Applesauce

This spring the Lodi apples bloomed, a biennial event we eagerly anticipate. The little green apple presaged bowls of golden applesauce on our table.

Lodi apples have only one use - applesauce. They are harvested just before they ripen, while they are still green. Ripe Lodi apples are tastless mush. The green ones are tart and bursting with apple flavor.

Typically, the apples are ready to pick the second or third week of June. They were a bit late this year and Dennis had picked several big buckets of apples shortly before the Reinking family arrived. Nancy has wanted to make applesauce with me for years, but her visits home haven't coincided with the apple harvest. This time, though, she honchoed the whole process.

First, the washing and cutting...




The cooking (sorry, no photo) and transfer to the strainer...


The straining...


And the finished product with a little sugar and cinnamon added...



Nancy kept a hand in all parts of the process, washed and cut apples, washed the pots and strainer, and took the photos. I mainly cooked the apples. Cleo ran the Squeezo strainer. On the second day Carol and Jennifer joined in cutting apples. Jennifer cut her finger, too. All seemed right with the world as we chatted and worked together, carrying on a tradition that my mother started decades ago.

Two cooking sessions yielded almost four gallons of applesauce. After the applesauce cooled, I ladled it into various recycled cartons, and Dennis took them to the freezer. The Squeezo is back on its shelf in the basement, at rest until the Lodi blooms again.