Sunday, November 13, 2011

Adventures In Applesauce

A snack I've been having lately is a simple mix of a half cup of plain non-fat yogurt, a quarter cup of granola (chosen carefully to avoid super high calorie types) and a quarter cup of crushed pineapple (packed in its own juice). It's pretty good nutritionally, pretty filling, and under 200 calories. I decided that it would be good to introduce some variety, but what to use?. Applesauce seemed a natural choice in place of the crushed pineapple, but to me, store-bought jarred applesauce is barely mediocre. On the other hand, I have fond memories of my Mom's homemade applesauce.

Her “recipe” was simple, cut up apples, a little water, a little brown sugar and a pinch of salt (to enhance the flavor). The critical ingredient is the apple. I know, “Du-uhh!” But seriously, apples that are great eaten fresh – e.g. Jazz, Honeycrisp or Jonagold – are not necessarily very good for cooking. I tried using Honeycrisp, and while the resulting applesauce was better than the stuff from a jar, it was just OK. So I decided to try several types that are good for cooking. So far, I've tried Pink Lady and Pippin, and the results have been very good. I'm going to try Granny Smith also (when on sale). My Mom always used Gravenstein, but I haven't seen that variety at our local store. At any rate, my family is enjoying the homemade applesauce and I have some variety in my snack.

I know, no profound lessons about not accepting mediocrity in our walk with Christ or how God uses different types of people for different purpose. How weird of me! But God wants us to enjoy his creation, and really great applesauce is very enjoyable!

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