One large copper kettle
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Two large stainless kettles
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Hundreds of large jars of apple sauce
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Cinnamon – lots of cinnamon
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Three motors formerly used to run turkey-house curtains
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Three thing-a-ma-jigs with rubber fan belts
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One permanent lean-to built shed-style with farm leftovers
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Three farmers
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One great neighbor
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Lots of church women
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Countless bottles & funnels and labels
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One raconteur with an anit-Obama bumper sticker in his pocket
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McKendree Methodist Church apple butter
Rosalee ran Angelika and me up to McKendree this morning to check out the applebutter making operation – one of McKendree’s big fundraising projects for the year.
The smells – heavenly. The atmosphere – pure country. The end result – tasty.
In some ways I miss the old-school style – with the long wooden paddles for stirring and pennies thrown in the copper pots to prevent sticking. But I’m not the one doing the stirring.
And you have to admire the common-sense ingenuity that made from spare parts and willing hands three automatic stirring machines.
The smell of applebutter in the making on a cool fall day, sun shining off the fall leaves, fills the air with magic, and that’s a recipe worth following.
