When life gives you a box of cheap apples, make cheap apple sauce

I am a big fan of getting a good deal, and when someone was selling a huge box of crab apples for $5, I was on it! Our local buy and sell page on Facebook is a real goldmine sometimes! So what was I going to do with this awesome score? (The box was full to the top. This picture was taken half way through.)

Because the apples were VERY tart, I figured apple sauce would be a safe bet since I could add sugar to balance out the tartness. I started by sorting the apples and rinsing them with cold water. Once I cleaned the apples, I threw them into a big pot filled with a few cups of water. I put on the lid and let them soften - peels and stems too. I knew I was going to strain them once they were mushy. Here are the pretty little crimson gems simmering in the pot.

Once the apples were soft enough, I mashed them by hand then passed them through a fine strainer. That beautiful sauce starting oozing from the strainer. But it was very tart still!

Once all the apple mush was strained, I poured the sauce back into the pot and let it simmer on the stove while I added a few cups of sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. I can't tell you what the exact amounts were because I made the sauce by taste. My kiddos were also part of the taste testing process!

Once the sauce was done simmering, I poured the sauce in sterilized jars and canned them in a water bath canner for 15 minutes. And then came the symphony of jars popping. Music to my ears!

The finished product was beautiful in its scarlet hue, and the taste was even better. The first night we had the sauce as an accompaniment to a delicious pork roast. What a great flavour combo!

I made a dozen jars of apple sauce and had extra apples left for freezing. All of that for the low price of $5.00. *pats herself on the back.

Tomorrow I'll be giving you my tips for furnishing and decorating your home using mostly second-hand finds!