My Favorite Uni-tasker Is Not A Uni-tasker Any More

Remember when I was singing the praises of my Apple Master? Well, it has just been raised a level on my list of favorite kitchen items. I used it today to make curly fries. Awesome. I cannot wait to use it to peel and slice potatoes for Thanksgiving.

Later today it will get another workout because I have to attend to another 25 lbs of apples.  More apple/onion/ale relish is on the agenda because we have almost finished the last batch on grilled ham and cheese sandwiches.

Apples, Apples, Apples!

My Dad works in a town in North Georgia that calls itself the "Apple Capital Of Georgia." After talking to people that have lived in the area their whole lives my dad found the secret to buying local apples. There is an orchard that sells apples wholesale as well as retail in their market. But the secret is that you can buy seconds (or irregulars- think outlet shopping) for $.14 a pound. YES- FOURTEEN CENTS! So I am now on my second 25 lb box of apples. The first box I canned apple pie filling and and apple-onion-ale relish. I found this recipe over at Punk Domestics. The relish is amazing on a grilled ham and sharp cheddar cheese sandwich. After trying different recipes and trying different ingredients this is my favorite pie filling recipe:

18 large apples
2 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 stick of unsalted butter
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon*
2 Tbsp water
1/2 cup Amaretto*

*I also made a batch that substituted these 2 ingredients for ground ginger and Grand Marnier plus the zest of one orange.

Peel, core, and slice apples- I love my Apple Master. Put apples, sugar, butter water, vanilla and cinnamon to a large pot, bring it to a boil and make sure all ingredients are well incorporated, reduce heat to low, add amaretto and simmer another 5 minutes. Pack in jars and process in water bath for 20 minutes.

My Favorite Uni-tasker

I was reading Tightwad's latest post and it made me think about my favorite uni-tasker. For those of you that know and love Alton Brown you know what a uni-tasker is. It is a kitchen gadget that serves one purpose and none other. I have purchased a few uni-taskers and have later put them in the donation pile or pawned them off on some one else. One such item was the Pampered Chef Avocado peeler. It really does nothing all that significant, even for the avocado. I still keep it around for getting muffins out of the tin (still just one task even if it is a different one).

Last fall my father-in-law brought me 3 pecks of local apples. I was thrilled. I cut and sliced and peeled all of those lovely apples to make pie filling, apple butter, etc. Then the next weekend he brought me another 2 pecks AND The Apple Master. I had seen these things before and had previously assumed it was a superfluous device. I was completely mistaken. This machine peels, cores, and spiral slices a whole apple in just a few cranks. The kids were mesmerized and immediately craving apples sliced in a spiral. My oldest was so taken with it that every time some one came over he had to show them The Apple Master.

It may be a uni-tasker but I love it and you can have one of your very own from William Sonoma, Amazon or Ebay.