Sunday, October 14, 2012

Apple Pie Filling

Yesterday at the flea market a man had nice baskets of apples. He wanted $5 for them and he said there were about 6 lbs. in each. I was going to get some anyway but he really sealed the deal when he said, "Fresh off the tree". They were red delicious and yellow delicious and I got a mixed basket. Their smell was just amazing. Apples don't smell like that from the store! I didn't know what I was going to do with them (you just can't keep them just so you can smell them) until I thought about Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up and I don't have any apple pie filling. Phil does like to have at least one apple pie.
So apple pie filling was one of the projects for today. I also made 2 loaves of bread, started a batch of apple wine and wheeled manure from the pig pen down to the garden. The pig pen is going to take a while and my wheelbarrow is breaking so we'll have to think of some way to fix it.
And there are still chores to do. Steaks that we got marked down at the store needs to be ground into hamburger. I have to blanch and freeze that other cauliflower and there are 3 peppers in there as well that should be cut up and frozen before they go bad. Plus there is some leftover roast in there. I'll see how much then decide if I want to can or freeze it.
Anyway, back to the apple pie filling. The recipe said it would make 6 quarts but I was pretty sure it lied and I was right, it only made 4 quarts but that will be plenty of pie for us.

Here is the recipe:

4 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup cornstarch
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
3 T. lemon juice
5 1/2-6 lbs apples, peeled cored and sliced

In a large pan blend the first 4 ingredients and 1 tsp salt (I missed the salt entirely. I am not sure why the recipe is written this way instead of just putting the salt up there and saying combine the first 5 ingredients). Stir in 10 cups water; cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Add lemon juice. Pack apples into hot jars, leaving 1 inch headspace. Fill jars with hot syrup leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Adjust lids. Process in boiling water bath 20 minutes (quarts), 15 minutes (pints)

For your pie: Prepare pastry for 2 crust 8 or 9 inch pie. Add 1 quart apple pie filling. Adjust top crust, cutting slits for escape of steam; seal. Bake at 400 F. for 50 minutes.

Since I only got 4 quarts, I had a lot of syrup left- a whole quart. So I canned it as well. Maybe it will be good on ice cream, pancakes or something.


14 comments:

  1. Oh my you are a God send, I had just set down to get a recipe for this but hought I would check my reader first, and your blog was first, how cool is that. I'm doing this tomorrow afternoon.. Thank you, have a good afternoon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, I am glad it helped someone. I actually thought this post would not be real important to anyone. Just plain old apple pie filling but almost 700 people looked at it, lol.

      Delete
  2. Becky, That apple pie filling looks so delicious! We just went to Elijay yesterday, (I'll never go the first weekend again, couldn't get near the festival!) and I got a huge bag of smaller apples for ten instead of fifteen dollars! I will definitely make some apple pie filling! Do you think the filling would be good to use in fried pies? If you try it that way, let us know. Thanks for sharing! Blessings from Bama!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't know as I have never made fried pies before but I would imagine it would be fine. Glad you got a good deal on your apples :)

      Delete
    2. Bama Girl, You have made my mouth water! My Grandma used to make fried apple pies all the time when I was little. I can remember having them on winter nights. I would drink milk and the grown-ups would drink coffee. They were delicious, I am going to make some soon, it's really quick and easy.

      Delete
  3. Ah, Becky....now I want a fresh apple pie. Lord help me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah me too. You should have smelled it cooking!

      Delete
  4. Yum apple pies. I haven't had an apple pie in a long time.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Looks wonderful! I can almost smell it!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for the suggestion and recipe, that's a great idea!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. We use the same basic recipe and directions for canning for making pear pie filling. We don't just use the apple or pear filling for pies, it makes a great breakfast dumped on a bowl of oatmeal, or making it into a cobbler.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I want to know if you have 28 hour days in Thomson I don`t see how you can manage what you do with less

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My weekends are definitely busy but they are the only time I have.

      Delete
  9. Hi becky thank you for info about preserving apples I will have a go next season.

    ReplyDelete