Apple goodness

Since moving to the northwest, I've been taking more interest in the fact that we have good apples more readily available and loving every minute! :) Not only are they a bit cheaper to buy but they aren't all bruised up and old by the time we get them! Sorry, I don't mean to make you jealous, I'm just so excited and have to gush! lol We are big into apples for juicing so this is just such a thrill!

My MIL also brought us some of her apple bounty from Montana, so I needed to find something to do with them in a hurry. (bags on my counter drive me crazy!) Hers were very pretty little apples but also VERY tart! OH my! You should have seen the girls' faces when they tried them! They are used to the very sweet taste of Pink Lady and Fuji so they weren't expecting the tart tastes! lol It was rather entertaining for me tho! ha!

Anyways, we decided to sit down and make applesauce! The girls were just beside themselves that we were going to make homemade applesauce and even more giddy when I told them they could help! We set down to the table with a big bowl of mixed apples (I've heard that makes a better sauce) and I commenced to peeling and coring them.... note my pretty "new" 1950's Pyrex bowl? I just love quality made vintage! ;) Oh, and I already have an apple peeler, slicer, corer on my list of things to get! lol

....after I was done, I'd pass the apples off to my helpers who were armed with their own little cutting boards and butter knives. (We had cold water in the pot we were adding the apples to to keep them from browning) The cutting kept them pretty busy and we just sat, all three working on apples and visiting. And while I can't remember any particular conversations that stand out to me, we had the nicest time just chatting and working together....it was so enjoyable!

When the apples had all been transferred from my pretty bowl to the large soup pot, I poured the water off, added about an inch of water to the bottom of the pot, threw on a lid and put it on high heat till it really got cooking and then turned it down to a medium heat and kept stirring it occasionally...eventually this is what we got! It really was like magic!

I added some sugar and cinnamon for taste and just kept stirring till it looked like this!

....wait for it....

Can you hear it?

The angels were singing....it was HEAVENLY!!!!

When I asked the girls what they thought....as they were stuffing their faces with warm applesauce.... J responded "It's mag-na-fic!" (like on Ratatouille) and then added in " It's better than I could imagine Mom!"

The smile on their faces and the smell that filled my home made it SO worth the mess of apple scraps that littered my floor...I am learning time and time again that it's the joy we find in the little things that seems to last forever. I hope these are memories that the girls will look back on and want to recreate with their kids someday....

What are some memories you have with your loved ones? Were they the big flashing ones, or the simple ones like this? I'd love to hear!