Crabby Appleton!!

I don't know why that came to mind while I was writing this...but Wow am I  dating myself...Tom Terrific, Mighty Manfred  with their dastardly villain Crabby Appleton who was always saying I am rotten to the core... anyways  my apples were not rotten to the core they were terrific...what a great first year for these little gems...

 Last year I had 6 apples total on the tree....not so this year...maybe it was all that rain...maybe it was time to really produce...maybe a bit of both...all I know I was really happy looking out back & seeing this on the tree...I have 10 other trees growing that I took from this main tree & one has already produced some apples!!  

So this year total harvest was 8 cups...

This is a very easy recipe & fun to make..

 After cleaning, pulling the stems & cutting these little guys in half...

 It is time to make Jelly!!

Crab-Apple Jelly

8 cups crab-apples

3 cups sugar 

1 stick cinnamon or 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 box no/low sugar Sure Jell

* Even tho crab-apples are high in pectin, I still added the sure jell just to make sure it jelled properly...

Cover with just enough water to cover the apples..

For 8 cups I used almost 6 cups of water...

Bring these to a rolling boil , turn down to medium-low 

& simmer for 15 minutes....

Then strain through a few layers of cheese cloth...I let them drip for about an hour...

I took the dogs for a walk...it was such a great fall day... 

When I got back, I squeezed very gently for anymore juice then off the the compost for the apples...

You want to end up with 5 cups of juice....

then I added the sugar, cinnamon & Sure Jell...then cooked on medium -high, skimming off any foam that came to the top.... cook until the thermometer reaches 200-210....if you do not have one, use the sheet method found here...this is what I use...

 Then pour into sterilized jars & process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes....I ended up with 5 half pint jars....& it is SO good...yes we already broke into one of them.......it will be nice to have on those cold winter mornings on homemade bread!!