This month's notes: May 2013: The cool weather has delayed blooms and slowed growth by a couple of weeks, but don't miss strawberries: they started in most Southern areas in late April, and in late May up north. Click here for strawberry facts and picking tips, and this page for easy strawberry jam making directions. Blueberries will come in June in most areas. Of course, Florida, southern Texas, and other very warm areas are already picking both crops! See this page for hundreds of easy canning and freezing instructions/recipes, canning equipment guide! Also make your own ice cream - see How to make ice cream and ice cream making equipment and manuals. Then see each state's crop availability calendar for more specific dates of upcoming crops. Organic farms are identified in green!  See our guide to local fruit and vegetable festivals!. Please tell the farms you found them here - and ask them to update their information!!

Subscribe to our: Email alerts;  Follow us on Twitter or via RSS:  Add this page to your favorites! - Email this page to a friend, or to yourself

How to Make Cranapplesauce (Cranberry - Apple sauce) - Easily! With Step-by-step Photos, Recipe, Directions, Ingredients and Costs

How to Make Homemade Cran-Apple Sauce

Do you like applesauce, but it can be too sweet...... and you like cranberry sauce, but it can be too tart? Ah, then you'll LOVE my grandmother's secret Cran-Applesauce! It's perfect with chicken, turkey, Christmas, Thanksgiving and the winter months! The bright color livens up any dinner table, kids love it and it is low sugar while loaded with vitamin C and fiber.  You can make it with no sugar (very tart), some sugar (sweet) or artificial sweetener (like Stevia, my preference (or if you prefer, Splenda)), as you prefer!

It is easy to make and can, if you want some for later! Here's how to do it, complete instructions in easy steps and completely illustrated.

Prepared this way, the jars have a shelf life of 12 months to 18 months, and require no special attention.

Directions for Making Cranapplesauce

Ingredients and Equipment

Recipe and Directions

Step 1 - Selecting the apples

The most important step!  You need apples that are sweet - that way, you can use less refined sugar or other sweetener!

Instead, choose apples that are naturally sweet, like Red Delicious, Gala, Fuji, Rome and always use a mixture - never just one type.  The Fuji's and Gala's give it an aromatic flavor! Honeycrisp and Pink Lady are also excellent, sweet, flavorful apples.

Step 2 - If you are canning: Wash the jars and lids

Now's a good time to get the jars ready, so you won't be rushed later. The dishwasher is fine for the jars; especially if it has a "sanitize" cycle, the water bath processing will sanitize them as well as the contents! If you don't have a dishwasher with a sanitize cycle, you can wash the containers in hot, soapy water and rinse, then sanitize the jars by boiling them 10 minutes, and keep the jars in hot water until they are used. Leave the jars in the dishwasher on "heated dry" until you are ready to use them. Keeping them hot will prevent the jars from breaking when you fill them with the hot cranapplesauce.

Put the lids into a pan of hot, but not quite boiling water (that's what the manufacturer's recommend) for 5 minutes, and use the magnetic "lid lifter wand" to pull them out.

Step 3- Wash the apples and cranberries

Apples: Just wash the apples in cold water, no soap. We're going to remove the skins anyway, so don't spend too much time on it. You can remove any stickers that the grocery store put on the apples, though.  Peelers often get suck on those.
 

Cranberries: Pour them in to a large bowl of cold water, and swirl them around, scoop them out with your fingers, feeling for any mushy berries, as you scoop.  Discard any mushy, soft berries. The picture of the 4 berries shows you unripe through ripe.  I'd throw out the one on the far left, but use the other 3.
 

Step 4 - Peel the apples

The fastest way to peel the apples is one of these peelers!  With firm apples, it takes about 20 seconds per apple. These apple peelers don't work well on soft, mushy apples or apples with soft spots on them. In that case your stuck with a hand peeler!

Once they're peeled, remove any remaining brown spots (see the photos at right - before removing the blemishes.)

Step 5 - Core and slice the apples

You can use a knife, but the $5 corer/slicer you see in the photo is available at any kitchen store (Bed, Bath and beyond, local "big box" stores, etc.), and is the fastest, easiest way. But any slices that are between ¼-inch and 1/2 inch thick will do.

Remove seeds, stems, any hard parts near the seeds and brown or soft spots.

Here are the apple slices.  Now, you you want smaller chunks, just cut the apple slices in half again.  You don't need to: they will tend to break up some during cooking, anyway.

Step 6 - Start the cranberries cooking

They take longer than the apples, so put 2 inches of water (or cranberry or apple juice) in a pot, get it boiling and pour the cranberries in.  Let them cook for about 10 minutes, stirring once or twice (you'll hear the berries popping, as the berries cook - you'll kids will get a kick out of that).

Step 7 - Add the apples

When the berries have started popping, and you've stirred them  a couple of times, add the apples.  Now just cook on medium heat until the apples feel soft with a fork all the way through (about 10 - 15 minutes after you've added them).  Note: in general, you'll want about equal amounts of cranberries to peeled, slice apples.  Of course, if you want it tarter, use more cranberries; sweeter or more apple-y, then add more apples!

Step 8 - Sweeten the cranapplesauce

Turn off the heat. Add sugar to taste.  Start out with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sugar or Stevia, my preference (or if you prefer, Splenda), as you prefer.

If you don't plan to can any, you're done!  Just serve warm or cold!

If you want to can for later, continue through to steps 9 and 10.

The cranapplesauce does not need any further cooking; just keep it hot until you get enough made to fill the jars you will put into the canner (Canners hold seven jars at once, whether they are quart or pint size)

Step 9 - Fill the jars and process them in the water bath

Fill them to within 1/2 inch of the top, wipe any spilled cranapplesauce of the top, seat the lid and tighten the ring around them.  Put them in the canner and keep them cover with at least 1 inch of water and boiling. if you are at sea level (up to 1,000 ft) boil pint jars for 15 minutes and quart jars for 20 min. If you are at an altitude of 1,000 feet or more, see the chart at the bottom of this page.

Step 10 - Remove and cool the jars - Done

Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight)  You can then remove the rings if you like, but if you leave them on, at least loosen them quite a bit, so they don't rust in place due to trapped moisture. Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it. Some people replace the lid and reprocess the jar, then that's a bit iffy. If you heat the contents back up, re-jar them (with a new lid) and the full time in the canner, it's usually ok.




 

Other Equipment:

From left to right: Jar lifting tongs to pick up hot jars Lid lifter - to remove lids from the pot of boiling water (sterilizing ) Lid - disposable - you may only use them once Ring - holds the lids on the jar until after the jars cool - then you don't need them Canning jar funnel - to fill the jars

* All the tools you need for hot waterbath canning - in one comprehensive set! * Complete with 21 1/2 qt. enameled waterbath canner and "Ball Blue Book" of canning. * Also includes canning rack, funnel, jar lifter, jar wrencher, bubble freer, tongs and lid lifter. * A Kitchen Krafts exclusive collection. Average Customer Review: Usually ships in 1-2 business days	Home Canning Kits Features: Everything you need to get started with waterbath canning (fruits,pickles, jams, jellies, salsa, sauces and tomatoes) 21-1/2 qt. enamel water bath canner Funnel, jar lifter, lid lifter, bubble freer spatula Ball Blue Book This is the same type of  standard canner that my grandmother used to make everything from cranapplesauce to jams and jellies to tomato and spaghetti sauce. This complete kit includes everything you need: the canner, jar rack, jar grabber tongs, lid lifting wand, a plastic funnel, labels, bubble freer, and the bible of canning, the Ball Blue Book. You'll never need anything else except more jars and lids!
	Victorio V250 Food Strainer (the same as the comparable Villaware and Roma models) With this Food and Vegetable Strainer, you'll be able to prepare more healthy foods, make natural sauces, soups and jams - even your own baby food! The tedious job of peeling and coring is eliminated as the strainer continuously separates the seeds and skins from the juices and pulp with just a turn of the handle. The highly polished body contains no paint or coatings that can chip or peel off, is easy to clean, and stands 19-in. high with the attached hopper. Click at left for more information, images accessories or to order. Features: Stainless-steel construction Manual crank system Replaces peeling and coring Assembly required Wash all parts in hot, soapy water Optional additional screens for berries, pumpkin, salsa, tomato/cranapplesauce
	Deluxe Food Strainer & Sauce Maker See this page for more information, reviews, descriptions of other strainers and supplies or to order! With the Deluxe Food Strainer/Sauce Maker, you can make creamy apple sauce and smooth tomato sauce without having to peel and core! This multi-use strainer forces food through a stainless steel screen, automatically separating the juice and pulp from the seeds, shins, and stems. Perfect for purees, creamed soups, baby foods, pie filling, juices, jams, and more. Save time, effort, and money by preparing your own tasty sauces to be used immediately or boiled for future use. Do bushels with ease and in a fraction of the time. Includes the tomato/apple screen with easy twist on design and instruction/recipe booklet. The Deluxe model comes with the standard Tomato/Apple Screen; as well as the Berry Screen, Pumpkin Screen, and Grape Spiral. Note

Can't find the equipment?  We ship to all 50 states!

Don't forget the Ball Blue Book!

Home Canning Kits Features: * All the tools you need for hot waterbath canning - in one comprehensive set! * Complete with 21 1/2 qt. enameled waterbath canner * Also includes canning rack, funnel, jar lifter, jar wrencher, bubble freer, tongs and lid lifter. * A Kitchen Krafts exclusive collection. This is the same type of standard canner that my grandmother used to make everything from applesauce to jams and jellies to tomato and spaghetti sauce. This complete kit includes everything you need and lasts for years: the canner, jar rack, jar grabber tongs, lid lifting wand, a plastic funnel, labels, bubble freer. It's much cheaper than buying the items separately. You'll never need anything else except jars & lids (and the jars are reusable)! There is also s simple kit with just the canner and rack, and a pressure canner, if your want to do vegetables (other than tomatoes). To see more canners, of different styles, makes and prices, click here! Average Customer Review: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Picking Tips

[General picking tips and a guide to each fruit and vegetable] [How much do I need to pick? (Yields - how much raw makes how much cooked or frozen)] [Selecting the right varieties to pick] [All about apple varieties - which to pick and why!]  [Picking tips for Vegetables] [ Strawberry picking tips] [ Blueberries picking tips]

Illustrated Canning, Freezing, Jam Instructions and Recipes

[ All About Home Canning, Freezing and Making Jams, Pickles, Sauces, etc. ] [FAQs - Answers to common questions and problems] [Recommended books about home canning, jam making, drying and preserving!] [Free canning publications to download and print]