Apple Butter

It's hard to find any apple butter, let alone good apple butter in the grocery store these days. Making apple butter is a great way to preserve the fruits of an apple harvest. In contrast to what the name implies, there is no "butter" in apple butter. The name comes from its smooth and buttery texture. Apple butter is delicious on buttered toast.

4 lbs apples (we use a mixture of all apples)
1 cups of apple juice
1 cups water
Sugar (about 3 cups, )
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Grated rind of 1 lemon

Cut the apples into quarters, peeling or coring them with a peeler, cut out damaged parts. Put them into large pot, add the vinegar and water, cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cook until apples are soft, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat.

Stir to dissolve sugar. Ad cinnamon, ground cloves, lemon rind. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.

Cook uncovered in a large, wide, thick-bottomed pot on medium low heat, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Scrape the bottom of the pot while you stir to make sure a crust is not forming at the bottom. Cook until thick and smooth when a bit is spooned onto a cold plate and allowed to cool (1 to 2 hours). You can also cook the purée on low heat, stirring only occasionally, but this will take much longer as stirring encourages evaporation. (Note the wider the pan the better, as there is more surface for evaporation.)