Applesauce!

So I've made my first batch of applesauce - and I've canned it - in jars...  Hmm... that's a silly juxtaposition.

This is my first shot at this sort of thing, as I'm usually more of an instant-gratification chef - with tasty things like pies.  And crisps.  And more pies.

They are lovely and cooling on my windowsill.  And yes, there are only two.  Like I said, this is my first attempt.  I spilled about half a jar into the sink while I was filling it last night - man, applesauce can get hot - and then of course there was the fact that our dear organic apples were full of worms.  :(  We had to dump more than half of them into the wastebin...

Which leads me to my burning question - how much of an apple can you eat, if it's been invaded by little worms?

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Here's our recipe for applesauce:

A bunch of apples, cored & sliced, but not peeled (I like the peel)
A big, heavy-bottomed pot with a lid
A stove

1. Turn on your stove to medium, put the pot on the burner, and add your apples
2. Once the pot is hot, and all the apples are in, turn the burner down to low
3. Simmer.  A LOT.  Stir occasionally.  We cooked ours all day long - maybe 3 hours total, but with lots of resting in between, as we had to go out to do errands.
   
4. Meanwhile, wash & rinse your jars & lids.  Our tap water is ridiculously hot, so we forwent (is that the past tense of "forgo"?) boiling the jars, although I probably should have, in order to kill all the bacteria.  Although I imagine we'll consume these jars pretty quickly.
5. Once your applesauce is nice and mushy, add it to your hot jars.  The jars have to be hot so they don't crack when you add the hot mixture.
6. Fill the jars to the top, leaving a bit of head room.  Smash the applesauce a bit throughout the jar with a spatula or spoon to get the air bubbles out.
7. Stick your lids on, and then screw the ring on.  I think at this point you are supposed to put them in a canner - although I don't know what that is.  I simply left them on the stove (since they were too hot of the counter) until they cooled enough to make a vacuum.  Then I cooled them overnight.

So we shall see how well they keep.  Any canning pointers?

Up next:  Apple pies!