Delicious applesauce - right from my own backyard!

We have an apple tree in our backyard.  Last year, it didn't produce any fruit at all, due to a late freeze, and we almost gave it the ax.  I'm so glad we didn't because this year, the fruit was abundant!  About 2 weeks ago, we had a strong storm come through our town that produced a "microburst", knocking a bunch of my apples to the ground prematurely.  So began the apple picking!  After picking all the good ones off the ground, we looked at the tree and decided to go ahead and pick as some of them were getting buggy.  Thus far, I have made 9 apple pie fillings, 4 quart jars and 3 pint jars full of applesauce, and 12 4 oz. jars plus 1 2 oz. jar of unsweetened applesauce for baby food.  And I still have enough apples for a batch of some apple jam.  Here are some of my recipes:

Honey Applesauce
I used my handy-dandy peeler-slicer-corer thing that I got for Christmas a few years ago to prep the apples:

 It's super fun to use and makes a nice peeling necklace to wear around (at least until it turns brown and smells).  And the apples look cool and are easy to do a quick slice down the middle before plopping them in the crock pot (after you check for bug spots and other stuff you should probably cut out - or just don't tell anyone.  Hey, it's cooked, right?)

 Next, I just sliced the apple in half with a knife and put the pieces in the crock pot (after cutting out the bad spots).

 Then I added 1 cup of honey (approximately, I didn't really measure), a splash of lemon juice, and a cup of water.  Turn the crock pot on low (stir occasionally) and magically, 6 hours later, this is what you get:

 Why yes, that is the most delicious applesauce on earth.  Glad you asked!  If you like it chunky (I don't really care one way or the other), just mash it a little more with a fork.  If you like it more creamy, put it in a food processor like this one:

 I'm telling you, this is the best food processor to be found.  If you don't have one, I pity you.  My parents bought it for my husband for Christmas.  










I froze my applesauce in glass jars, but I'm told you can can it.  I just don't like to take the time to can unless I have to!  I do enjoy canning and want to do more, but honey, if I can freeze it, I will!

 
Apple Pie Filling
6 cups sliced and peeled apples
1 T. lemon juice
3/4 c. sugar
2 T all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

Combine them all in a bowl and stir together.  Then put mixture into a gallon freezer bag: