November 28, 2002

QUESTION: Do you have articles on canning? It is something I would like to try. -Luann Boeckerman, Greenacres, WA

MARYJANE: Quart jars full of ready-made apple pie filling are the perfect starting place for someone canning for the first time. There is an abundance of good canning apples available this time of year. Lined up in a pantry, they are worthy of display and photography.

Apple pie filling needs to be tender, thickened properly, sweetened perfectly, carefully spiced and delicately blushed. Because raw apples shrink a great deal during baking, apple pies tend to develop a gap between the top crust and fruit, causing the top crust to crumble when the pie is sliced. In this recipe, the filling is precooked and thus preshrunk, eliminating the gap and producing a full, shapely pie that slices effortlessly for serving well-formed individual slices. Precooked filling also allows you the choice of covering the pie with a lovely lattice top. This recipe makes a softer filling than one made with raw apples, giving weight and smoothness to the pie.

Donna Goodwin and four women friends "put-up" 140 quart jars of apple pie filling made entirely from roadside apples gathered along Palouse country roads.

In a large pot, combine sugar, starch, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, lemon juice and water. Wash, core, pare and slice apples. Leave some skins on for coloring. (If you are using an apple peeler, this can be accomplished by the use of a lever designed to hold the peeling mechanism away from the apple.) Add apples to syrup. Bring to boil while stirring. Pack, hot, into canning jars, leaving ½" headroom. Wipe the tops of jars carefully, making sure they are clean. Adjust caps. Process quarts for 20 minutes in boiling water bath. For a pressure canner, process quarts at five pounds pressure for 10 minutes. Follow instructions per canning manual for determining whether or not your jars have sealed and are safe for storage.

For a novel new idea using a jar of your ready-made apple pie filling, go to www.maryjanesfarm.org and follow directions for making a Tarte Tian.

An old-fashioned hand-crank apple peeler will, in one step, 1) peel, core and slice; 2) peel only; 3) core and slice; 4) core and peel; or 5) core only. Slices are uniform, ¼ inch thick and perfect for pies.

Optional tools:

All American Pressure Cooker/Canner made in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Available mail-order, item #921. (888-438-5346, www.lehmans.com)
*Apples can be safely processed using the traditional boiling water bath method. However, processing fruits under pressure conserves water and energy.
Back to Basics Apple Peeler made in Sandy, Utah. Available mail-order, item #NP861. (888-438-5346, www.lehmans.com)

Send your questions to MaryJane Butters, c/o MaryJanesFarm, 1000 Wild Iris Lane, Moscow, Idaho, 83843. Questions may also be e-mailed to maryjane@maryjanesfarm.org. Please include your name and daytime telephone number. For more information, visit www.maryjanesfarm.org

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