The babers and I went on a day trip to go apple picking a few weeks ago.  We went with Hannah’s Circle, a mom’s group I joined back in September.  The timing of our trip brought us to the tail end of mid-October apples, only a few rows remained of the lightly russet Stayman apples.  But it sure was enough for our group of mamas and kiddos.

Dhara enjoyed watching all the other kids running about picking their apples while taking huge bites out of them too.  She loved her apple and was satisfied licking it for a while.  Dhara-cakes and I picked just enough to make homemade apple sauce and apple pie.

I used Smitten Kitchen’s baby blog for a recipe to cook up my first batch of homemade apple sauce.  Delicious.  While the Stayman apples made it more tart, it was still very good apple sauce.  I can only imagine what a sweeter apple would do to the flavor!  Double yum.

First Applesauce
from Smitten Kitchen “Goo”

“I know people say this a lot about homemade food, but in this especially there is absolutely no comparison in the flavor from this applesauce and the stuff from the jars.”

4 pounds apples, peeled and cored
4 strips of lemon peel
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon or 1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water

Peel, core and chop your apples into large chunks, about 8 pieces per apple.  Put all of the ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, reduce it to a simmer and cover the pot.  Cook for approximately 30 minutes, or until apples are quite soft.  Fish out the lemon peels and whole cinnamon stick, if you used one, and let it cool.

Puree in a food processor, blender or food mill and freeze in small portions.  It will be difficult, but try to remember to share the deliciousness with your baby.