Summer's Over - Bring on the Pumpkin Pie and Applesauce!

Ask anyone who knows me well (or ask yourself after you read this), and they will tell you that I am not a naturally patient person.  I don't go with the flow very well, unless I've had a couple of cocktails or am in the middle of a week's vacation at the beach.  I am more of a stay busy, if you're not moving forward then you're moving backward kind of gal.  As hard as I try to fight it, that's just how I am the vast majority of the time.

Take the holidays, for example.  I wait all year long for them - and not patiently.  As soon as the family is gone, the decorations are packed away, and the spoiled eggnog has been poured down the drain (who am I kidding - eggnog is in no danger of spoiling at my house), I start making a mental plan for next year.  Periodically throughout the year, I will listen to Christmas music just to get myself in a happy mood.  So yesterday, when my Sous Chef had the audacity to ask me how I could order Pumpkin Pie cream ice from Rita's yesterday, I could only glare at him with a "we've known each other how long and you still feel the need to ask me that question?" look.  If it weren't so taboo (as so many silly things are), I would have pumpkin pie throughout the year.  Eating in season be damned - I love me some pumpkin pie.

Which is why I am so happy that it's September, because that means it's just a hop, skip, and a couple of months until official Holiday Season, when people won't look at me so strangely when I start singing Christmas carols.  As soon as the last of the Halloween candy has been passed out, I am so ready to start making some butternut squash soup, beef stew, spice cake, and other cold-weather goodies, all while watching the last of the leaves fall from the trees and listening to Bing Crosby croon "White Christmas".

Am I annoying you yet?

Now that you know this little tidbit about me, you'll understand why I was so happy to have these left over after a certain school-themed party I hosted:

With so many apples sitting on my dining room table, there was only one thing to do: crock pot applesauce!  And not just any applesauce, holiday spiced applesauce!  Bring on the nutmeg, the ginger, the cinnamon, the cloves!

The thing I love most about homemade applesauce is that you get to see how sweet nature alone can make things. Without adding a single grain of sugar, I ended up with a delicious treat that tastes exactly like the filling of one of my dad's famous apple pies!

If you're in the mood for a healthy, easy, holiday-spiced snack, give this a try!  A bonus: it will make your house smell so good.  The Sous Chef and I went out for a walk while it was cooking, and when we came back, you could have sworn we'd been out walking for months and it was Thanksgiving!

Crock Pot Holiday Spiced Applesauce
(Makes 5 cups.  Prep time: 15 minutes.  Cook time: 3.5 hours)

• A dozen apples (I used 5 Granny Smiths and 7 Red Delicious)
• 1/2 cup orange juice (no pulp)
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

1. Peel and core the apples, cutting them into 1/2-inch chunks.
2. Put all of the ingredients in a large crock pot, stirring to combine.
3. Cover and cook on High for 3.5 - 4 hours, stirring occasionally, until it looks like, well, applesauce.
4. That's it.  Seriously.  You're done.

Eat well.

What are some of your favorite fall or winter recipes?  Do any of them immediately make you think of the holidays?