CROCK POT APPLE BUTTER AND MY INCREDIBLE DRIVE TO THE MALL!

As most of you know, I live in the sticks. They're gorgeous sticks, but they're still the sticks....takes an hour to get ANYWHERE, like a Target store, a large grocery store or the hospital or most doctor's offices. And, it takes 2 hours to get to the closest large city (Syracuse). Which is where the airport is and the "major" malls. We are fortunate in that we have a smallish mall in Utica, which is about an hour away, and you can bet I know that highway BY HEART ;  I've been driving it, once or twice a week, for the past 8 years. Especially when I had a teenager in the house with a never ending need for new shoes and jeans and such ; a typical Saturday was spent driving Little Miss Thing and a friend (or two or three) to a fun-filled day of shopping and lunch (always paid for by Mom!) and just getting out of our small town.

On this trip, I was on a major quest for PANTS--see, I've lost over 30 pounds in the past few months, and have gone down 2 pant sizes.....Woot Woot for me!..............

Do you remember the other day, when I was in my Indian Corn induced Sugar Coma? Well, I came out of that just fine and was all prepared to capture the glory of an Adirondack Autumn for you on my drive down to Utica, but the weather wasn't cooperating AGAIN (what is with this warm and rainy Fall we're experiencing so far, I want to know). I still snapped some photos, but they would have been much prettier on a crisp, blue-sky day. I'll keep trying for you, promise, but in the meantime, I think I'm pretty blessed to get to drive to the mall on our incredibly beautiful Hwy 28......check it!................

Did you know that New York State is one of the world's largest apple producers? I didn't, until I moved here. We have so many apple ranches around, and I picked up yet another bag of crisp little beauties at a darling farm stand in Clinton before heading home...................

When we have a plethora of apples around the house I like to either bake them up in pies or crisps, make apple sauce or my NEW personal favorite, Apple Butter. And that name is very deceiving---Apple Butter actually has NO butter in it--did you know that? It's really more like jam--great spread on toast or biscuits, or eaten over vanilla ice cream. So, get out those crock pots and let's make some apple butter............

First thing I do is peel, core and slice about 8 to 10 apples. Place them in your crock pot.............

Add  1 / 2 cup fresh apple cider to the apples, then add 2 cups of brown sugar and 2 teaspoons of good cinnamon....................

Give it a good stir, then put the lid on. Cook on High for 5-6 hours, or low for 10-12 hours. At the end of cooking time, use an immersion blender to puree the apples into a smooth sauce. If the sauce is too watery, take the lid off of the crockpot and cook on low for an hour or so until the apple butter is nice and thick..................

I store half of my apple butter in a plastic container in the refrigerator (keeps just fine for a couple of weeks), and freeze the other half. You can also make applesauce in your crockpot.....just reduce the amount of sugar (brown sugar for darker applesauce, white sugar for lighter) to 2 tablespoons, add cinnamon and cook on low for 4-6 hours.

I tell you what.....this apple butter is DA BOMB served over vanilla ice cream...tastes like apple pie, a la mode! This dessert would also be great with a few chopped pecans or walnuts sprinkled on top.........................

Here's the recipe.....Enjoy!........

APPLE BUTTER

8-10 peeled, cored and sliced apples

1 / 2 cup fresh apple cider

2 cups brown sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

Place everything in a slow cooker; give it a good stir. Cook on high for 5-6 hours, or low for 10-12 hours. At the end of cooking time, use an immersion blender to puree the apples into a smooth sauce. If sauce is too thin, continue cooking on low for another hour or so, until the apple butter is nice and thick.

TODAY I'M SO GRATEFUL FOR......

***Sleeping in this morning until 7 a.m.! I know, I know, we are OLD--B.A. thinks he's a farmer, in bed by 9, up by 5:30 most days.....

***This gorgeous day!

***The smell of spicy apple cookies in the oven....recipe to come soon!