Fall Bucket List: Make Homemade Applesauce

I only picked up six apples from Graves Mountain to avoid a Baby Boom situation:

In previous years I've picked up 2 or 3 bags or a 1/2 bushel and ended up throwing most of them away after getting tired of churning out a few apple dishes!  Six apples seemed much more manageable, and the plan was to choose 1 recipe that needs no more than those six apples.

When I find Jonagold apples I'll find room in my life for another recipe :)  Those are the best!

Since I've heard homemade applesauce is really easy to make but have never tried it, it is my recipe of choice for this year's batch of apples!  I trolled the internets for the yummiest-sounding recipe, and found it here.  I modified it a little for my batch:

• 6 apples
• 1 cup water (apple juice or cider might add more flavor)
• 2 tablespoons (or was it?) honey
• 3 ounces sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

I used my apple peeler/corer/slicer for the first time!  Super easy to use, yet somehow I found a way to muck it up at first.  I had a hard time lining up the core on the first few...

...but by the sixth apple I figured out how to do it neatly :)  Aren't they cute?

  

Once they were all chopped up I put them in a saucepan and added the rest of the ingredients:

Stir to combine all the ingredients, cover the pan, and the recipe said to cook it on medium heat for 15-20 minutes.  After 20 minutes it seemed a little liquidy, but I think that's normal since the apples are losing so much juice.  I turned off the burner and kept the pan covered for another 30 minutes or so...and it thickened up!

I mashed it up and it turned into this:

Hopefully it will thicken up a little more overnight in the fridge...tomorrow night:  pork chops loin and applesauce!