Apple Butter!

Because I know how you were all hanging on the edge of your seats to find out what the mystery "meal" was (my last post JUST got a comment), I give you....

Apple Butter

Makes approx. 1 1/2 pints

3 lbs. Granny Smith apples
2 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1. Peel the apples, don't be meticulous, if a little peel gets left on it's all for the better. Core the apples. Chop into fairly uniform chunks.

2. Combine with water in 6-8 quart pot. Bring to a boil, cook until apples are softened.

3. Add sugars and spices, stir to thoroughly coat apples.

4. Using any random type of blender you happen to have, puree apples until completely smooth.

5. Lower temperature to medium-low. Adjust to keep at a constant simmer.

6. Stir, scraping bottom, every 10-15 minutes - depending on rate of simmer - for 4-5 hours.

7. Apple butter is finished when color has turned to a dark, deep brown and the flavor has turned from sugary sweet to caramel-like.

This particular butter was even more exciting to make than the potato butter was, mainly because I knew what apple butter tastes like.

It was less of a gamble that way.

I took the apple peels and dehydrated them. I thought maybe they'd be good on a salad (insert the word 'Hank' everywhere you see an 'I' in this paragraph), but I was somewhat mistaken. They taste more like apple flavored-paper, which is no surprise, I guess.

But the apple butter did not disappoint. It tastes like a million bucks, but really was only more like 3 (bucks, that is).

Now-does anyone here have some knowledge to pass on to me about how/when/where to can something like this? Water canning sounds easy. I have no idea if there is another way. My memories of canning when we were young consists more of the smashing of the tomatoes into the jar and the getting bit up by the bugs in the bean patch than the actual canning part. Mom?!? Help!