Rosh Hashanah: [Almost] From Farm to Table Applesauce

Holidays are a great time to get your kids in the kitchen. Granted, holiday cooking can be time consuming in and of itself without extra sets of hands involved and little feet pitter-pattering around the kitchen, but sometimes I find that added quality time in the kitchen together eliminates some of the time spent dealing with mischief outside of the kitchen while you're trying to get things done and simultaneously pouring cumin into your cinnamon coffee cake by accident. There are a lot of wonderful classic dishes to be enjoyed for Rosh Hashanah, from honey cake to round raisin challahs, tzimmes and more. Here's a look at how we took our lessons on apples [almost] from the farm to the table with

Homemade Applesauce:

Ingredients:

• 6 apples, peeled, cored, diced
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

One of my favorite childhood memories is of apple-picking with my family before Rosh Hashanah. We took a trip to a local produce shop on a very rainy morning to pick out some different types of apples for taste-testing and cooking!

We came home with six types of apple to try!

1. Once you've peeled, cored and diced your apples, place them in a saucepan. Add water, sugar (you could do with less, especially if you are using sweeter apples), and cinnamon. 
2. Turn heat on to low, cover pot and simmer about 20 minutes until apples are tender.
3. Mash by hand using a fork or potato masher or use an immersion blender if you wish. You could also puree in a blender or food processor if you prefer a smoother texture.

Journals are a great way to document science and math activities. Here we used a simple sticker chart of our taste test. 

After our taste test (cameo appearance on the paper plate in the background!) I peeled the remainder of each apple and cut some large chunks my son could practice cutting with my help. We are really in the "me do it" phase, so when I can I try to oblige. After he'd had an opportunity to work with this, I quickly diced the remaining chunks and got out his next favorite kitchen gadget--the step-stool! 

Before turning the heat on the stove, I invited my sous chef to help pour our ingredients into the pot. 

Once everything was in, it was time to climb down and turn on the heat. We busied ourselves with other activities while we waited for the apples to cook. It smelled AMAZING!

I used an immersion blender once the apples were cooled a bit. My toddler did try the applesauce but at the end requested his usually container of cinnamon applesauce from the pantry! You can't win 'em all... My husband and I loved it and we will offer additional opportunities for our little one to try it again!.

Want to do more? My son is loving this book we borrowed from our local library, told from the perspective of another little boy helping his grandmother and mother make applesauce from scratch. It's another market-to-table adventure!