How do you get your kids to eat those last locally grown organic apples left abandoned at the bottom of the fruit bowl... the ones that have aged to the point where they're starting to get a little, uh, "squishy"? Make Pink Applesauce!

I started with 5 Rome apples. See how the skin is rippled? Yes I know, ripply skinned apples are not very appetizing, but I thought maybe that red skin of theirs might lend some of that rich color to a much more appetizing, perfectly pink applesauce.

So I cored and chopped the apples into approximately 1-inch chunks. Put them in a pot with about 1/2 cup water over medium heat; stirring and smooshing every now and then.

After about 10 minutes the apples were softening nicely, but I noticed the skins weren't looking so good... their ruby red color was fading fast, completely disappearing in a few places.

Uh oh, was I about to have an even less appetizing mess on my hands? Only time would tell, so I kept cooking, and stirring, and smooshing for another 15 minutes. Yuck is what I was thinking, but....

I let the mucky mixture cool and then I put it through the medium disk of a hand held food mill (great gadget, by the way).

And Voila! The most cheerful and yummy applesauce imaginable! Sadly, 5 apples only made about a pint of applesauce, but the 6 of us had a good time sharing it. If you make a large batch, it freezes very well.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that this applesauce was perfectly sweet without adding any additional sugar. I'll definitely be doing this again!

UPDATE:

• Fast forward a few years and I have a much better blog post with much better how-to photos YOU CAN FIND IT HERE. Enjoy!