{"id":8374,"date":"2020-11-17T08:40:09","date_gmt":"2020-11-17T14:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/?p=8374"},"modified":"2021-01-07T16:39:22","modified_gmt":"2021-01-07T22:39:22","slug":"apple-butter-makin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/2020\/11\/17\/apple-butter-makin\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple Butter Makin\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Apple Butter Makin\u2019<\/h1>\n

by Dale Grubaugh<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a great big pan of cat-head biscuits a\u2019bakin\u2019 off in the oven…. Made from scratch of course.\"Apple<\/p>\n

Settin\u2019 before me is a butter dish with a fresh stick of real butter and a jar of homemade apple butter. All three of us are a\u2019waitin\u2019 fer those biscuits to get done.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a\u2019thinkin\u2019 this here jar of applebutter is pretty near the end of the last years makin\u2019s.<\/p>\n

So, I guess, it\u2019s time to start hunting up the kettle, clean the peeler and set things ready to make this year\u2019s batch.<\/p>\n

Applebutter makin\u2019 in the Ozarks is a right smart tradition.<\/p>\n

Apples are usually pretty plentiful here in the fall, especially Johnathan apples which are the best kind to use fer makin\u2019 butter.<\/p>\n

\"AppleMt. Vernon, Missouri, has a whole festival dedicated to apple butter: Apple Butter Makin\u2019 Days. There is booth after booth of all kinds of crafts but the star of the show is the homemade apple butter.<\/p>\n

Folks come from ever\u2019where and pack off cases of the stuff.<\/p>\n

Trinity Chapel \u2014 the church I grew up in \u2014 had their own annual apple butter makin\u2019 day.<\/p>\n

The folks would arrive early in the mornin\u2019 (usually on a Saturday).\"Apple<\/p>\n

The men would get the fires a\u2019goin\u2019 and set the copper kettles. The ladies would be workin\u2019 in the basement of the church. Some would be a washin\u2019 and peelin\u2019 the apples, others were cuttin\u2019 and corin\u2019, and others were settin\u2019 the apples on to cook so they could be mashed.<\/p>\n

After the mashing, the apples were transfered to the copper kettles along with the sugar and cinnamon. The men would commence to stirrin\u2019 the applesauce with wooden paddles until it cooked down to butter. Then everbody worked on jarrin\u2019 the apple butter.<\/p>\n

It was a full day of hard work but you know what? It was fun too.<\/p>\n

There was always stories and games and laughter. Lots of good food along with the fresh apple butter. Folks visitin\u2019 and just naturally havin\u2019 a good time for a worthy cause. The apple butter was sold to raise money for missions or some project the church was workin\u2019 on (or to have money to help folks who were in need).<\/p>\n

\"AppleWhen I was a youngin\u2019 at home, makin\u2019 apple butter was as much a part of getting ready fer winter as hog butcherin\u2019 or cannin\u2019 green beans and tomatoes.We always made our own.<\/p>\n

But instead of cookin\u2019 it down in a kettle over an open fire, we would put it in the oven. The apple butter still had to be stirred but not nearly as often. You had to be mighty careful though. A feller could get burned real easy a\u2019stirrin\u2019 a roaster full of butter on the oven rack.<\/p>\n

A lot of folks these days have stopped makin\u2019 apple butter at home.<\/p>\n

Most think it\u2019s too hard a job.<\/p>\n

Shucks, there ain\u2019t nothin\u2019 hard about making apple butter.\"Apple<\/p>\n

You peel and core the apples, cook \u2019em, mash \u2019em, and cook \u2019em some more.<\/p>\n

It does take a good bit of time though and I think that\u2019s what gets folks the most.<\/p>\n

Speakin\u2019 of time, I think it is about time to check on those biscuits.<\/p>\n

The smell of \u2019em is near drivin\u2019 me crazy. Here, pull yerself up a chair and have a biscuit. Slather it up good with some real butter and lay on the apple butter.<\/p>\n

Now that right there is some mighty fine eatin\u2019!<\/p>\n

\u2019Till next time,<\/p>\n

Elias Tucker<\/h3>\n

Originally published October 17, 2010<\/span><\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

About the columnist:<\/h3>\n

Dale Grubaugh, writing as \u201cElias Tucker from The Holler\u201d is a valued contributor to State of the Ozarks. He is a man who loves his Ozark culture deeply.<\/p>\n

As a Southern Baptist preacher and pastor, Dale has dedicated his life to the people of these hills.<\/p>\n

Also, he has worked hard in many facets of the Branson show industry. And he has lived the Ozarks, fishing, hunting, appreciating the wilds that are so close \u2014 but so closely forgotten.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Joshua Heston, editor<\/p>\n

Photo credits: J. Heston, September 20, 2010, State of the Ozarks \u00a9 Archive.<\/h2>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Apple Butter Makin\u2019 by Dale Grubaugh There\u2019s a great big pan of cat-head biscuits a\u2019bakin\u2019 off in the oven…. Made from scratch of course. Settin\u2019 before me is a butter dish with a fresh stick of real butter and a jar of homemade apple butter. All three of us are a\u2019waitin\u2019 fer those biscuits…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[582,581,1495],"tags":[1488,537,909],"class_list":["post-8374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sotoarchive","category-sotofeature","category-cooking","tag-apple-butter","tag-dale-grubaugh","tag-elias-tucker","category-582","category-581","category-1495","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8374"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8385,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8374\/revisions\/8385"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}