Applesauce and Casts

Today, I made applesauce.  Lots and lots of applesauce.

As you can see in the above picture, they weren't the prettiest specimens.  Most, if not all the apples were covered in blemishes.  But that doesn't matter for applesauce!

 

I don't even bother peeling the apples.  I'm kind of lazy like that.  Besides, isn't the peel where all the vitamins are?  At least, that's what my mother always used to tell me!  I simply slice the apples into quarters and cut out the cores.  I throw them into a pot with a tiny bit of water and cook them until they're mushy.

 

After they've been cooked, I puree them in my Vitamix blender for about 15 seconds.  And Voila!  Instant, delicious applesauce.  The pot in the above picture is huge...it holds 16 quarts!  But that wasn't all of it--I had to use another pot to hold the remaining applesauce.

 

All together, I ended up with 20 quarts.  Not bad for a bunch of free apples and a little time.  Okay, a LOT of time.  It probably took me 4-5 hours from start to finish.  I can't even imagine how long it would have taken if I would have peeled the apples, too.  But in the end, you can't even detect the peels.  I promise.  And once you've tasted homemade applesauce, you will never want store bought sauce again.  There's just no comparison.  This applesauce was so good, that it didn't even need sugar.  My kids were hovering around the kitchen all afternoon, sneaking licks and sampling spoonfuls.  We love this stuff.  I don't bother with canning it either; I simply freeze them away in our big chest freezer.  It's so satisfying to know that we have delicious applesauce waiting for us this winter, whenever we get the hankering. 

 

In other news, my broken-limbed little man went back to the clinic to have his leg x-rayed, just to make sure it is healing properly.  And it is.  In the meanwhile, they removed the old cast and put on a new one.

The little saw-thingy they use looks a bit scary, but apparently, they've done this a few times and seem to know what they're doing.

 

A "thumbs up" from my little man.  He was looking forward to maybe getting a smaller cast for the next 3 weeks, but the doctor decided that an active little boy really needs to be in a full leg cast to prevent possible re-injury.

 

I couldn't help but notice how dirty his cast had become, especially in stark contrast to all that hospital white!

 

He chose "glow-in-the-dark" again for his new cast, because, well, he's six.  And glow-in-the-dark is cool, right?  And if you don't believe me about how dirty his old cast really got, the above picture with his new cast next to the old one should pretty much sum it up.  Again, I will say just two words:  he's six.

 

So, there you have it.  I know this post is probably pretty boring, and you may be wondering if I'll EVER post about a new sewing project again.  Sometimes I wonder that myself!  But I do have a couple of projects in the works, so don't give up on me yet.  I have a doll club meeting in a couple of days where I'm supposed to design and sew an outfit for a doll, and one of my kids needs a new halloween costume.  I'm hoping to get both those items completed tomorrow.  Wish me luck!