A Christmas Feast

 

Before the year ends, I thought I would share our Christmas feast with you. 

We have Christmas Eve dinner at our house with my husband’s family.  The above picture shows the turkey and gravy, rolls, cranberry salad, mashed potatoes, dressing, green beans, ham, Nuts ‘N’ Bolts and Holiday M&Ms. 

AHH! I forgot to take a picture of the cranberry salad.  It’s really pretty.  It’s basically Paula Deen’s recipe with a Nana twist.  Here is Paula’s recipe.  Nana adds a larger can of crushed pineapple.  It’s probably about 15 oz. or so.  I don’t know if doing it this way will work in a mold, but it looks lovely in a crystal dish. 

I couldn’t get a good picture of my turkey, but it looked almost as good as Nigella’s from her book Nigella Christmas.

My husband’s family is more of a ham family, but this turkey went over extremely well.  I used Nigella Lawson’s recipe for Super Juicy and Spiced Turkey.  I don’t think I will ever use another recipe.  Brining the turkey really does make all the difference.  The turkey was sooo moist and flavorful.  It got rave reviews from my Father-In-Law, who doesn’t really like turkey.  So thank you Nigella. 

I also made Nigella’s All Spice Gravy.  I actually boiled a turkey neck.  It looked so disgusting, but smelled heavenly.  The gravy was good, but I think it was barely used because the turkey was so moist, the dressing was so flavorful and the potatoes were so buttery.  Oh, well, there’s always leftovers to drown in gravy.

Pioneer Woman’s Mashed Potatoes were also a hit.  “These mashed potatoes are so creamy.”  So good!      

 

This recipe for dressing is made in the crock-pot.  I finished mine off in the microwave just to get rid of some of the moisture that was left.  Don’t worry, it was still incredibly moist.  I think I could eat this all year long.  I think I may just do that. 

Crock-Pot Dressing

3-4 cups shredded turkey or chicken (optional)

2 cans cream of chicken soup

2 quarts corn bread, crumbled

2 tablespoons dried sage

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 hard boiled eggs, chopped

1/2 cup melted margarine

3-4 cups turkey or chicken broth

1 teaspoon salt

Mix all the ingredients in the bowl of a 6 quart crock-pot.  Cover and cook on low for 3 hours.

We also had a nice display of sweets.  No pictures though, sorry.  It’s really hard to take pictures when everyone, including the photographer/cook is starving.  But here’s what we had: Nigella’s Quadruple Chocolate Loaf Cake, Banana Pudding, Pumpkin Pie, fruit cake, and Mocha Punch.

Mocha Punch is a Christmas necessity.  It is requested every year.  Bring this out for your next special occasion and you will be praised.  Again, no pictures of it, but imagine a slightly melted milk shake.  You’ll love it!

Thanks to Nigella’s fantastic turkey recipe, I’m taking part in this month’s Forever Nigella, Christmas Presence, hosted this month by Sarah of Maison Cupcake. 

A reminder of the rules:

Forever Nigella #10 ”Christmas Presence”

Challenge: To prepare and blog any Nigella recipe during the Christmas period. Ideally it will be Christmassy but I’m not fussy.
Deadline: December 31st 2011 at midnight wherever you are.
Winner announcement: Within a week, to be added to the Forever Nigella page.

There are:
No rules about how often you must take part
No rules about stuff being secret until certain dates
No rules that everyone cook exactly the same thing
No rules about not being able to submit to any other blog events – just check it doesn’t contravene the other guys’ rules

But there are 3 rules:
1. Blog your entry by the deadline including:
a) the current Forever Nigella badge
b) a link to the current host (ME)
c) a link to the official Forever Nigella page at Maison Cupcake: http://blog.maisoncupcake.com/forever-nigella

2. So not to breach Nigella’s copyright you must NOT reproduce recipes verbatim as shown in her books. If using an original Nigella recipe, tell us which book it is from and/or where we find it online (see most likely sites below). If you’ve adapted the recipe in some way i.e. changed at least two ingredients or amended the method then it’s ok to publish the a recipe in your post but you MUST write the directions in your own words.

3. Tell us about your post by adding it to the Linky Tool below! I have made this into a Blog Hop so feel free to post the script at the bottom of your post to encourage your readers to visit the other entries. If you can’t see the linky below it’s because I’ve never done one before and I’ve stuffed it up. Nag me and I’ll sort it out.

Don’t forget to tweet your post with the hashtag #forevernigella – I will retweet all those I see!

Enjoy your Nigella Christmas presence!

Just Peachy

Here’s another recipe from Nana. Peach Cobbler is one of my favorites, not only because it tastes so good, but because it is simple to make. It would be great as an impromptu dessert, to take to a potluck, or give away to a lucky friend. (A cute little loaf pan such as in the photos can be found many places. Mine came from Michael’s a few years ago, but I’ve seen them all over. They are perfect for gift giving.)

Yummy with vanilla ice cream!

Nana’s Peach Cobbler

3/4 stick margarine	1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup milk	1 (29 oz.) can sliced
1 cup self-rising flour	peaches with syrup
1 cup sugar

Place margarine in a 9x13 casserole dish and melt in oven at 350 degrees, (I do this while the oven is preheating). Mix milk, flour, sugar and cinnamon together. Pour mixture into the dish with the melted butter. Evenly arrange the peach slices on top of the batter. Pour the syrup from the can over the entire pan. Do not stir! Bake for 30 minutes.

It’s divine with a little cream poured over!

Click here for the Printable Recipe at Tasty Kitchen!

Good Gravy

Saturday mornings at Nana's means eggs, sausage, bacon, apple butter, biscuits and gravy. I have eaten this all my life. You know you better hurry and get up when you smell the bacon cooking, because you don’t want to miss this!

In my attempt to conquer all of Nana’s recipes, I had to make her Gravy for Biscuits. I tried to learn to make this once, but that was before Nana had figured out the ingredient amounts. “Add a little flour, add a bowl full of milk,” It just wasn’t anything I could replicate without her guidance. But now she has the recipe figured out.

Nana's Gravy for Biscuits

• 4 tablespoons fat drippings from bacon or sausage
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon salt

Combine fat and flour in an iron skillet on medium-high heat and stir well until lumps are gone and mixture is nice and brown.

Add milk and salt and stir until thick. If it gets too hot it will start to foam, so turn it down a little and continue until thick. (Nana’s gravy is neither too thick nor too thin. It’s just right!)

Serve on top of your favorite biscuits!

* Nana’s Note: “I always make a double batch for our crowd.”

*My Note: Use the skillet you just cooked the meat in and be sure to scrape up all the flavorful bits still stuck to the skillet once you add the milk.

Click here for the Printable Recipe at Tasty Kitchen.

Nuts and Bolts

Nana has a stack of recipes she only makes this time of year. I am gonna work my way through these recipes in order to share them with you. She's probably got a system to bang these out each year, and I've got two kids, so we'll see how long this takes.

Nuts and Bolts is basically Chex Mix, but in our family we like to take it to the next level by adding as many nuts as we can get away with. It's cause we're a nutty bunch! We're addicted to this stuff, and it's a good thing Nana only makes it at Christmas when we're planning on wearing our stretchy pants anyway. If I ate this year long, I'd be in trouble!

Now I have to admit, this isn't exactly Nana's recipe. That's because she actually gave me two different recipes for the same thing. They are both very large recipes, so the following is scaled back for ease of cooking. And edited. And probably she won't recognize it. But she better like it cause I just made a huge batch to share this weekend. It tastes the same to me, so I think she will like it. Cross your fingers for me please!

Nuts and Bolts
Click here for the Printable Recipe at Tasty Kitchen

3 cups Plain Cheerios
3 cups Rice Chex
3 cups Corn Chex
3 cups Wheat Chex
1 cup Pretzel Sticks, (the small skinny ones)
1 cup Mixed Nuts
1/2 cup Pecans
1/2 cup Cashews
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce (Lea & Perrin's, if you please)
1 1/2 teaspoons Salt (I used Lawry's Seasoned Salt, but table salt is fine)
3/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder


Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In a large roasting pan, mix together cereals, nuts and pretzels. Melt butter and add to it the seasonings and mix well. Drizzle butter mixture over the cereal mix and stir well. Bake for 2 hours, stirring well every 15-20 minutes.

Store in gallon sized ziploc bags or in a large popcorn tin. And don't forget your stretchy pants!

Dutch Oven Dinner

 

This weekend we went camping with my family in Blairsville, Georgia. It was Liam's first time camping, (he's only 8 weeks old). Sophie was just 4 months the only other time we've been camping with her, so to her this was a new adventure. Luckily there was a sandy spot in our campsite where she could play and get completely filthy--nature is fun!

Now don't think that when we go camping that we "rough it" too much. We had water and electric hook-ups and we sleep on air beds in our tent with our tiny heater. And most of all, we eat very well. That's because my Dad is the king of the Dutch Oven.

Dad used the contraption pictured above this weekend. Let me explain what it is. He bought this at an Army Surplus store. It is a cast iron cooking stove made in 1951 for the Korean War. It was originally made to put a burner inside and be used as a stove. It also came with a taller chimney so it could be used inside a tent to cook and for warmth during the cold Korean winters. Dad replaced the tall chimney with this smaller chimney and put a lid over the hole for the burner.

In the bottom of the stove he placed hot coals, then put his dutch oven inside. Saturday morning he baked biscuits, so he put hot coals on the lid of his dutch oven. To make stew, he put the stove lid on and left it for several hours. At night he would rake the coals together in the fire pit and placed the top of the stove over it to contain the smoldering embers.

Not the outdoorsy type? Don't have a dutch oven? Don't worry, you can still make this recipe for Papa's Stew. Papa's Stew, (named after my grandfather and pronounced "Pawpaw") is one of our family favorites. Papa and Nana created this recipe by trying different things until they came up with this perfect stew. Of course, if you want or need to make substitutions, Nana says pretty much any vegetable will work. So please enjoy this recipe. You can cook for a crowd, or just your family and freeze the leftovers. Just make sure you share it with people you love.

Papa's Stew
25-30 servings

Click here for the printable recipe at Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients:
5 lbs. potatoes, peeled and diced
1 whole chicken cut up or 3-4 chicken breasts boiled and shredded, (boil for 20 minutes or left all day in you crock pot)
3 15.25 oz. cans English Peas
3 14.5 oz. cans sliced carrots
3 14.5 oz. cans corn kernels
3 14.75 oz. cans cream corn
1 lb black eyed peas, remove debris and rinse well
1 12 oz. bag frozen butter beans, speckled recommended
2 14.5 oz. cans diced tomatoes
2 large onions, chopped
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup Worcester sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes or until nearly done. Do not drain. Add all other ingredients except tomatoes and simmer until thickened. Add tomatoes last and cook for 15 minutes. Serve with crackers or cornbread for some true comfort food!

Floyd Markham
1926-2003

An Egg With Many Names

Ah, the Deviled Egg! What church potluck would be complete without them? I love Deviled Eggs, but did you know that they have lots of different names? For example, say you want to take them to a church potluck, but don't want to call them "deviled". Then call them "Dressed Eggs". Or if you want to sound highfalutin, then call them by their French name, "Oeufs Mimosas" (Eggs Mimosa in English). In Hungary they are called "Casino Eggs". When they are stuffed with Caviar they are called "Russian Eggs". In the Middle Ages they were called "Stuffed Eggs" and only relatively recently (the 1800s) began to be called "Deviled" due to the spices that are often used.

I grew up eating my Nana's deviled eggs. They are simple and delicious, with few ingredients, so it's economical too! Below I will give the basic instructions for making these eggs. It's not a "recipe", but more like the techniques you need to make them. You know, that's how Grandmothers cook, a dash of this, a splash of that...

Deviled Eggs

Ingredients:
Eggs (as many as you want/need)
Mayonnaise (Hellman's is recommended)
Salt
Pepper
Paprika

Directions:
Place your eggs in a pot and cover with cold water, allowing for a couple inches of water above the eggs. Place the pot on the stove burner and set to high. Once the water has started to boil, set a timer for nine minutes. After nine minutes, the eggs should be hard set. Remove the eggs from the pot by using a ladle and place eggs in a bowl of cold water.

Remove shells immediately. Carefully crack the egg, (I find that cracking the egg under water allows some water to get between the egg white and the membrane to allow for easier shell removal). Gently peel away the shell and set the hard boiled egg aside.

Once all eggs have been peeled, slice the eggs in half lengthwise. Pop out the egg yolks and place in a bowl. Place the egg whites in an egg dish hollow side up.

Mash the egg yolks with a fork or potato masher. Sprinkle with salt: the amount of salt will depend on the number of eggs used. It usually takes about 1 dash of salt per egg, but only add about half of that at this time. Add pepper at this time, no more than one grind/dash per two eggs. You can always adjust later to taste. Mix well. Add mayonnaise, one spoonful at a time mixing well after each addition until egg yolks are creamy. Taste the yolks and make necessary adjustments to seasoning, adding more salt and pepper if necessary.

Nana scoops the egg yolk mixture into the egg white using a fork. I have found that using a pastry bad makes the job quick and easy, not to mention kind of pretty. Either way, just fill up the hollow part of the egg white. Finish with a sprinkle of paprika over the top. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

*Troubleshooting:
For the last few years, I have been the deviled egg maker for the our family reunion. So using about 4 dozen eggs, I'm turning out around 100 deviled eggs!! Needless to say, not only do I have a lot of egg plates, but I also know some tricks when it comes to fixing mistakes! One time I added too much salt. Adding a little milk will help tone down the saltiness. Another time, I used a new mayonnaise brand, which I didn't realize tasted too much like vinegar until after adding to the egg yolks. A little milk and sugar did the trick, no one would have ever known. I've also used my food processor to mash and mix up the egg yolk mixture when I'm making such a large number of eggs...anything to make life easier! Finally, for the family reunion, I don't fill the eggs until I get to the location. I make everything the night before, then cover my plate with the egg whites with plastic cling. The egg yolk mixture goes into my pastry bag and sealed into a Ziploc bag and I park all of it in the fridge overnight. When I get to the reunion, I just pull out the pastry bag and quickly fill the eggs then sprinkle with the paprika.

Though many people put other ingredients in their deviled eggs, our family loves these eggs "plain", as Nana says. It's a great way to please the picky eater. That being said, there are so many ways to make deviled eggs, so how do you dress your eggs?

Cake Mix Cookies

In 8th grade I took Home Economics. Once a week we would make something to eat, then share with all the teachers in the school. I remember making haystacks and cookies made with a cake mix. Those became my favorite cookies and I made them all the time. I lost that recipe long ago, but Nana has a recipe for Cake Mix Cookies that I will share with you today.

The great thing about Cake Mix Cookies is that you can be creative and design your cookies to fit your own style. First, pick what flavor cookie you want by choosing your cake mix flavor. Then decide what you want to add to your cookies. Chocolate chips, raisins, nuts, and candies will do the trick. You could even ice the top with a glaze or butter cream. It's lots of fun and easy enough to do with kids. Sophie (who is 2 1/2) has been helping make these cookies.

Devil's Food Mix with Chocolate Chips

French Vanilla Mix with Chocolate Chips

Lemon Mix (would have been great with a glaze!)

Cake Mix Cookies

Ingredients:
1 box cake mix (any flavor)
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup of your add-in (chocolate chips, etc.)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together, (you may have to use your hands). Drop teaspoons of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool 2 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack or plate to continue cooling until set.

This makes a whole lot of cookies, or less if you want bigger cookies. Nana makes these to take to Vacation Bible School.

Nana's Baked Beans

Today is Labor Day! You're probably spending this day with family and friends. And eating, cause that's what you're supposed to do on holidays. Last night we had a meal at church. I've been wanting to make Nana's recipe for Baked Beans and last night was the perfect opportunity! It's a great dish to serve alongside your other holiday fare, or at your next church fellowship meal.



Nana's Baked Beans Deluxe

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
4 15 oz. cans pork and beans (Van Camp's recommended)
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 cup ketchup or tomato sauce
3 tbsp. mustard
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 tbsp. oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat oil in skillet on medium high heat. Add beef, pepper and onion to skillet and cook until beef is browned and vegetables are softened. Mix all ingredients in a large casserole dish. Cover and bake for one hour.

Nana's Famous Rolls

Either I'm very ambitious or just plain insane.

Sunday was a Family Reunion for my husband's family. Since a lot of people are from out of town, my mother-in-law orchestrates the meal and gets the locals to do the cooking. I have been doing the deviled eggs since joining the family, (more on that later). This year, I wanted to try a recipe of Nana's, one for which she is famous.

For just about any family function we have, Nana will make her yeast rolls. It just wouldn't be right if she didn't make them. So, of course, I had to try my hand at making them. I volunteered to make them for the reunion. Here's the thing: I'd never made rolls before, and I don't have the best track record with yeast. But for some reason, the challenge didn't register, even after calculating the need to make a double recipe. No biggie, right?

I have to say the rolls turned out pretty well, especially for my first time making them. I did learn two important lessons: my oven browns them too quickly and if I want the rolls to taste just like Nana's, margarine cannot be substituted. I feel confident that, with some practice, I will be able to make these rolls just like Nana herself.

Nana's Refrigerator Rolls
Yields 3-6 dozen depending on cutter size

1 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water (boiling)
2 eggs beaten
2 packages dry yeast
1 cup water (lukewarm)
6 cups plain flour (unsifted)
1 stick melted margarine

Place shortening, sugar and salt in a large bowl, pour in boiling water and stir until shortening is softened. Allow to cool.

Add eggs to mixture. In a small bowl, sprinkle yeast into lukewarm water and stir, then add to mixture. Stir in flour and mix to fully blend all ingredients. Cover with foil and place in refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight. Make sure there is room for dough expansion in the bowl.

Just over 3 hours before baking, roll out dough to about 1/2 inch on a floured surface. Cut with a biscuit cutter and place on baking sheets. Brush with melted margarine and fold over in half. Cover with a tea towel and allow to rise for 3-4 hours, (a warm environment is best).

Bake at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until browned to your liking. Brush tops with remaining margarine. Leftovers can be stored in refrigerator and later heated in microwave or warmed in the oven.

To make ahead of time, bake until not quite browned then freeze or store in refrigerator, then thaw and brown in oven as above.

Note: I used a medium sized biscuit cutter and it made larger rolls by the time they had done all their rising. Having doubled the recipe for the reunion, I ended up with 85 rolls total.

Click here for the printable recipe at Tasty Kitchen.

Nana's Buttery Cinnamon Skillet Apples

 

We've been going through apples like crazy at my house. In fact, Sophie is quite the fanatic to the point that she's almost insane about them. "Apples! Apples! Hehehehe, apples!" That's what I hear when she sets her mind to apples.

Unfortunately, we haven't been able to keep up with our produce as well as I would like. In fact, this morning I noticed a few apples that were close to going bad, *gasp!* I decided this would be a good time to try my hand at one of Nana's signature dishes, Skillet Apples. I guess Nana has made these all my life; they are included in my childhood memories. These apples are very easy to make and nice and sweet. If you don't have a great sweet tooth, you'll want to use some nice tart apples as well.

Nana's Buttery Cinnamon Skillet Apples

Ingredients:
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 medium cooking apples; unpeeled, cored and sliced into thick wedges, (about 8 slices each)

Directions:
In a 10 inch skillet, melt butter or margarine over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in sugar and cornstarch; mix well. Add remaining ingredients. Cover and cook over medium heat, spooning sauce over apples occasionally until apples are fork-tender and sauce is thickened.

Click here for the printable recipe at Tasty Kitchen.

YUM!

Apple Dipple Cake

 

Nana makes this cake often as it is one of her favorite recipes. She made it this Christmas and took it to the family Christmas party. The recipe was given to her in the early 1960's by her good friend Dot Powell. I haven't made this yet, but it is so good I have to go ahead and share it with you.

Apple Dipple Cake

Ingredients
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup Wesson oil
2 cup sugar
3 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
2 large apples (chopped)
1 cup Angel-Flake coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

Beat eggs, oil and sugar together. Blend in flour, soda, vanilla and salt. This makes a stiff batter, so beat well. Fold in chopped apples, coconut and chopped pecans. Bake in bundt pan or 2 loaf pans in 350 degree oven for one hour.

Topping
1 stick margarine
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup milk

Cook all together for 3 minutes after mixture comes to a boil. Pour over cake while cake and topping is still hot. Leave cake in pan in refrigerator overnight so topping can soak into cake.

I Can Can, Can You?

 

I happened upon a book called Food and Cooking in Victorian England by Andrea Broomfield. One of the first things I learned from this book was how the Industrial Revolution shaped Victorian England. Before the Industrial Revolution, most people worked from their homes to make goods to sell. They had their own gardens and raised animals to provide food for their families. When factories started supplying these same goods, the people had no choice but to move to cities and work in the factories. The populations of these cities boomed. Because homes were small and time and space was limited, this meant that people could no longer have gardens and keep animals for food. The food they ate had to be bought from others, instead of making it themselves. It only took a couple generations before people no longer knew how to do things like make cheese and butter.

That got me thinking. What kinds of skills am I lacking that to my grandparents and great-grandparents were parts of daily life? One thing that I knew for sure I had to learn was how to make and preserve my Nana’s Apple Butter. I’ve been eating this stuff all my life, and I’ve never met a better apple butter.

First Comes the Applesauce
We started with just over a half-bushel of apples. Some were Jonathan apples and the others we think are Granny Smith. Nana went to the Farmer’s Market and asked what would be a good cooking apple for apple butter. You want something that will make a tart applesauce.

Wash the apples, core and slice them with the peel on. Place the slices in a large metal bowl with about a cup of water. Heat on medium-high, stirring often so the apples don’t stick. Cook the apples until completely soft, time depends on quantity.

To make the applesauce, we used a China cap and wooden pestle, but a food mill or potato ricer may work too. The goal is to push the apples through the small holes of the strainer, and discard the peel. This step is the most time consuming part of the whole process.

Now you have applesauce!! Measure the applesauce so you know how to adjust the recipe.

Giving the apples a bath

Nana stirring the apples so they don't stick.


Cook them until they turn into a mushy apple slop.

Nana's China Hat and Wooden Pestle

Let me show you how this works...

Nana is doing her applesauce workout, it really works the arms!!

Our lovely applesauce. We had 7 quarts!

 

Apple Butter

2 quarts applesauce (you could use store-bought applesauce, see note below)
4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon allspice

Add sugar and spices to applesauce and mix well.
*(If using store-bought applesauce, taste as you mix in sugar so you don’t add too much, if it is too sweet, you can add 1 tbsp of lemon juice.)
Cook on medium-low heat until the flavors are well blended.To prevent sticking, stir frequently as mixture thickens. (If too thick, add a small amount of water for desired consistency.)

Sugar? Check! Spices? Check! Yummy? Check!

While heating the apple butter, you can sterilize your jars, rings and caps. In a large pot, place your jars upside down. Add water until it comes about an inch up the jars. Add the rings and caps to the pot. Let sterilize for about 10 minutes. Keep them hot until ready to use. To retrieve them from the boiling water, you can use a canning jar lifter, (or a hand towel if you are brave like us) and kitchen tongs.

Most people seem to be intimidated by this part, but it's not so bad.

I love watching the water rise into the jars while sterilizing.

Pour the hot apple butter into hot jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace, (space between the apple butter and lip of the jar.) Use a canning funnel to keep things clean, and if any apple butter gets on the rim of the jar, wipe it clean or it will not seal properly. Place the cap on the jar, screw down tightly and set aside. The caps will pop after a few minutes which proves it has sealed correctly.

Now you have lovely and delicious apple butter!

Click here for the Printable Recipes for Homemade Applesauce and Apple Butter at Tasty Kitchen.

We're using my great-grandmother's canning funnel.

Nana gave it to me when we were done!

We used a hand towel to help protect our hands from the hot jars and lids.

Don't these look great? Wouldn't you like to have one?

How about this little guy?

Post a comment telling your favorite thing about fall, and you'll be placed in a drawing for this little jar of apple butter. Make sure to leave your email or website in the comment so I know how to contact you. I will only be able to ship this inside the U.S., (sorry friends elsewhere). I'll do the drawing on October 1st using a random number generator.

Congratulations Jenny! Your number was drawn with the Random Number Generator at RANDOM.ORG.

True Random Number Generator Min: 1 Max: 9 Result: 5 Powered by RANDOM.ORG