoy them first.