Recipe: My Grandma's PINK Applesauce

My daughters have underprivledged taste buds when it comes to applesauce. They will willingly eat the little cups of store bought sauce.

But at their ages I was spoiled rotten, at least in terms of applesauce. Only my Grandma Esther's would do, and it's still the only sort I really like to eat.

Grandma Esther was a real Jewish mama in many ways. Spoiled her 3 sons, was hell as a mother-in-law, and bemoaned my lack of appetite, because to her a fat child was a healthy child.

There are pictures of my dad in the 20s in a Buster Brown black velvet suit. He looks stuffed into it like a sausage-to say he was chubby would be the kindest way to put it!

Any visit with Grandma always resulted in a battle between her and my mother. Grandma wanted to stuff ME with food as she always had my father. My mom, meanwhile, was listening to my pediatrician, who had told her to NEVER force me to eat!

And boy am I grateful for that, because JR is just like I was at the age--skinny as a rail. She's a pretty good eater though--mostly!

I wish Grandma had lived to see me as a teenager--nicely filled out. (Too nicely in fact--I've been struggling with an extra 10-20 pounds ever since)  And if she could have gotten over the shock of dealing with the fact that the Man isn't Jewish, she would have loved to have had him at her dinner table!

Anyway, we almost never left Grandma's without a jar of her homemade applesauce. Eventually, my mother began making it, and now I do too. In fact, when I make a Hanukah lunch at the library--everyone raves about the applesauce as much as they do the potato latkes!

My girls really do like it best, and it's a snap to make.

It's pink simply because you cook it with the skins on, then push it through a food mill.The skins remain, but they color the sauce.

MacIntosh apples are best for this,but Rome or Empire will do as well.

My Grandma's PINK Applesauce

Core and slice (don't peel!) about 3 pounds of apples.

Place in a large pot--at least 3-4 quarts. Add 1 cup of water.

Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the apples soften. Add more water if needed--you don't want the apples to burn, but you don't want to add TOO much liquid.

Pour into a food mill set over a large bowl. Mill all apples until only the skins remain.

Taste, and add sugar as desired. If the apples are sweet enough, NO sugar is just fine, and makes it great for babies and children, not to mention health conscious adults!

This tastes best when it's been chilled before serving. My girls sometimes like to sprinkle cinnamon on theirs.

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