by Brie I saw the book sitting on top of the shelf the last time we were at the library. Knowing that a Kids in the Capital apple picking meet up was planned in a few weeks I had grabbed the book with one hand while running after the kids. Am I ever glad I did.

My 4-year-old girl and I have read Applesauce Season (link is to the Ottawa Public Library in case you want to reserve the book) at least five times a day in the two weeks since we brought it home. The story is about a little boy who goes to the market to buy apples and then makes applesauce at home with his family. The book illustrates about all the steps in making applesauce and includes a recipe at the back. The book also talks about different kinds of apples and all the different ways you can serve or eat applesauce.

This past Saturday when we were at the Main Farmers' Market I asked the girl if she wanted to make applesauce. The answer was a loud yes. So we bought a bunch of apples for applesauce and "as many for eating out of hand". The last bit was her quoting from the book.

While we made the applesauce the girl made sure to follow the actions on each page very carefully. She also quoted sections of the book to me as we went along.I was instructed to cut the apples in "quarters or sixths", just like in the book. She was not happy when she realized that we didn't have a food mill like in the book, but we managed. Instead I peeled and cored the apples before cutting them into sixths and then used a potato masher while they cooked to break the apples up. To that we added some fresh apple juice also bought at the market and let it all simmer in a pot on the stove for twenty miutes.

In fact, making the applesauce was very easy. The only tricky part was that the recipe was at the back of the book and the girl wanted to follow along with the pictures and the text. This resulted in me adding way too much cinnamon sugar to the applesauce. But in the end, I think the girl was quite happy with that. When the applesauce had cooled the girl ate some from "a special cup", just like the boy in the book.

Applesauce Season has been a fabulous book at just the right time of year. I loved how enthralled the girl was with it and the information that she picked up from it about apples and making applesauce. I loved that we went from reading it to making applesauce together. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to get their kids excited about apple season and applesauce.

And if you have any applesauce left over you can use it in this easy cake I made for the meetup. Combine 2 cups sweetened applesauce and one beaten egg. Stir together 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp baking soda. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Add 1 cup raisins now if you want them. Mix everything together well and then pour into a 9x9 inch baking pan. Cook at 350F for about 45 minutes.

Enjoy and celebrate applesauce season!

Brie is the mom of a 4 year old daughter “the girl” and 2 year old son “the boy”. You can read her blog at Capital Mom.