Applesauce, but No Juice

The apples were pretty thin this year.  There were some wild storms which I imagine is the bulk of the reason for such a pitiful harvest.  We did pick a crate full at Matt's brother's house.  The apple tree down the street was cut down over the summer to make way for a mutli-family housing development.  Almost all our other go-to picking trees were rather lackluster.

So there will be no apple pressing thing year which tugs at my heart.  I so enjoy the experience and, of course, the tastes of the fresh juice.  Its not all bad though.  We did make enough applesauce--which when added to the dwindling stock from last year--should make it through until next autumn, estimating we use about a pint every other week.  Since we only picked at Ryan's we know the exact provenance of this 2014 applesauce.  Usually we pick all over town resulting in a mixture of apple sources in each jar.  Not the case this year.  As such, Matt added the notation, "Ryan," to the lids.

 Its good to know where your food comes from--down to the literal tree, in this case.  I like that.  It dovetailed nicely with a book Matt and I just finished called Kitchen Literacy by Ann Vileisis.

On the bright side, there are still a few quart jars of 2013 apple juice on the shelves in to storage.  They will be doubly savored this year, I am sure.