Apple Pie Filling

Today was a busy day. I spent most of the morning up until about 1:30 in the kitchen. I peeled apples from our tree. We have a lot of them this year. Actually, I was kind of bummed because, a friend and I had gone to an orchard and picked a few and they weren’t as good as the ones on our tree. That orchard gets flooded a lot every year, since it’s near the river. The apples were so tiny, and all the good ones that were left, were at the very top of the tree. We didn’t bring an apple picker.

After, all the apples were peeled that I needed, I made a pie filling for them. Ended up with 10 quart size jars full of them. The stuff is so good, you could  eat the apple pie filling out of the jars. I even had two store bought pie crusts, so I made an apple pie a long with the pie filling. It was delicious. We still have plenty of apples on our tree, and I really want to can some applesauce and maybe make some apple butter.  All the rest of the apples my grandma and mom will deal with. Or, whoever else wants some too. They’re really good this year. My friend Ashley, gave me this recipe from a book she used.

Ingredients

4 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon grount nutmeg
3 tbsp lemon juice
2-3 drops yellow food coloring (we didnt ‘ add this)
5 1/2 – 6 pounds tart apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

In large saucepan blend first 4 ingredients and 1 tsp salt. Stir in 10 cups water; cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Add lemon juice and food coloring. Pack apples into hot jars, leaving 1-inch headspace. Fill with hot syrup, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. (Use spatula to help distrube syrup.) Adjust lids. Process in boiling water bath (pints) 15 minutes; (quarts) 20 minutes. Makes 6 quarts.

Before serving: Prepare pastry for a 2-crust 8-or9 inch pie. Line pie plate with pastry; add 1 quart apple pie filling. Adjust top crust, cutting slits for escape of steam; seal. Bake at 400 for 50 minutes.