Anyhow, if I am going to make applesauce, I buy some Cortlands and leave them out in a warm kitchen for four or five days until they are really ripe. I then add them to whatever other apples I plan to make the applesauce with. The Cortlands get very sweet when ripe and you don’t have to add any sweetener to the applesauce. I’ve heard that MacIntoshs can be used the same way but I’ve never done that.

I used to work with a woman who had M.S. and as a result was extremely careful about her diet. She would use honeydew melons as a base for her applesauce because the melons add the sweetness without adding sugar. Her applesauce was the best I’ve ever had! She particularly liked Ida Red apples which are kind of hard to find in my area. The are apparently an old variety.