The Apple Butter Contraband Controversy

copyright 2011 Art of Living, PrimaMedia, Inc/ Maria Liberati
To quote Cezanne. “ I will astonish Paris with an apple”
and  recently I left Rome astonished with  apples..
 
I was pulled out of line by a a security agent when leaving from Leonardo DaVinci International Airport ( Rome)..the culprit..a jar of homemade apple butter stashed in my carry on for on the plane snacking with crackers. I couldn’t figure out why I was being searched, interrogated, pulled out of line…ahh!! …until it was all over..when I asked why ..a small homemade jar of apple butter was held up by the customs agent.
Apple Butter is one of those foods that is still not possible to find in Italy and I do miss it so when there… though I set out to make it and preserve some jars to leave and one to take back ..an apple orchard filled with apples at our country farm..delicious, organic, pesticide free apples..just in time apple season had just begun..
Apple butter pairs well with a touch of mascarpone cheese on a slice of freshly baked crusty bread from the local forno in the morning for a true country farm breakfast…
Apple Butter
 
*7 cups of homemade applesauce (if you really must use store bought but homemade is best)
*2 cups of apple cider
*1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp allspice
Optional: 1 ½ cups honey
You need a slow cooker or crockpot for this. Mix all the ingredients and place in the slow cooker, cover and let cook on low heat for 14 hours or until the mixture is a deep brown color. While the mixture is hot, place into 4 pint sized jars that are hot as well. Place ina hot water bath. Once the water begins to boil after adding in the jars ,time for 10 minutes and remove jars. Cool jars upside down
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