And Suddenly It’s Fall

Tuesday was the first day of school here, and it was hot. HOT. Do you speak Canadian? If so, it was 40 degrees, which is basically the same as the surface of the sun for most Northerners. Some people kept their kids home from school, because not all the classrooms are air conditioned. It broke records. And then today we woke up and it was 8 degrees. EIGHT. I kept walking back into the house to add more layers. It was a beautiful day; sunny and clear, a great day for the Farmer’s Market. We got apples, peaches, pears and plums, just like some lame ass nursery rhyme. We got peaches & cream corn, and baby new potatoes, and field tomatoes, and broccoli. And we got CRABAPPLES!

I don’t know that I’ve ever seen crabapples for sale anywhere; I sure as heck have never done anything with them before. I just knew they were something new and fun to play with, so I got a bag and headed home to make some magic. I asked the internet for the Top 3 recipes, and it gave me one website with all three; https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2016/10/crab-apple-recipes/.  I decided to start with the easiest one, Crabapple Liquer. I LOVE alcohol, the fruitier the better, and I like making homemade drinkies for Christmas gifts for my sister, who also loves the drink. So I washed and halved the cute little fruits, and poured in some sugar, and then had a 30- minute debate with myself about using plain vodka vs flavored vodka.

I ended up driving to the liquor store (the LCBO here) for inspiration, and came home with Fireball and Cranberry-Apple infused vodka. After tasting the Fireball I decided that wasn’t the direction I wanted to go after all (I was thinking apples and cinnamon), so used half of the flavored and half regular.
The next step was to store it someplace cool and dark, and I’ll flip it a few times and then strain it in another month or so, and that should be it! I’m not sure about the practical application, other than over some ice; maybe in cider?

Next up was the ubiquitous Crabapple Jelly. It seemed like something they’d make in Anne of Green Gables, and although clear jellies seem pretty blah, I figured I’d give it a shot. 

 

The instructions said to just throw the whole apples in the pan, which I was totally down with. And then I boiled the heck out of them, after covering them with water, and then I was supposed to let them strain through a jelly sock. 
Jelly. Sock.
No, that’s the one thing I don’t own, sadly, but now that I know it exists,  I need one. I used a few layers of cheesecloth instead, and I did not strain them overnight, because hello, patience, so I strained for about two hours.
At this point the directions very clearly said to NOT squeeze the apples, because you’d get a cloudy jelly, and ARE YOU A SAVAGE?! You would never be able to eat that, let alone serve it to anybody you cared about. I really should’ve mushed up the apples in the pan, but it never even crossed my mind because I’m not that smart.

If you’ve never made jam or jelly before, it’s a SHOCKING amount of sugar. Especially if you’re not using pectin, or anything that’s going to help the jelling process along. I tend to make strawberry, raspberry, and blueberry jam, and I usually add a little lemon juice to those, but since this was so tart already I didn’t want to mess with it. So after straining and reheating the liquid I added a horrifying four cups of sugar. Actually, I chickened out and added 3 1/2 cups, forgetting that it would throw things off, and then after boiling/stirring for a ridiculous 40 minutes and not being able to crack a 215 degree temp on a candy thermometer, I finally added the rest of the sugar, almost destroyed the stovetop when everything immediately boiled over, but got it to 222, which is what another recipe said was the ideal temp. I had a boiling pot of water on standby to sterilize some jars, and there you had it: 3 1/2 measly jars of jelly. Luckily everything set and sealed properly. 

The 1/2 jar was obviously sacrificed for immediate testing, and it is surprisingly good; there’s this nice little sharp tart edge that means it will be really good with cream cheese and crackers. And look at that clarity! I TOTALLY squeezed those apples, and the world did not end. I read something about the color varying depending on blah blah I can’t remember, but this is gorgeous; like a nice claret, something else I feel was going on in Anne’s world that I’m too lazy to look up. 

I’ll tuck these away for a Christmas party, or a grey February day, sometime when a little color and taste of late summer will be very much needed. I’d definitely make the jelly again; I feel like it would make a great gift for old people. Because again, crabapple jelly, who the heck eats that?