Last week we went to Gene Lester's to tour his apple and citrus orchards. He let us take home several bags of apples of many different varieties. Tonight, J&E and I turned about 20-30 of the smaller apples into leather (well, it will be leather in another 8 hours). Here's our method: Sort your apples into 2 piles: absolutely perfect apples in 1 pile, apples with blemishes, worm holes, punctures in another. If an apple is more than 50% rotten, or if it is moldy, toss it immediately into the compost. The perfect apples are bagged and put into the fridge or cold storage. These will be used for kids' lunches and eating out of hand (this pile is probably smaller). The other pile of apples is ready to be made into leather! Wash them. Cut the blemishes off, then cut in quarters, removing worm damage and cores. Rinse the segment before putting it in a pot. When you've cut about 15 apples (enough to fill a blender), add about 1/3 cup of water to the pot and simmer for 15 minutes or until they are soft but not mush. Do not mash. Put softened cooked apples in a blender with optional ingredients: cinnamon (dash), vanilla (splash) and honey (dollop). I am using our dark bitter farm honey, because it's what we have. I also make batches without any additives but it's not as pliable. Blend. I like the " smoothie" setting on our blender. Pour the applesauce onto dehydrator trays and dry for 8 hours. This will be a huge hit with kids, guests, or family!
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