Not the canned kind. I never burn that, because I make it in a crockpot.

But sometimes, when we have extra fresh apples, often which have become the wrinkly kind, I make a small pot of applesauce for dessert. We love it hot off the stove. We did this when we had kids in the house also, and it is kind of one of those things we do.

They were Pink Ladies. The Apples, not the kids. Just so we know. Pink Ladies are tart and have a distinctive flavor to that tartness. That’s why they are Pink Ladies. Because they are tarts you know. Not sluts… no. Then they’d be Red Ladies. These are just Pink.

I often use Galas, and they cook quickly. Pink Ladies take longer to soften. Hmmm…. Well then.

But they do.  So they cook longer. And that is a problem this day that I am making Pink Lady Applesauce.

They are cooking slowly, so I turn the burner down, make sure there is enough water, and set the timer for 15 minutes. I need to eat my dinner.

It really needed 10. Just before the timer goes off I smell it. They are burning. Those Pink Ladies are now well singed Ladies. See what happens when you get too hot? I wonder how they felt about Leggings…

Now I have a pot of burnt applesauce. Well… Not ALL of it, just the bottom. And the bottom is not browned, it is BLACK. All the way across. Some of it is shiny.

I pull out the apples that can be rescued, and then lightly scrape loose the partly burned ones. I then take off the black bits, and I have some well browned apples that might be rescued. I have to rescue them. This is just a hard time of year, and I’d rather risk the effort and ingredients to rescue them than lose it all.

Pot goes in the sink to soak. I know. Charcoal does not soak off. But it has to go somewhere until I can scrape it. Kevin will often do this, but I burned them. I feel determined to clean the mess myself.

The apples have been transferred into a clean pot. A little water added. Back onto the burner, and I stir them and mush them down. I make this applesauce with slices or chunks, and then let it cook apart. Nice textured sauce.

Pumpkin Pie Spice goes in first. A little more than I’d usually use, because I know the burnt taste will need a little extra camouflage. Cinnamon alone just won’t have the mellowing effect I need. This has to cook in, so I put it in first.

Then vanilla. Vanilla Bean Paste, actually (Yes, there IS a use for this product!). Nice custardy aroma follows that around, and I just love the richness of it. Quite a bit goes in. About 10 drips for the remains of my 5 apples (it is most of the apples, not a lot was discarded).

A dash of salt. Just a nice side note, not enough to TASTE, just enough to enliven.

Some sugar. Not too much or you lose the impact of the flavor of the apple.

And then, the Piece de Resistance. Maple. Three dribbles of Maple Syrup. This is something deep and dark and mysterious that should help to conceal the darkness of the scorching.

Stir some more, and serve up. With whipped cream.

And it is GOOD. It does not taste burned, it tastes rich and fruity, just barely spicy on the edge and not really maply, just darkly woodsy.

Rescued. I was not sure it would, but it did.

Kevin ate it without even knowing how badly it was burnt.

When I’m done with it I wash the pot. It takes scraping it with a metal scraper to remove all the black. But it all comes out, and fairly easily. It is a gracefully designed stainless saute pot, and probably my favorite cookpot, so it really does need to be shiny again, and so it is.

I wonder if this is something like repentance.

And I wonder what God has to do to sweeten ME out and compensate for MY harsh bits.

And does it really get me sweet and wonderful in the end?

(Do not feel obligated to answer that…)