The scent of cinnamon and apples filled the air up and down Iron Bridge Road, as the copper kettles placed over roaring fires, bubbled its tantalizing treasure of apple butter. It’s Saturday and members of Trinity United Methodist Church, located Ironbridge and Greenyard Roads are making apple butter to benefit a good cause.
Making apple butter is a tradition that began in 1908, when the Houchin family received their first copper kettle, delivered on a boat from the Kanawha River in West Virginia where the family was residing. The Houchin family began making apple butter in that copper kettle and the rest of the story is legendary.
Today, Karen Poole (Houchin) carries on the tradition with the recipe that has been handed down through generations, started by her ancestors and the kettle she inherited.
“We have been making apple butter at the church since 1988,” Poole said. “We used my one copper kettle and had about 85 pints of apple butter to sell. Now, the original kettle, which belonged to my parents, is kept at home and we use three large kettles at the church. Now we make 400 to 500 pints each year.”
Making the apple butter takes a team effort that begins with growing the apples. Bill Shelton, has an apple orchard in Vintage, off of Route 29, and the apples used are from his orchard. The night before the apple butter is made; church members gather together and make homemade applesauce from 50 bushels of apples. It takes about six hours to make the applesauce. The next day, beginning at 7 a.m., the fires are lit, the copper kettles are placed over the flames, the applesauce and secret ingredients are added, and for almost eight hours the apple butter is cooked.
Hints of the past can be seen in action. “One of the wooden stirrers was made by my uncle, Doris Boston, who was a carpenter,” Poole affectionately said. “The paddle is 70 years-old.”
The elixir consists of applesauce (50 bushels of apples), 50 pounds of sugar, 16 pounds of red cinnamon hearts, and three spoons of cinnamon oil.
In the bottom of the pot are silver dollars to keep the mix from sticking. The original silver dollars, used for many years are now retired to the Poole household. “Some people use peach pits, Poole explained, “but we have kept the tradition of my family and used the silver dollars.”
The funds earned from the apple butter sale are used to sponsor a large family at Christmas through Chesterfield County Social Services. Poole said that the church has also paid utility bills for a disabled person, paid for prescription medicines for another and assisted in the church’s missionary efforts.
A pumpkin patch is ongoing at the church until Oct. 31.
No waste from either church project, Poole said the apple peelings and leftover pumpkins are donated to a farm on Beach Road for the farmer’s cows.
The apple butter making is an annual event.
