The Applesauce Time of Year

Ever since I was quite young, in August I would often get conscripted to help pick and process apples. It involves running around with giant apple-picking poles while being chased around by wasps, all the while avoiding over-ripe apples falling from the tree in a deadly rain.
I assure you it was thrilling, especially the cooking filled with the aromas and tastes of apples and cinnamon.
Making applesauce is really so simple.

These unknown apples are, maybe, ‘Yellow Transparents’ which bruise easily, barely store for more than a few days, and have a horrible grainy texture. In other words, you’ll never see these in a store, nor probably not any sort of market or orchard. But for all their faults, they have great flavor and lots of sugar.
Freshly picked, badly bruised -squishy- and generally covered in stray bugs like wasps. Yes, I know many people who would not be able to make it past this stage.

This part more people would like. You skewer the apple onto this wicked torture device, and with a turn of the screw you remove the skin, remove the core, and turn the apple into a slice-and-diced spiral. There are other ways to do it, with a peeler and a knife, but it would take far, far longer.
But don’t worry, it gets better.

Yep, now you stew them. Put a little water in to steam, and then cook, until they boil down and let simmer for, oh, 10 minutes. Or longer, I never really know. I am usually busy processing other apples.

And most importantly, pile on the brown sugar and cinnamon, filling the kitchen with more aromas.
Eh, viola!
I’d post a picture of the finished product, but there’s really no good way to get a photo of applesauce. Hence: a child’s food most would say. But it’s not, champagne say I!