Recipe: Spiced Apple Butter

For my first real entry I wanted to post a special family recipe: my grandmother's spiced apple butter. I must admit that I've never made this by myself (yet) but it's always been a family staple. Each year we'd have a homemade stock pile of jars to share, all made from the apples out of my grandfathers garden. I doubt there was a day our fridge was without an open jar because I could, and most likely did, eat it straight with a spoon. Who am I kidding?...I still eat it straight out of the jar because there is NO better apple butter on earth! Come to think of it, it was really the only apple butter I knew for most of my childhood (I was lucky!) This fall, when apple-pickin' time is here, the following recipe will be top priority:

Ingredients
12 cups sliced apples
3 cups apple cider
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Peel, core and slice apples. Cook apples in cider on stove until soft. Transfer cooked apples to a heavy roaster-type pan, add remaining ingredients and mix well. Bake in oven at 300 degrees, stirring occasionally. Will need to bake a minimum of 2-3 hours until thick (use your best judgment) and then ladle into pint jars leaving 1/2-inch head space. (Makes approximately 6 pints.) Process in water bath for 10 minutes after water starts boiling.

Original Collector: My Grandmother