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Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Saving Christmas - Week #2

For this week's Saving Christmas idea, I am sharing our favorite: Apple Pie Filling.  I was going to give everyone jams & jellies, and then my brother and his family requested our jellies early because they love it so much.  Well, I couldn't give them a couple more jars of what they already have from us recently!  So, the more I thought about it, I thought that they might enjoy our Apple Pie Filling with a box of pie crust.  So here's our recipe:

Apple Pie Filling
from Better Home and Gardens Home Canning Cook Book
  •  4 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup cornstarch
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 or 3 drops yellow food coloring
  • 5 1/2 to 6 pounds tart apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
In large saucepan blend first 4 ingredients and 1 teaspoon salt.  Stir in 10 cups water; cook and stir till thickened and bubbly.  Add lemon juice and food coloring.
Look at all that yummy goodness!

 Pack the apples into hot jars, leaving 1-inch headspace. 

We have found a local orchard that sells utility apples for $3.75 a half bushel, so we usually puck up 4 bushels of apples to make our pie filling and applesauce for the year.  I pick up three different kinds of apples
and mix them so we have a rounded taste.

Fill with hot syrup, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. (use spatulat to help distribute syrup.)  Adjust lids.  Process in boiling water bath (pints) 15 minutes; (quarts) 20 minutes.  Makes 6 quarts.

Before serving:  Prepare pastry for a 2-crust 8- or 9-inch pie.  Line pie plate with pastry; add 1 quart apple pie filling.  Adjust top crust, cutting slits for escape of steam; seal.  Bake 400 degrees for 50 minutes.

Some notes:
  • We love to use a favorite crumb topping for apple crisp instead of the top crust. 
  • Jiffy pie crust mix is the best crust if not using a homemade crust.  This is what we will include with the Apple Pie Filling for our Christmas gifts.
  • We will put a pretty tag and square of material on the jar to give it as a gift.
That's it!  Hope you enjoy this great idea to save money for Christmas this year!  I can't wait to hear what you have to share this week for your "Saving Christmas" ideas.  Please only include ideas for ways to save for Christmas only.  Make sure you link directly to your idea and refer back to my posts.




I am linking up to:
2nd Time Around - A Picture is Worth a 1000 Words
Take-A-Look-Tuesday - Sugar Bee
Penny Pinching Party - The Thrifty Home
Creative Share - Trendy Treehouse
Transformation Thursday - The Shabby Chic Cottage
Making it With Allie - What Allie's Making Now
Thrifty Thursday - Tales from Bloggeritaville
Frugalicious Friday - Finding Fabulous
Frugal Friday - The Shabby Nest

5 comments:

  1. Awesome idea, thanks for sharing! What a yummy present.

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  2. Can I be your new family member, lol. This looks delicious!I'm going to have to try this.Thanks for sharing, Annette

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  3. A great gift! Thanks so much for linking to 2nd Time Around!

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  4. Yummy!! I am a family member right??

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  5. I love your gift ideas! Wish I could sew and can....

    By the way, thanks for stopping by my blog. I am your newest follower!

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I love to hear what you think! Thanks for your feedback!