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* I picked 5 pounds of each type of fruit because it is more manageable than the 10 pounds of each that I normally make. My 5 kids love this stuff in their lunches. Really, any 50/50 weight ratio works.
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Wash all the fruit.
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Halve and pit the plums. Throw plum halves into a large heavy-bottomed stock pot.
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Quarter the apples . Throw (seeds, stems and all) into the stock pot.
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Crush the 5 vitamin C pills (use good ones with no additives, the ones from the health food store). Add crushed Vitamin C to the pot (prevents browning).
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Cook, covered on low until the apples are tender and 'mashable.' Stir occasionally to prevent burning. (This should take about 30 to 45 minutes.)
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Set up your food mill over a large bowl. Mill the warm fruit in batches and the best applesauce in history will come out the bottom. Really amazing sauce.
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It keeps (covered) in the fridge for 4 to 5 days, so it could be a week's worth of snacks, without any canning.
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To can or preserve it (the abridged instructions):
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Place the still warm apple & plum sauce back in the stock pot. Carefully bring to a boil. Stir a lot, because it can burn.
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Ladle into hot, sterilized jars, cap with 2-piece lids. Process in a hot water bath.
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For pints, process at a rolling boil for 15 minutes (use the Ball Blue Book Canning times table if you live in the mountains).
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For quarts, process for 25 minutes.
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(Why so long? Two reasons: the first, I add no sugar, so it isn't there to act as an extra preservative; and the second, applesauce is dense, so you have to make certain it is heated through.)
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Canning results: I did 10 pounds of each fruit and yielded 7 quarts canned plus another quart for the fridge.
