Capturing the Autumn Harvest- APPLESAUCE!

So I always talk about taking advantage of what veggies and fruits are in season - this year I decided to try my hand at applesauce! My three year old son loves it, and I just had a baby girl who will want some healthy food in a few months.  So with abit of help from a Mother Earth News Article on baking with applesauce(http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Bake-With-Applesauce-Recipes.aspx) and my handy-dandy book, Busy Person's Guide to Preserving Food, I went at it.  What I didn't realize it is the SIMPLEST THING EVER and so delicious!  Also, in-season apples are a super price!  $10 for a peck which makes ALOT OF APPLESAUCE.  Here goes:

1. Wash apples - no need to peel.  Make sure to scrub them well.
2. Core them and drop apple pieces into a heavy pot with an inch or so of water.
3. Cook until tender - keep heat low so not to scorch the pan or apples.
4. Puree the soft mixture (Vitamix works PERFECTLY).  Return puree into the pot and add sugar or honey to taste. You can also add seasonings like cinnamon and cloves etc.
5. You can then freeze this and unfreeze as needed, but I like having it on my shelf so I hot packed them.  I sterilized my jars and lids and put the hot applesauce in the jars and boiled them for 15 minutes.  Once cooled the are good to go on my shelf!  For more details on this, get the book Busy Person's Guide to Preserving Food, it rocks!  (you can find it on my amazon page http://astore.amazon.com/wwwfoodscaper-20?%5Fencoding=UTF8&node=5)

Enjoy!
**Note if you have a vitamix, which is a specialty blender, you don't need to core the apples. The blender will literally blend the seeds and core into your sauce.  Great source of fiber! But please, don't try this with other blenders....the vitamix is one of its kind! (http://www.vitamix.com/)