Saturday, October 8, 2011

Apple Butter, a Spicy Concoction for Fall




Do some of you out there remember the television show "Howdy Doody?"

Howdy, as some of you already know, was a cowboy puppet who delighted audiences with his ventriloquist. The Howdy Doody show was a highlight of my childhood for many years. It was broadcast  every Saturday morning and  it would have taken a major plague for us to miss it.

The theme song of the tv show was a catchy tune with the words , "It's Howdy Doody time, it's Howdy Doody time, it's time to start the show, so kids let's GO."

Some of you may remember that tune. These days, I like to substitue the words Howdy Doody with Apple Butter.



"It's Apple Butter time, it's Apple Butter time, it's time to start the show, come on let's GO.

The best ever apple butter that ever touched these lips and slid down this gullet I tasted in a Pennsyvania Dutch restaurant in Ohio.  Man, it was dark brown,  nothing like the pale stuff that some people pass off as apple butter.

Actually apple butter is a mixture of fresh apples, a splash of apple cider, and spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and all spice.

The one in Ohio was very sweet and spicy and never failed to taste absolutely delectable, especially on a buttered English muffin. Mmm mmm mmm. I'd like some of that sweet, very spicy apple butter again. It's been decades since I've eaten it.

Anyway, recently when we attended a forest fair, a Native American lady sat and spun apples around on some kind of contraption that peeled and sliced them. She gave away some slices to people standing near her but other apple slices ended up in the apple butter pot near her.

It stood on iron grates over a fire.  The spicy, pungeant, and  bubbling apple butter screamed "fall."  People who went to the fair were welcome to spread some of the apple butter on pieces of fresh, homemade bread including one with plump raisins. 

Apple butter is as much a part of fall in New England as pumpkins and scarecrows.

The photos shown in this post I took at the forest fair in Western Massachusetts this fall.

DO YOU LIKE APPLE BUTTER?  HAVE YOU EVER MADE ANY?

9 comments:

Susan said...

Hello Everyone!

I want to welcome this blog's 250th Follower. I'm unsure who you are but you are sooooo welcome

Hope you all have a super good weekend! Love, Susan

Bookie said...

It is apple time here too. In a neighboring town this weekend is the annual Apple Butter Days when they make apple butter on the town square and have a crafts festival too. This is a favorite time of year for me...weather is lovely as a reward for our hot summer too.

Dianne said...

I LOVE LOVE LOVE apple butter! I've never made it, but I'd be willing to try! I have a contraption that twirls, peels and cores apples!

Tammy@T's Daily Treasures said...

I definitely remember seeing reruns of Howdy Doody. Now that song is stuck in my head. And I love, love,love apple butter. Whenever there are fall festivals or craft bazaars here and someone has made some, I scoop it up. Yum! Hope your Saturday is super. :) Tammy

Unknown said...

I have never had apple butter but I know I would love it!!

diane stetson said...

I LOVE anything made with apples..they are my very favorite fruit and I always remember I craved them with both my pregnancies.

Kit said...

Love love it! I used to make it with my own apples and the house smelled so great. I would put them in these special little jars and anyone who visited my home at Christmas got one. I love that you still make it! Kit

Linda O'Connell said...

Susan,
Reminded me of childhood. My dad loved apple butter. I like it on hot buttered biscuits.

Chatty Crone said...

My kids have been on the Howdy Doody show twice! It takes 8 years to get the tickets - we ordered them when they were born.

I can't really say I've made apple butter or that I like it, but yours does look pretty.

sandie♥

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