As long as I can remember and even before, we’ve been making apple butter every fall with our closest family friends, the Houghtons. This is not a few of us in a kitchen, but a whole family, all weekend affair with 40+ gallon kettles. It starts on Friday night with dinner together and then peeling and coring 15 bushels of apples. Most make it into the mix, some are lost to caramel dipping. You head home late that night hands stained brown from all the juice. Then the next morning around 6am the fire starts and the kettle goes on (or so I’ve heard, I never quite make it that early…). Then all day between Carol Lee Donuts, warm soups, and cup upon cup of coffee we slowly cook down the apples and take turns stirring. After the apples are cooked down, in goes the secret ingredient, as well as oil of cinnamon and clove. Then Sherry, the master taste tester lets us know what it needs. A little more of this, more stirring, a touch of that, more cinnamon, it’s more of an art than a science. Then when the time is right, and only Sherry knows, it goes from a slow lazy day to frenzied activity. Tables are lined up and we all form an assembly line. Only Dan and my dad are allowed to fill the jars while the rest of us wipe, lid, seal, and move jar upon jar til the kettle is empty. The most important job, however falls to Margie who is in the kitchen and makes sure the warm biscuits come out of the oven right as the last jar is filled, so we can wipe the kettle clean and make sure this years batch is perfect. The day normally ends around 9 or so and we all go to bed full, tired, and smelling of campfire smoke.

This year however, something extra special happened. See, my baby sister Julie and Aric have been engaged for about a month but they picked out a ring together and it was still on the way. So, when I got a text from Aric Saturday morning saying the ring was in and he was going to give it to her that day, I was so excited. And I made sure he waited until I had my camera in hand. They are planning on giving out our homemade apple butter as favors, and Julie and I had been planning that I’d snap a few pics of them making it to display on the favor table. It was a perfect set up. But what she didn’t know was that as she was stirring and more and more people gathered outside huddled under the shelter in the rain it wasn’t because we were excited about the apple butter, but rather we knew the big moment was coming. Even though I’d gotten a picture of them already (before everyone was outside) I sneakily said I needed another one. So as she stirred and I snapped away, Aric got down on one knee and asked her again to marry him – this time with ring in hand. And she was so surprised! It was such a fun moment with all of the family standing around. And I’m glad I could capture it on film for them! Aric, welcome to the family :)

**The wiping of tears below may be from the happiness of the moment or from all the smoke trapped under the tent, you can never tell :)

Here’s some pictures of Friday night and the coring, peeling, and cutting:

And from Saturday morning before the surprise, aren’t my parents cute?

These are the first ones we snapped before anyone was out there yet.

And I got some stirring in – had to do my part before I left for the wedding!

Above: our adopted sister Beth and I :)

And the moment you’ve all been waiting for…

Admiring the ring and not crying (it’s from the smoke I swear! :)

Had to get a ring shot! Then we all headed back inside to warm up, refill on coffee, and watch old home movies of past apple butters! We were all so cute in ’92!

I’m already looking forward to the next apple butter weekend! :)