Honey Cinnamon Crab Apples

 You know that you are in the middle of harvest season when you refer to your days by produce.  Bye, bye Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday...hello Crab Apple Day, Long Island Cheese Squash Day, Pear Day...

We might not need more crab apple jelly, but since today was Crab Apple Day, we compromised and canned some honey cinnamon crab apples instead.  My Grandma remembers eating crab apples prepared this way as a child, though I had never tried them.  It turns out that they are delicious (think baked apples) and will pair perfectly with roast pork.  This is lucky as I have a feeling that we will be coming into some happy, homegrown pork sooner rather than later.  Now we are prepared.

Recipe: Gael Glen Farm's Honey Cinnamon Crab Apples

Ingredients:

6 pounds crab apples

8 cups water

2 cups honey

4 cinnamon sticks

1 vanilla bean split open

Directions:

Prepare syrup by adding honey, water, cinnamon sticks and vanilla bean and simmer for five minutes. Add apples (with stems and blossom ends removed) to syrup. Simmer five minutes.  Load hot apples into hot jars, fill with syrup to 1/2 inch head space. Process in water bath for 20 minutes.