Apples should always be refrigerated for best care and storage. Apples kept at 33 degrees - just one degree above freezing - will keep ten times as long as apples kept at 70 degrees. Store in refrigerator drawer, or keep on refrigerator shelf in plastic produce bag that has holes in it.

Suggestion for wintertime keeping: If you cannot fit your apples into the refrigerator, try keeping them in an unheated basement, attic, or garage. If water freezes in any of these places, try storing your apples in an insulated cooler first. Do not let freeze. (If your apples do freeze by accident, cook down immediately, or they will go soft.)

You may wonder how much apple sauce you can make out of a peck or a half bushel of apples. There are eight quarts of apples in a peck and two pecks in a half bushel. Therefore, you should get approximately six quarts of sauce out of one peck of apples, or 3 gallons out of a half bushel.

Almost any apple is good for making sauce. Try purchasing utility grade apples which have small flaws in them but are perfect for cooking. Combining varieties will enhance the flavor; tart plus sweet apples make a mouthwatering combination.

If you have a fruit grinder such as a Fooley Food Mill, all you have to do is to quarter the apples before boiling. You will run them through the mill after the sauce is cool to remove the skins, seeds, and cores. Leaving the skins on makes a wonderfully pink color to the sauce. Otherwise, if you do not have a mill, peel and core the apples before you boil.

Just barely cover the apples in a pan with water and bring to a boil. If you get too much water on them, you may want to pour some off after the apples get soft. Boiling for as little as 10 or as long as 25 minutes, will depend on the hardness of the apples. Boiling should make them soft and mushy. Remove the apples from the burner after they are soft, and add sugar. If you do this while the apples are still hot, the sugar will melt down and not be grainy. Start with a small amount, taste, and add more as desired. The more tart the apples, the more sugar may be needed. A rule of thumb might be to add about a half cup per 6 quarts of sauce.

Other sweeteners besides granulated sugar might be confectioners sugar, honey, corn syrup, maple syrup, or cinnamon candies.

Refrigerate your sauce and use as an accompaniment to such main courses as pork chops or ham, as a topping on waffles, pancakes, or ice cream, or try the special suggestion below.