Apple Butter: My Family’s Beloved Historic Tradition
I can speak with some authority on the subject of apple butter. I am part of the 5th generation (at minimum) in my family to carry on making the stuff the old fashioned way. My grandfather recorded memories of making apple butter with his grandmother in the 1930’s, and making apple butter the same way our ancestors have made it in centuries past is a prized part of my family’s culture. To me, apple butter is made gallons at a time in a copper kettle (a 2 ft or larger diameter pot) over an open fire using a 19th century style method which was conveyed by word of mouth until it was recorded on paper by my late grandmother in the 1990s.
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