Fall is well over now but if you still have some of your apple harvest sitting in your fridge, now is a perfect time to make some apple sauce and spice it up with some lovely aromatic herbs, scenting your home for the winter holiday season ahead.
Apple sauce is one of the easiest things to cook and there are two very simple ways you can make it.
Blender Method
If you have a nice, strong blender, this is quick and easy. If your apples are getting a little brown, I recommend the cooking method in case there is anything unhealthy growing on your apples. The cooking will kill anything that would be a problem. To make apple sauce with a blender, simply cut your apples, put them in the blender with a little water and blend. This method tends to require more water but your apple sauce will feel fresh and crisp. I like this version better in the spring months.
Cooking Method
If you do not have a blender, the cooking method is the way to go. All you need is a pot, apples, and some water in its simplest form. You can choose to keep your apple peels on but you may want to throw your sauce in the blender after cooking if you do this. Simply wash and cut your apples into cubes, put them in your pot, add a splash (JUST A SPLASH) of water and cook, covered if possible. Depending on your apple variety, your apples may cook and turn into sauce on their own in 15-30 minutes. If they do not, you can crush them with a fork or put them into a blender for a few seconds.
After making sauce you can spice it up!
You can choose to add sweetener or not. Depending on your apple variety you may not need it so I recommend tasting your apple sauce before sweetening it. With the holiday season, why not add some warming spices as well. Common spices for apple sauce are cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, or cloves. It works best to use powdered herbs for all of these. If adding cinnamon you can add a healthy amount, not just a dusting. For the others, just a dusting will add plenty of flavor to your sauce.
All four of these herbs, Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves, are all very warming herbs. This makes them ideal to eat more of during the winter months. With apples being a cold fruit, the warmth of the herbs will help keep you energetically balanced. If you are feeling colder these days, cold hands and feet, adding some ginger is a great option. This will help encourage your circulation to reach your extremities more effectively.
Apples are also moistening fruits. With the air being dryer, moistening fruits are ideal to eat now. While it is counterintuitive, cinnamon is a moistening herb. While the powder is drying in your mouth, cinnamon increases our saliva flow and general lubricating fluids in our body. Together with apples, cinnamon can be an good option to help you stay more fluid in this dry air.
Nutmeg and cloves are similar to ginger with its circulation benefits but they are not as strong. Both nutmeg and cloves also have benefits on our mood and mental state and while they may not be calming for our holiday stress, they do offer some mental enjoyment for those anxiety filled days.
I hope you can clean out those fall apples and enjoy this holiday season this week. Oh! Be sure to keep some of that apple sauce in the freezer for our craft project next week! MMM time to enjoy this aromatic apple sauce!
Jillian Carnrick is the owner/operator of The Dancing Herbalist, LLC which specializes in clean, natural, and simple topical herbal medicine products.
