Okay, I'll admit it. I've been using "life" as an excuse for not blogging. I had decided to take a short hiatus... but that was in February. Then I decided to start back up again... but that was in May. Now it's almost October and I feel like the waters are finally calm enough to spend a little time writing.
If there's one thing I've learned so far this year it's that it takes a lot of energy to relax. The older I get, the less appealing just sitting on the couch (or in a bar, for that matter) becomes. And Seattle, wonderful though it may be, is often just too intense a place for proper repose. In fact as I type I'm remembering that this is exactly how I felt around this time last year (check out Gone Camping, my post from last November) so perhaps its seasonal, but in any case I find myself trying to take the time and effort to get out of Dodge and into the woods again.
My birthday was last month and, rather than buy me something I'd never use, my lovely lady decided to take me on an incredible hike up Mt. Index. And when I say "up" I really mean it. I may or may not have been cursing under my breath for the last 3/4-mile but it was all worth it when we got to the top, largely because we'd packed wine and cheese.
It felt so good for both of us to get out of the city and away from everything that it was only two weeks before we were leaving town again; this time to Harstine Island where my sister has the perfect place. It's in the woods... on the beach... in the middle of nowhere... and surrounded by blue and red huckleberries as well as tons of blackberries. To top it off their neighbor, who passed away last year, left behind a fully-grown apple orchard which no one else seemed to be harvesting (no sense in letting the apples go with him, right?) The pickings were so good that we had to come back for more the following weekend. Which brings us to yesterday when, after all the picking and cleaning and sorting was through, my lady and I got to work preserving our pilferage.
The bulk of the huckleberries we dried for later use, but a few special handfuls we turned into liqueurs. Some of the blackberries found their way into cobblers in the weeks after picking, and a few more became their own liqueur, while the rest stayed in the freezer and may still become jam if we muster up the gumption. The apples became the delicious spiced apple butter below. We adapted this recipe from The Complete Book of Year-Round Small-Batch Preserving by Eleanor Topp and Margaret Howard. The original recipe calls for peeling the apples first and skipping pressing them though the strainer, leaving chunks of apple in the finished product. While this sounded delicious we opted to leave the peels on (neither of us wanted to peel a bag full of little apples) and strain the cooked mixture, leaving behind the peels as well as the lemon zest and spices.
Spiced Apple Butter
- 4 lb mixed apples, 1" dice
- 1 cup apple cider
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- zest of one lemon (cut with a potato peeler and avoid the white pith)
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 12 whole cloves
Return the mixture to heat and stir in sugar and lemon juice. Return to a boil, reduce heat, and boil gently for 25 to 35 minutes or until mixture is very thick. Remove from heat.
Ladle into sterilized jars and process as directed for Shorter Time Processing Procedure (www.epicurious.com).