Thanks to my friend Tara and our children, I’ve been busy transforming crabapples into crabapple jelly for several days. I donated most of them to our Fall Fair – though I did keep some for myself. The A & P Crabapple Jelly for the Church’s Fall Fair doesn’t last long! I hope you visit my Shop to get one (or two) for yourself! I then went online to see what else I can make with the crabapple juice I still had left; there is only so much jelly a girl can make! I did some exploring on the internet and found a recipe for a crabapple syrup from Edible Capital District. After tinkering with it and adding some seasonal spices (think cloves and cinnamon) I came up with a version I will call Crabapple Cordial. It was really nice with some warm water and lemon over the cold weekend we just had. My husband added it to his lemonade and pronounced it a winner, too. Thankfully, I had quite a bit of juice to use up, so I made myself a few bottles for gifts as well.
And then, my friend Doug offered me some more crabapples. Did I want any more? His trees were full and dropping their fruit into his garden. I like being busy in my kitchen and I adore helping my friends get rid of troublesome gardening issues, so off I went and picked a bucket-load. I’m caring that way. Once home with my bounty though, I knew this was not for jelly or juice. With this haul I made crabapple chutney – two ways. Both of these chutneys are delicious with cheese. Actually, I think just about anything is delicious with cheese… but I digress. I made the first batch of crabapple chutney a bit sweeter, with oranges and cinnamon, and the second one a more savoury crabapple chutney with onions, cayenne pepper and ginger. I have to say, both are delicious!
