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Growing up in the hills of East Tennessee, we didn\’t make a big thing about Labor Day. We lived on a farm and we worked on Labor Day. At least the grown-ups did. Being dirt poor, we did not have a cookout or a picnic. My parents and grandparents worked.
Our cash crop was tobacco. I don\’t agree with that now, but at the time it supported us. We cut tobacco on Labor Day. My dad and some other men did, but my mother and grandmother made apple butter. If you have never eaten homemade apple butter, you don\’t know what you\’ve missed. I thought one time I\’d be smart and make it in the oven. It was not nearly as good as the stuff cooked outside in a brass pot. Cinnamon candy does not come close to using oil of cinnamon either. My husband and I make it at least once a year now, but never on Labor Day.
My mother and grandmother would get up early on Labor Day morning and peel the apples. They had a fire going under the brass pot, and the apples were added to the pot with a little water as they were peeled. The first thing that was put in the pot was a silver dollar. I never knew why it was always done. I know why today. It helps to move the apples around in the bottom of the pot and keeps them from sticking. We changed that tradition after my parents died.
After several hours of cook and stirring with a long handled stirrer, the apples begin to thicken. The sugar is added and the apples cook for several minutes more. The mixture does pop with the cooking, hence the long handled stirrer. The bubbles begin to pop larger and look like a volcano, then it is ready to take off the fire, add the Oil of Cinnamon, and put in the jars. Tasting is one of the best things when making apple butter. We do a lot to see if it\’s thick enough, and if there is enough sugar.
When we make apple butter now, we invite several people to help with it. We have a meal, sometimes it\’s a potluck and sometimes it\’s pizza, but the company is wonderful. We have fun and enjoy each other. Our oldest granddaughter and her husband love to come and help. We even have a fiddle player that brings his fiddle and entertains us while we all stir. Stirring is done constantly.
Fall is the best time to make apple butter, but we make it in the spring also. The best apples we\’ve found is Granny Smith.
Happy Labor Day!
Kathy Cretsinger
Callie\’s Mountain
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We love making apple butter! Nothing like homemade.
I agree. We love the homemade. When we moved to KY and getting ready to make the first apple butter, I was talking to one of the older ladies. I thought for sure she had made apple butter, but instead she asked me, “You can make apple butter?” We used to think Cracker Barrel had good apple butter, but not now. Homemade is so much better. Thanks for reading my post.