by Amanda
I love this recipe, it's a great idea for a little giveaway for the holidays, relatively inexpensive and very easy to do on a Sunday afternoon.
Apple pie filling
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
5 cups water
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 lb granny smith apples, peeled, cored & sliced
Place a rack in the bottom of a large stock pot. Fill pot with hot water. Sterilize 5 x 1 pint canning mason jars, 5 lids and 5 rings by placing on rack, jars upright. Bring water to a boil.
Boil 10 minutes and remove with a holder and allow jars to air-dry.
Combine sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and water in a large saucepan. Place over high heat and cook until thick and bubbly, stirring frequently.
Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.
Tightly pack apples into sterilized jars. Slowly pour syrup over apples, covering them completely. Gently tap jars on countertop to allow air bubbles to rise. Screw lids on jars.
Carefully lower jars into pot using a holder. Add more boiling water if necessary, until tops of jars are covered by 2 inches of water.
Bring water to a full boil, cover and let stand for 30 minutes.
Remove jars and place on cloth covered surface until cool.
Once cool, press top of each lid with finger, ensuring that seal is tight - lid doesn’t move up or down at all. Sealed jars can be stored for up to a year.
Crumble Topping
3 cups brown sugar
2 cups oatmeal
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup butter
Combine brown sugar, oatmeal, flour and cinnamon in a bowl.
Cut in the butter until crumbly.
Package in cellophane bags.
What's your favorite Christmas gift to make?
Amanda was born and raised in Ottawa where she continues to live with her husband and son “J”. Amanda is bilingual and interests include reading, blogging, socializing, and advocacy on children and teen issues.
Canadian Mint Family Pass Giveaway
Our second winner of a Family Pass to the Canadian Mint is Sherry!
Methodology: Tweets and comments are put in chronological order and a random number is generated by Random.org. The number today was 4.
HOW TO ENTER
We are going to be giving out one pass a day for the next 10 days. To enter leave a comment on the post from that day or tweet the following:
I’d love to win a family pass to the @canadianmint from #kidsinthecapital this holiday season! http://www.kidsinthecapital.ca/?p=6700
You can enter every day, but you can only win once. One entry per day per family.
Winners will be picked each day from all comments and tweets received by 8:00pm of the same day. If you'd like to know more about this giveaway and the Canadian Mint, please read our introduction post.
Loot bags present an often frustrating challenge: How do you keep costs down without buying junk from the dollar store that's going to end up in the landfill?
You want to be creative and give something useful without breaking the bank.
Full disclosure: I'm a maker, a craft show organizer, and a craft show frequenter. I love the handmade! Ottawa has an amazing and vibrant maker-scene. We are so blessed to have such a fantastic and varied community of folks who make everything from 
