Once year, every year, my family comes together in the SW Virginia mountains for a traditional event.  The making of applebutter.

For those who don't know what applebutter is, I'll try to explain.  Applebutter is obviously enough made from apples which have been cooked an reduced into a thick, brown, sauce meant to be put on biscuits or toast.  It is sweet, with some spices.  The exact ingredients vary depending on who makes it, and my own family recipe is a family secret.  However, common ingredients added are sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.

Uncle Kenneth takes a turn at stirring the 50 gallon kettle while it simmers.

The actual process is time consuming and takes considerable preparation.  First is the selection of apples, the exact varieties use, and the blend contribute to the unique flavor of each batch (not to mention the various recipes).  Bushels of apples must be sorted by hand, cut into quarters with the core removed.  This is one reason making large batches of applebutter are almost always done as family traditions because of the labor needed to complete this first step in the process.  Next the apples must be cooked and reduced to an mush with the consistency of apple sauce, but none of the spices.  During this part of the process the peels are separated and strained out along with any seeds or other impurities.

Uncle Coot hurrying about keeping an eye on everything.

Now the final stage begins as the "sauce" is cooked down to the "butter" in large copper kettles.  Beginning at 5 AM the men of the family arrive to light the fires and start the kettles to cooking.  Once the fires are lit each kettle must be tended constantly by at least one person until the cooking process is complete, which can take 10-12 hours.  Tending the kettles requires the fire to be watched carefully to control the temperature, and also the kettle must be continuously stirred with a long laddle to prevent the sauce from scorching.  As I said, its a labor intensive process, especially when you have 8-10 kettles going simultaneously for that 10-12 hours.

The kettle comes to a boil as the applebutter cooks down an begins to carmelize.

Around 8 AM the women of my family begin serving breakfast.  We eat in two shifts so that the enough are left to keep the kettles tended while the other half eat.  More of the family arrives around lunch time when we again break in shifts to eat.  With more people helping its not so much work now and there is more time to relax and enjoy each other's company.  Throughout much of this time sugar is being added 5 to 10 pounds at a time to the kettles, which must be sweetend to taste by those experienced enough to know when its right.  The family matriarchs are responsible for this in my family, as well as adding the spices and secret ingredients later.

Jessie, (in the hat) gets the apple press going to make applecider.  Apples are fed into the top, ground up and then pressed in the bottom to squeeze out the juice which is then cooked and spiced to make cider.

Also after lunch the applepress is usually brought out.  This is an antique applepress kept working with love and care.  With it several bushels of apples are squeezed for their juice, which is made into fresh apple cider.  With children running around, horse rides, and other activities, things get quite busy.

Finally, after hours of work and cooking, the spices are added and the kettles taken off the fires one at a time.  Those who have been there since dawn have the priveledge of having their jars canned first, and generally are allowed to take as much as they want.  Once those who have done most of the work are taken care of the rest of the family is given their share in a frenetic canning process that moves from kettle to kettle.  The excess (and there is always plenty left over) is left to Uncle Coot, who organizes the event, and who sells the left over to help cover the cost of the apples and sugar used.

With the cooking done and the kettles coming off the fires the women of the family scramble to can the applebutter as quickly as possible.

But its not quite over yet, the kettles still have to be cleaned up, things put away, trash picked up and so forth.  By the time all the chores are done its into the evening.  Sounds like a lot of work doesn't it?  It is, but well worth it, you can't buy anything that tastes quite as good.