Spiced Apple Pear Butter- Crock Pot Recipe



 

There seems to be a common sentence at the beginning of all of my post. So here goes, You will not believe how easy this is to make! It is literally done in just a few steps and makes the house smell wonderful while it's cooking. This is a great recipe to make in the fall when pears and apples are in season. Since I'm trying to fill you in on everything I've learned over the past year I'm posting this a bit out of season but don't worry,it tastes good anytime of year!

 

Here is a picture of my finished product....

 

 

And here is what happened a split second after I snapped that close up.....

 

She's never far away from the camera!

 

 

Back to the apple pear butter recipe.

 

Here's what you need:

 

Apples and Pears

spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves

a pinch of salt

and sweetener of your choice (I use brown sugar)

 

Here's what you have to do:

 

1- Peel and dice fruit into large chunks, discarding the cores.

 

2-Put them in your crock pot and sprinkle in your chosen spices, salt and sweetener of choice. (the amount of sugar will vary depending on how sweet your apples are to start with.

 

3-Put lid on and cook on high for about an hour

 

4- Reduce heat to low and cook for 9-12 hours, stirring occasionally  (I smash it with a hand held potato masher) And cook it until  it reaches a desired consistency.

 

5- Can it or freeze it in bags until ready to eat.

 

To can it - fill hot canning jars leaving 1/4 inch head space. Process in a water bath for 10 minutes.

 

 

See I told you it was simple!!

 

 

 

 

 

 



 



 

Making sauerkraut

I loved learning how to make sauerkraut this past year and  I was surprised by how easy (and inexpensive) it was to make. I was especially proud of our New Years' pork and sauerkraut meal this year. Our roast was from our own backyard pig and it was perfeclyt paired with our home fermented kraut. If you're looking for a simple and rewarding project, I would recommend you try this recipe. 

Here's how I did it.

 

You will need:

 

cabbages

kosher or pickling salt

a large container

a plate

and a weight (I used a gallon jar filled with water, but many people use a big Rock) 

 

 

*Two important things to remember when making this are to never use aluminum utensils, and that using very clean utensils is necessary for a healthy brew...so clean your container and utensils before beginning.

 

To make it:

 

1. Wash cabbages and remove the outer leaves. Shred finely and discard the cores.(You can use a food processor or shred it by hand, like I did)

 

(I cannot figure out how to rotate this picture...grrr!)



 

2. Mix 4 Tbls. salt with 5 pounds of shredded cabbage and put in your clean crock. Stir and smash this down with clean hands until juices (the salt pulls it from the cabbage) covers the layer of cabbage.

 



 

3. Repeat until all of your cabbage is gone, using the same salt to cabbage ratio, and keep layering it and smashing it in your crock. Smash until brine covers the cabbage. If you cannot seem to smash it until the liquid covers the cabbage you can make some extra brine to pour in. To do this, just put 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons of kosher salt into 1 quart of boiling water. Dissolve the salt in the water and cool brine to room temperature. Add brine to cover cabbage.

 

4. Put the plate in the crock, on top of cabbage, and place your weight on the plate to keep the cabbage under the brine.

 

5. Cover the crock with plastic wrap and then place a heavy towel over the top. (You want to keep any bugs out)

 

6. Place the crock in an area where the temperature will not go above 75 degrees or below 60. Allow it to ferment for 4-6 weeks until it tastes the way you like it. The longer you let it sit the more "sour" it will get. (The higher the temp. the faster it will ferment.)

I let mine go for 6 weeks at about 70 degrees and it was delicious.

Also- It can get some mold on the top of the brine. As long as it's not green or black- this is okay. Just remove it before taking out the kraut. I have talked to many people who have been making it for years and a lot of them say that they scrape the mold off once a week for 6 weeks. Some say they just remove it when it's done fermenting. I was worried about mine the first time I made it. But then I ate it and didn't die...so now I trust what everyone had told me.

 

7. Next-taste it. If it's good then remove it from the crock. Eat it raw for all the fermented benefits or Can it to enjoy it later in the year. (If you want to keep it raw I've read that it will keep in the fridge for about two months.)

 

I don't love it raw because I feel like it has a musty taste but I try to eat some anyway...since it's good for me and all. I canned the majority of mine.

 

If you want to can it use this timetable:

 

Hot Pack: Pint Jars-10 minutes, Quart jars-15 minutes
Raw Pack: Pint jars-20 minutes, Quart jars-25 minutes

 

 

 



 

And if you want to see another sweet little thing that was brewing in my crock....

 

Here's my little one playing peek-a-boo.

 

Where's Baby Josie?? Where could she be??

 

Peek-a-boo!!!  There she is!!

 

 I don't know what I enjoyed more about this antique crock...Fermenting the kraut or entertaining my  toddler for an entire afternoon?! Both uses were wonderful!!

 

If you make your sauerkraut a different way, I'd love to hear about it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So I'm going to be a blogger

I feel the need to have a space where I can share all of my homesteading adventures with those of you who'd like to read about them. Everything from learning how to prepare whole food meals for my husband and our three daughters to butchering pigs, inoculating mushrooms spores or sharing my all natural home product recipes that I've tried and loved. We've been on a path towards simple living for the last year and half since we sold our 5,000 square foot house (along with nearly all of our belongings) to create a home life where we are producing more then we are consuming. We bought 3.5 acres of land overlooking the beautiful Susquehanna River in Lancaster County Pa and have been enjoying the simple things in life ever since. I've been so humbled by the things I've learned since taking this leap of faith and so grateful for the friendships I've been lucky enough to have made.

This is my first time ever doing a blog and this is my first post so as you can imagine, I'm typing this particular post as quickly as possible. I promise there is more and better posts to come!!

Thanks for reading,
Georgia

And since I have to practice putting up pictures, I decided  to post one of our first two piglets. This is a picture of Piggly and Wiggly last year helping us to till the new garden. Aww...