Amanda's Apple Butter

My mom has a deep love for apple butter, but the stores stopped carrying her favorite brand, Mary Ellen, a long time ago.  So, back in October, I tried my hand at making my own apple butter.  The one caveat: my mom does not like apple cider--she finds it too tart--which is a common ingredient in the apple butter recipes that I found.  After reading dozens of variations on the recipe, I decided on a simple combination of apples, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves.  My mom loved it, and I knew I had to make more.

My mom was in heaven!

You may be wondering what one can do with apple butter.  It is very versatile.  Apple butter is great on toast in the morning, as a peanut butter and apple butter sandwich, in an apple and brie sandwich, as a glaze for pork or chicken, on vanilla ice cream, as a filling for jelly rolls, as a base layer for apple tarts, as a dip for graham crackers...  Creativity is encouraged!

This Christmas, I have decided to learn how to properly can my apple butter to give it away as gifts.  To ensure that I wasn't giving people botulism for Christmas, I did some research online, and even checked out some canning books from the library. I learned that apple butter--indeed, all fruits with sufficient acidity--can be safely processed in a water bath, rather than going through the hassle of using a pressure canner.  Boiling temperature will destroy most bacteria, yeasts, and molds in acidic foods like apple butter, and the pH level is low enough to prevent spore growth.  If you're looking for a comprehensive guide to safe canning, the USDA has a fantastic PDF, the Complete Guide to Home Canning.

In order to prepare and can the apple butter, you will need the following supplies:

Crock pot
Immersion blender (or blender)
Mason jars (I used 4 ounce jars)
Wide mouth funnel
Large pot (for the water bath)
Dish towels
Jar lifter tongs

Including chopping up all the apples, and canning, this recipe takes 19 hours from start to finish.  I recommend getting up before dawn to get started, so that you aren't up too late canning.  Or, start in the evening right before bed, so that you can wake up and add the spices in the morning.  Just don't time things poorly like I did my first time: I had to set an alarm for two o'clock in the morning to blend and jar my apple butter!

Advent Retreat

Last Saturday, I attended a day-long young adult Advent retreat hosted by the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose.  I went with Monica and Ariana, two good friends from Newman.  We didn't know what  to expect--would it be lame?  Would it be awesome?  Indeed, one of the ice breakers at the beginning of the day asked us with which punctuation mark we most identified, and I said colon because I was curious to see what would happen next.

As it turns out, the retreat was awesome.  There were 24 attendees, including some great new friends that I hope to see again.  The retreat was led by Sister Rebecca, who was spirited, played the guitar with extraordinary gusto, and was one of the most sincere people I've ever met.

The day was broken up into four sessions centered around Advent themes: invitation, preparation, celebration, and transformation.  I was particularly struck by the session on celebration, which reinforced for me that we need to rejoice in God throughout the year, not just during certain liturgical seasons.  I enjoyed the opportunity to refocus on the meaning of Advent, because it's very easy to get caught up in the busyness and stress of preparing for Christmas.

The grounds of the Dominican Motherhouse are right next to Mission San Jose, and they are beautiful.  After lunch, one of the nuns gave us a tour, and told us a little bit about the history of the Dominican Sisters in the Bay Area.  A few sisters were sent from Brooklyn out to San Francisco to teach at a school in the late 1800's, including a Sister Amanda, who was only 17 years old.  Some of the parents were concerned that she was not old enough to teach their children.  So, as the story goes, Sister Amanda wrote  the number "21" on a slip of paper, and placed it in her shoe.  When parents would ask her how old she was, she would reply, "I'm over 21."  Well played, Sister Amanda.

All of the nuns I met were so encouraging.  We found out at the end of the day that a sister had signed up to pray for each of us all day, which was touching.  The retreat ended with confession, Mass, and dinner.  It was a tranquil, joyous day, and exactly what my spirit needed.  They offer another free retreat for Lent that is an overnighter, and I plan on being there!