The Pioneer Kitchen Diaries: Conquering applesauce

When I started outlining this project, where to start, and what it would encompass, I knew a huge part of it would be about food. Growing it, cooking it, eating it, canning it, composting it, and thinking about it. From my research (and by research, I mean playing The Oregon Trail and reading the Little House books), it seems as if pioneers spent an exorbitant amount of time on their food. I suppose this has to do with the fact that a good portion of their day was consumed with it. Mainly because of how long it took to cook and prepare everything.

So that intimidated me. Also intimidating was what they ate. Honestly, I’m repulsed by the concept of everything cooked in pork fat and let’s not even discuss some of the meat that they ate. This is perhaps part of why I’d starve if thrust into that situation now. But if this project were to progress, I knew I had to start somewhere (and maybe work myself up into cooking something in bacon fat. I doubt it but we’ll check in on that in a few months). So I decided to start with something simple–applesauce.

I’m not sure if applesauce is even a traditional pioneer food but I think they must’ve eaten canned apples and applesauce is kind of the same thing. At least, I’m deciding that it is. It’s also fairly uncomplicated to make which fits my criteria for “official first Towhouse Pioneer project”.

I had tried one recipe and it turned out…well, not so great. Thankfully, Pinterest exists and I took to it immediately. I searched for applesauce recipes and the results were, well, plentiful. Amidst the results, I saw Ree Drummond’s (aka The Pioneer Woman) recipe and I figured that a recipe by The Pioneer Woman would be a) delicious because most of her recipes are and b) fitting for my first project of this nature. So I pulled up the recipe and off I went.

To say I was pleased with the results is an understatement. This shit turned out fantastic! That Pioneer Woman seriously knows what she’s talking about. I don’t even like applesauce and I couldn’t stop eating it. It tasted like apple pie filling rather than the grocery store jarred stuff. I did make some modifications, like using cinnamon sugar, Golden Delicious apples rather than a mix, and I didn’t puree it. I left it with some chunks (side note, I hate this word. It reminds me of puke and also the fat kid from the Goonies. I like him and all but the Truffle Shuffle is not exactly conducive to garnering an appetite) since my husband and daughter prefer chunky applesauce.

The final product lasted 48 hours. Half of it was gone before it even made it into the mason jars. It was that good.

In case you want to make it yourself, here’s what you do:

Peel, core, and slice 3 pounds of Golden Delicious apples

Add water, brown sugar, cinnamon sugar, and lemon juice

Boil apples, sugar, water, cinnamon, and lemon juice for 20-25 minutes, until apples are soft

Spoon apples and some liquid into a bowl and mash until apples are broken into pieces

Pour finished product into mason jars and store in fridge until ready to use

Pioneer Project applesauce (adapted from The Pioneer Woman)

Makes approximately 6 servings.

Ingredients

• 3 pounds Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
• 1/2 cup water
•  1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/4 cup Brown Sugar, Packed
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon sugar, More Or Less To Taste

Directions