Apple Sauce a la Grandmere

When I was a little girl and visited my elegant grandparents in New Hampshire, I could always count on a small dish of sweet, pink applesauce after lunch. Grandmother made this applesauce herself using a wonderful contraption: a food strainer! This year, as a Christmas gift, my dad gave me a food strainer, which I put to use on the apples I have been storing. While making applesauce is hardly a difficult task, this device streamlines the process and almost eliminates waste...and, for me, brings back lovely memories of the sounds and smells of making applesauce.

This strainer is composed of several parts: a large, plastic funnel, a handle, a grinder, and a chute. To make applesauce, wash and quarter the whole apples, boil them until soft (with cinnamon and nutmeg, if desired) and then grind them in the food strainer. The core, skin, and seeds are pushed out of the end of the grinder, while the smooth pulp comes through the strainer, down the chute, and in to the collecting bowl. The applesauce is sweet and delicious.