Apple Butter
Note: Apple butter has been part pf Pennsylvania German Cookery since the earliest days. Every fall it is cooked in great quantities. In rural areas they serve it three times a day, on thick slices of homemade bread. Today it is spread nationwide. The Pennsylvania Dutch like apple butter on homemade rye bread.
8 quarts sliced apples
2 quarts sweet cider
1 t. sllspice
1 t. cinnamon
2 pounds brown sugar
Peel and core apples. Cut into slices. Boil cider rapidly until reduced to 1 quart. Add sliced apples and bring to boiling point. Simmer, stirring frequently until rich brown in color. Add sugar and spices and continue to cook until thick. Pour into hot sterilized jars and seal. Makes 3 pints.
Note: You may cook apple butter in the oven just as you did the chili sauce. Cook at 350 degrees until thick. Follow directions above, adding sugar and spices after mixture is rich brown in color.
Crab Apple Jelly
Wash fruit and cut into small pieces. Add enough water to cover fruit. Cook in covered saucepan until soft (about 15 minutes). Allow juice to drip through jelly bag. (Do not squeeze as this will make cloudy jelly.) Cook with sugar as follows:
4 c. juice
2 3/4 c. sugar
Bring juice to boiling point. Add sugar and cook rapidly until mixture sheets from a spoon 220 degrees. Skim. Pour into hot sterilized glasses and seal.
