Family Chow Hall

On a whim, I decided it would be fun to make applesauce with my eight-year-old son. He loves machines and seeing how things work and I have a hand-cranked food strainer for making things like applesauce, tomato sauce, and pumpkin puree.

As I said, applesauce-making seemed like a fun afternoon project for us. I bought several pounds of Gala apples while at the grocery and yesterday afternoon we got out the strainer, cooked up the apples, and cranked away. I did not endeavor to make 5 gallons and can it all, I just wanted to make a good portion for us to eat this week.

First of all, I have to say that Jake did LOVE making the applesauce. He was thrilled that I let him get all of the pieces out of the box and try to put it together himself. In the end, I had to do most of this, but he watched eagerly and learned how the machine went together and how it worked.

The process is extremely simple:

First, buy a bunch of apples. I bought 6 pounds of apples - oops, I think we ate a couple before making the applesauce, so let’s say I started with 5 pounds. I bought Gala apples, after making sure that they are good for baking. Some apples don’t cook up very well — Red Delicious, for instance, do NOT make good applesauce or pies at all. Gala, Jonathan, Yellow Delicious, and Fuji all work nicely.

Next, I quartered the apples and threw them in a large stock pot, stems, seeds, peels and all. The strainer removes all of that stuff. If you don’t have a strainer and still want to make applesauce, go ahead and remove the peels, cores, and stems. I added about 1/2 c. of water to the pot and brought it to a simmer, then lowered the heat and put a lid on it.

It took about 45 minutes of bubbling to get the apples nice and soft. By that time, my kitchen sure smelled great. Mmm… Mmm… Jake and his sister were positively jumping around the room, anxious to begin cranking the strainer.

I turned off the apples and let them cool a bit, then fed them through my strainer. If you don’t have a strainer, at this point you could put them in a blender or food processor. After tasting, we decided that a little sugar and cinnamon would make it just perfect, so we added 1/2 c. sugar and about 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Our 5 pounds of apples were now about 2 quarts of applesauce.

We served it for a snack, then with supper, and we still have some in the fridge, although I’m not expecting it to last much longer.

Step aside, Campbell’s Chunky Soup. Now there’s something even heartier!

This recipe for Chicken Noodle Soup received a thumb’s up from every single member of our family. Thanks, Mom. If you’re going to try this one, please buy Reame’s noodles from the freezer section, they are the best.

Simple to make, without too many ingredients, this soup makes a tasty weeknight meal.

Hearty Noodle Soup
serves 8-10 / prep. time: 15 minutes / cook time: 20-30 minutes

1 c. each chopped celery, onion, and carrot
2 c. chopped turkey or chicken (dark meat is better for this soup)
3 cans of chicken broth
8 oz. bag of noodles of your preference
plenty of water
salt and pepper

Boil the vegetables in water. When tender, you can turn them off, add the chicken and broth and set aside. Boil the noodles according to the package directions. For Reame’s, that takes 20-30 minutes. For normal noodles, it’s 8-10. When the noodles are finished, simply drain them and then put it all together. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Ta-Da! You’re done!

This soup stands alone, so if there is a dessert you’ve been wanting to try, this would be a good time.