Wow! It’s been so long since I last posted to this blog. You’d think I’d given up on being half-green and kinda crunchy, didn’t you?
Well, I kinda did. Between baby turning into a toddler, living in a small apartment with too much stuff, working every other week seven days in a row, and just not having enough time or willpower to be green or crunchy, I did give up.
But times are changing! Husband and I bought a house mid-July, complete with mature grape vines (courtesy of our neighbors—they’re growing mostly on our side of the fence but in their soil, so they might decide to tear them down someday), a 20-foot tall apple tree, and a forty-foot fall (or 30? Super tall) cherry tree. We weren’t prepared for the harvest and let most of the food go to waste (super cringe), but we promise to do better next year (and make a garden! Though we’ll have to redo the sprinkler system to allow for one).
For today, though, let’s talk apples! The poor apple tree needs some TLC, but even so it’s given us a good harvest! About a month ago I made applesauce in our Instant Pot (our oven is down, and our new oven isn’t installed yet, so everything is Instant Pot, microwave, griddle, or grill). Canning supplies are in demand due to the pandemic, so I simply put the applesauce in some containers and put them in my fridge. Turns out I should’ve frozen it, though, as toddler (whom I shall call Mr. A) doesn’t like chunky applesauce and I don’t have an immersion blender or food processor (yet). So…it’s still sitting in the fridge and I’m a little afraid to open it and see what it tastes like (homemade applesauce supposedly has a fridge life of about 1 week if not properly canned or frozen).
This week, Mr. A and I picked apples using this long tool with a basket on the end that had little prongs like fingers to tug on the apples. He loved it, and we filled a five gallon bucket in about half an hour (which is no time at all when it comes to doing tasks with a toddler’s help). I separated the bug-bitten ones from the blemish-free ones, then chopped up the big-bitten ones to make apple juice and applesauce, again in the Instant Pot.
The recipe I found online said to fill up the Instant Pot and then add water until it just covers the apples. I did that, then pressure cooked it for about four minutes. The recipe said to do a natural release, which for all other recipes I’ve done means wait ten minutes then flip the release valve.
Well, that was the wrong thing to do! A jet of steam reaching almost to the ceiling spurted upwards. By pure chance, I was wearing a rubber-lined hot pad glove, and I flipped the valve with my hand like I usually do. If I hadn’t worn that glove, I would’ve been badly burned!
The steam just kept coming and coming, so I reached out with my gloved hand and flipped the valve back to “Sealed.” It took an additional half hour for the pressure to release on its own.
I lined my other Instant Pot pot with what I think is a flour cloth (it was a wedding present, and I’ve always just used it as a towel, but it is very thin and more of the material of a thin apron), then poured the apple soup in it. Then I carefully wrapped up the apples, lifted them up, placed a large colander over the top of that Instant pot, then placed the apple chunks on top (the recipe said to let it drip for a while).
After the hour had passed, I squeezed what I could out of the apple chunks and looked at my creation. Well, it looked like apple juice!
I tasted it while it was still warm, and I was a little disappointed. It tasted like apple-inspired herbal tea. Not strong enough to make apple cider. “Well,” I thought, “Let’s let it cool and see what it tastes like chilled.”
I should’ve figured it would be weaker than the apple juice you buy at the store or at a stand at a farmer’s market. After all, I added water to the apples to make juice, since I don’t have a juicer or a press. Still, it was disappointing. But I’d have to wait and see what it was like chilled.
Hours and hours and hours later, during which I split some of the juice into baggies and froze them (luckily placing quart-sized baggies in a gallon-sized baggie, because one of them immediately started leaking), I finally tasted the chilled product. It was light, delicate, smooth in my mouth. Definitely better than herbal tea. It reminded me of pear nectar. Sweet but not overpowering, silky on the lips and tongue. Delicious.
The ultimate test came when I asked Mr. A if he wanted juice. Of course he said yes. Because there was already water added to the original juice, I didn’t water it down at all but placed it in a small cup for him to drink (sans lid). He sipped it, and giggled. Then sipped some more. Then gave the rest to gravity (like he always does. I should’ve seen that coming), dropped the cup on the ground (our dog immediately cleaned the inside before I could reach it), and demanded more juice.
I got a fresh cup (again sans lid—what was I thinking?), and events repeated themselves.
Success! I had successfully made apple nectar! Not quite juice, but far better than plain water. And it is a delicate peach color.
As for the rest of the apple chunks, I scooped them out of the flour cloth and placed them in baggies to freeze. I won’t make the same mistake of not freezing (since canning supplies are scarce) applesauce after I make it. Maybe I’ll purchase a food processor or immersion blender to make smooth applesauce since Mr. A doesn’t like chunky applesauce.
(Oh! We had plenty of apples left, so I made a second batch of juice/nectar and apple sauce. I also thawed the juice I’d previously frozen since Mr. A loves it so much, though I did freeze some juice in the form of popsicles, since he loves those too.)
Half Green and Kinda Crunchy 