Yes, I can can!

I feel a bit like the Little Engine That Could. All day as I peeled the apples and prepared them for saucing, my mantra was, "I think I can, I think I can."

Here is my first attempt, the result of peeling a boatload of apples, cooking them down and ladling them into jars. It turns out that my home canning skills have not deserted me even though I haven't used them in donkey's years. All six jars sealed on the first try - hooray!

The Joy of Cooking recipe adds nothing to the apples but sugar, some lemon juice and water, plus spices if you like cinnamon in your sauce. Instead, I use unfiltered apple cider as the liquid in which I cook the apples - it enhances the apple flavor and adds just enough sweetness that sugar is not necessary. My neighbor's apples are a rather tart, astringent variety so they could have used a bit of sugar, but we will enjoy these slightly tart jars nevertheless, and I have about as many more apples to process so I can sweeten the next batch a bit more.

Have to be careful not to get cocky with the next batch. I think I could.

Can I?

I used to "can" when I lived in western New York - almost everyone did. My horse friend Julie made the most heavenly peach jam and put it up in decorative jars. Fellow student Joan put up a wonderful purple jelly made from the scented violets that grew in her flower beds. Future intellectual property attorney Marianne made the best strawberry jam.

In summer, I'd make quarts and quarts of tomato juice for First Husband, who loved fresh juice, and bottle it for use all winter. In autumn, I'd make applesauce and put it up in jars to give as Thanksgiving gifts to friends and for us to enjoy with pork roasts or on waffles. Western New York is a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables in the summer and early fall.

When I moved to California, however, my full-time job put a cramp in my canning style. Something about a nine-hour day with an hour commute on either end damped down my enthusiasm for kitchen projects back then.

Now that I'm retired, I want to try applesauce again. I bought the jars, scrounged the apples from my neighbor's tree, and sharpened my paring knife. I re-read the home canning directions on the box of jars and the recipe for applesauce in the Joy of Cooking. I've got two big pots, plenty of kitchen towels, paper towels and a great big ladle. I think I'm ready, but it has been a long time since I did this.

Can I?