recipe journal // 4

Dear October,
Hi! Hello! I can't believe you are already here. Welcome pumpkin recipe after pumpkin recipe and everything with apples. I'm glad it's time to celebrate you. I know that the cooler weather is on its way, but for right now I don't mind a couple more warm days. You are my second favorite month, with July taking up a little more room in my heart. I do love all the food that comes with this season though, more so than summertime foods. Something about fall is just nourishing. The warm food that sticks to your bones a little more, the leaves that change and become fiery orange while the temperature drops, the candles flickering inside of pumpkins all carved and ready for trick-or-treaters. You mark the beginning of all that October, I'm excited for thirty one days of you. Making homemade applesauce is one of my favorite things to do while you are around. It feels right to eat warm apple crisps in the cool of the night and to stir this thick, sweet applesauce into oatmeal in the mornings. The smell that wafts through the house as I make a pot of this is just bliss. I am thankful. I am thankful for you, October, for seasons, and for warm applesauce.
Your friend,
Katie

This is much less of a recipe and much more of a guide...
Here's what you do //

chop up however many apples you wish (any type works, i prefer the sweet varieties for this) and leave the skin on cause it's seriously the best part. add all of them to a pot and pour in some water (i used 5 large apples and a half cup of water) add a pinch of salt and a shake or two of cinnamon, if you'd like, but they are still delicious without cinnamon. simmer on low, covered, for about 30 minutes, or until the apples can be mashed easily. mash to your desired consistency. i like mine thick and rustic, so I call it quits after mashing them. if you want super smooth sauce you can let them cool, and then transfer to a food processor.

to store, let the pot cool and then put the sauce in a jar and store in the fridge for 5 days. or to freeze, let the sauce cool completely and then transfer to freezer bags, flattening out each bag, so that they thaw quickly.

Wishing you all a happy and delicious beginning to fall!