$15 I should’ve spent last year:

My beloved apple peeler. I peeled 15 pounds of apples in a quarter of the time it takes to do it by hand with this toy. Even Jay liked to turn the crank.

Do you see the speed? It can peel a whole entire apple in 6 seconds flat! Last week I turned 50 pounds of apples into my favorite topping—apple butter! I made 20 pints of the tasty stuff.

Last year I did it all completely by hand, and it took forEVER (remember that post?). My second time applebuttering was considerably easier than last year’s attempt, thanks to a few useful kitchen gadgets that I’ve acquired in the past 12 months.

 

Here’s yet another beautiful non-necessity that makes me wonder how I ever lived without it. It is perfect for blending the apple butter into a smooth, spreadable creaminess (it also makes a perfect thick potage out of boring ole chunky soup).

And time-saver #3—an apple cutter! The apple peeler came with one. With every cut, the apples sprayed juice all over my glasses and my hands got super chapped from all that sticky liquid. But it was fast.

Another useful kitchen trifle that I had this year was a funnel. Dead handy when filling jars with boiling hot apple butter.

These four fancy tools made apple butter a breeze! I also revamped my recipe this year too, and it turned out like heaven on bread.

Here’s the recipe just in case you can’t resist.

Rose likes it too (she stuck her hand in while I was trying to take a picture of the perfection).

Who knew that joy could be preserved by the pint?