It's red hot, mama

There was a frost with unfortunate timing this year, so our apple picking season ended almost as it began this year. It was especially sad to me because this was the year our family had actually decided to go apple picking together!

But we were set on applesauce, so we went to the grocery store while local apples are plentiful and inexpensive and loaded up a cart full of Galas. They slowly cooked down on the stove, then finished their magic overnight in the crockpot. It's really amazing how that stuff cooks down, actually. We thought we'd have more applesauce than that. One would hope so, what with all that peeling and coring! Ah well, a small price to pay for no preservatives.

Anyway, we woke up to warm, brown, aromatic applesauce, which felt very autumnal. Next, just for fun, we stirred in a handful of Red Hot candies just like my maternal Grandma used to do. Mmmmmmm! Both Fiona and Nora approved of this addition, and Fiona even labeled one of the bags of sauce. To my amusement, however, "Red Hot Gala applesauce 10-20-07" didn't fit when Fiona wrote it, and instead her applesauce looked more like a rockin' party prepackaged in a bag-- "reD HOT GaLa". We try to avoid commercial media with our kids, but that child may nonetheless be born for marketing!