Last week I had somewhat of an epiphany. Well, not really. It wasn't like when Newton was hit on the head with an apple, but it was pretty darned close. I had a huge bowl full of apples that were soon to be past their "best before dates" and I needed to use them up.

I had baked an apple crumble (which disappeared too quickly to take a picture of!) already and had eaten a few just as snacks and wanted to speed up the process of their disappearance, while at the same time keeping them for future use...what to do, what to do? I knew I could make applesauce...but that just seemed a bit boring. Then I remembered about that strange preserve without pectin called Apple Butter and prepared the night before the endeavor with all my ingredients lined up on the counter.

It was such a simple preserve to make and a delicious treat to have for spreading on hot toasted bagels, using as filling in cookies and I think I might even venture a sauce for chicken with the dregs (because yes, it is now almost gone already!) of the tupperware container in my fridge. I didn't go through the whole rigmarole of sterilizing jars and preserving the apple butter (jam, really if we're being honest here!) because I knew I would be using it rather quickly...and I also figured if I didn't I could throw it in the freezer for use at a later date. And I didn't stock up on jars before hand anyway...

It was a day of peeling, cutting and then some serious stirring. I wonder if that was what later led to my right arm being in such extreme pain this past weekend...? Probably not; the timing doesn't work. But it was worth it, with the resultant two tupperware containers (one for me, one for my mom) of Ever-so-Slightly-Sweet, With-a-Whiff-Of-Coffee-Flavour Apple Butter. Yum.

And speaking of apples, don't forget this Friday's second edition of Sugar High Fridays in which the theme is none other than APPLES!!