Old Fashioned Apple Butter

If you are a regular on this blog you know I grew up in the Southern Indiana countryside where we raised large gardens and our own beef, pork, and chickens.  My grandparents, who lived next door, had a small apple orchard. I can vividly remember picking up apples and the delicious aromas as grandma turned them into homemade apple butter.  I loved eating that apple butter all winter long on toast, biscuits, etc.  This was not grandma's recipe but one from another lady on over in the country.  Grandma never used a recipe saying hers was in her head.

Cook on top of stove:
1/2 bushel apples, any variety except red delicious, washed and cored but not peeled
1 gallon or more of sweet cider
When tender, run through a food mill or colander.
Cook in large pan, in the oven at 350 degrees, stirring occasionally.
Bake 5 to 6 hours.
Add:
1 1/2 cups cinnamon red hots that are dissolved in 2 1/2 cups hot water
Add:
3 cups light brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
4 to 6 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Return to over, simmer, stirring occasionally, until desired consistency to can in sterilized jars, seal.

Make about 12 quarts.

Note: File Photo