Applesauce

Yield: roughly 4.5 cups

2.5 lbs. apples (I like to use apples with red skin, which I leave on so the sauce has a sweet, rosy color)
1/4 c. water
1 cinnamon stick

Rinse apples, remove stems and seeds, then cut into small chunks. Toss apples into a stock pot, pour on water, add cinnamon stick and turn the heat on low. Check every now and then to see that the bottom of the pan is not getting scorched-- if it is, by all means, turn the heat down! The apples will cook and cook, becoming pulpy as the mass simmers down. When the fruit has mostly disintegrated, after about 45 minutes to an hour, remove pot from heat. You can either serve the applesauce as is, sort of "chunky," or I like to put half of the batch through a food mill. I then combine the purée with the "chunky" and enjoy the sauce for the next week.