One of my favorite fall activities is apple picking. I usually go at least once a year. On Saturday, my boyfriend and I headed to Eckert’s Farm in Belleville, IL, to stock up on apples.

It was a beautiful day for picking. Even though it was a little hot there was a breeze, especially when we sat at the top of the tractor and it started rolling through the orchard. We got off near the Golden Delicious part of the orchard and started picking as many apples as we could. We also ate some because that’s half the fun of apple picking.
We ended up with about 10 pounds of apples each, which surprised me. The bag didn’t feel that heavy and it didn’t take that long to pick them. We talked about how apple picking is a different experience than strawberry picking, because you don’t have to hunch over or squat down to get to the fruit. I like both experiences but apple picking is probably more relaxing. Also, the number of things you can make with apples is almost endless. I brought the apples back to my house and immediately started to make applesauce. It’s an easy dish to make and you can make it in big batches, so you can give some to family and friends.

The recipe I use is pretty basic: It just calls for apples, cinnamon, water, sugar, and a pinch of cloves. You could get fancy and add things like maple syrup, cardamom, and nutmeg, but I like to keep my applesauce recipe simple. It makes it versatile enough to be used in a bunch of dishes. You could even bake with it if you wanted to.

I’d highly recommend making this applesauce if you bring home 10 pounds of apples from the orchard and you don’t know what to do with them. You could also keep the recipe in your back pocket for the holidays. Good applesauce goes a long way on a holiday table.

Here’s a song to get you started.

Cinnamon Spice Applesauce

Ingredients

8 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
1 1/2 cups of water
1/2 cup cane sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
a pinch of cloves

Directions

Combine the apples, water, sugar, cinnamon, and cloves in a saucepan. Cover and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook about 15-20 minutes, or until the apples are soft. Allow the mixture to cool and then use a potato masher to bring the apples to the desired consistency. I like mine slightly chunky. Enjoy!