The Hunger Games: Parcel Day Applesauce

Parcel Day Applesauce

“Parcel Day, the first of twelve, in which food packages were delivered to every person in the district.  That was my favorite.  To see all those hungry kids in the Seam running around, waving cans of applesauce, tins of meat, even candy.” – Catching Fire, Chapter 2

I haven’t had applesauce in quite a while, but I used to eat those little snack packs all the time when I was in college.  It was an easy and healthy snack to take on the go.  Let’s see how the homemade version measures up!

This was a pretty easy-to-make recipe, and it had only four ingredients: apples, water, sugar, and cinnamon.

First the apples are peeled, cored, and chopped.  Their thrown into a pot with the rest of the ingredients, and then boiled for 30 minutes or so (until apples are soft).

I was doubting the small amount of water that was added, since it didn’t seem like enough to boil the apples in.  But after about 5-10 minutes, the apples had drained enough water for me to start worry about having too much water in the pot!

It turned out to be just the right amount, though!

Once the apples were good and soft, I let the mixture cool completely before mashing the apples with a fork.  The recipe says you can use a potato masher as well, but we don’t have one.

The sauce was a bit chunkier than the store-bought versions, but that was because I gave up mashing apples when my arm felt like it was going to fall of.  I decided to just leave it as is.

The flavor was amazing!  The cinnamon really pulled it all together!

Taste: 9/10

This was really, really good.  Nearly a 10/10.  I might try it again using different apples, or playing with the amount of sugar and cinnamon that’s included to see if I can push it to a full 10/10.

Difficulty: Easy-Average

Most of this recipe is very simple, but you will need to peel and chop up apples, boil everything over the stove, and use some arm muscles to mash the apples.

Cost: Cheap

The biggest cost here is the apples.  You’ll likely already have the sugar and cinnamon in your pantry.

Suggestion:

Try changing up the type of apples you use and the amount of sugar and/or cinnamon to get different flavors.  Find out what works best for you!