starting to smells like fall ... .. .

apple butter time

smells like fall

Apple Butter

4-5 pounds apples

5 cups apple cider {or juice}

2 cups sugar {optional}

1 table spoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg and clove .. and I like a little cardamon

Wash and slice apples. Quarter and core add to pot .. no need to peel.

Add cider and boil about 10 minutes or until apples are soft.

Simmer for about an hour to thicken and soften apples, stirring occasionally.  

Turn off heat and mash apples .. they should be soft enough to mash with a potato masher.

Stir in sugar and spices and continue cooking slowly 3 hours ~ stirring frequently.  

Pour into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space.  Seal.    

Makes 3-5 pints.

is not this a true autumn day?

just the still melancholy that I love

that makes life and nature harmonize

the birds are consulting about their migrations

the trees are putting on the hectic or pallid hues of decay

and begin to strew to the ground

that one's very footsteps may not disturb 

the repose of earth and air

while they give us a scent 

that is a perfect anodyne 

to the restless spirit

delicious autumn!!

my very soul is wedded to it

and if I were a bird I would fly

about the earth seeking the successive autumns

[Letter to Miss Eliot, Oct. 1, 1841]

George Eliot