10/03/2025
When Stirring the Pot Is Okay!
As Autumn nears, the time for comfort food arrives with the fall harvest bounty, especially apples. Grace Presbyterian Church, Crystal City, has been making its famous Apple Butter since the early 1940s. After taking a break between 2020 and 2025
because of Covid-19 and the change in state health regulations, excited Grace Church members dug out the accoutrements of making the fall treat and got ready to revive their church tradition.
Making apple butter is a labor of love for church members, many of whom initially participated as children, watching their parents and grandparents take turns stirring the copper cauldrons. Under the watchful and seasoned leadership of Amy Petschonek, the apple butter process takes about four hours per batch. Set up in the church park, the apple butter is cooked in over an open hardwood fire and requires continuous stirring with long wooden paddles.
A Little History
Apple Butter finds its roots “in Limburg (Belgium and the Netherlands) and the Rhineland (Germany)” during the Middle Ages, when the first monasteries with large orchards first appeared. Moving to the New World, colonial America enjoyed this popular way of using apples well into the 19 th Century. In Dutch, “appelstroop” and in German, “Apfelkraut,” 1 is a highly concentrated form of apple sauce produced by long, slow cooking apples to a point where the sugar in the apples caramelizes.”
“While the product contains no actual dairy butter, the term
‘butter’ refers only to the butter-like thick, soft consistency.” Most recipes passed down through the ages include the use of cinnamon, cloves, and a bit of vinegar or lemon juice for tartness.
Interestingly, this labor-intensive spread was a luxury item, reserved for the wealthy and the clergy. This sweet can be enjoyed on toast, biscuits, oatmeal, and even ice cream. Apple butter is also a tasty accompaniment, especially to pork. And, not surprisingly,
apple butter was used “as a form of medicine to treat various ailments,” especially during the Middle Ages.
For Sale: Apple Butter and Much More!
Grace Presbyterian will sell its tasty apple butter on Saturday, October 4, 2025, during its annual Fall Festival. The fundraiser will run from 10 am to 2 pm in the church park. This season’s apple butter will sell for $ 8.00 per sealed pint jar.
The Fall Festival will feature a bake sale, “trash to treasures flea market, crafts for the coming holidays made by church members, a barbecue, and a bounce house for the kids. Additionally, Pastor Vicky Michaels will oversee a Blessing of the Animals in the
park Gazebo at the top of each hour, and a barbecue lunch and desserts will also be for sale.
Grace Presbyterian will also welcome visitors to the festival to experience the Mindful Labyrinth. Modern mystics use the labyrinth to achieve a contemplative state. Walking among the turnings, one loses track of direction and of the outside world, and this quiet
journey can enhance creativity, encourage self-reflection, and promote feelings of calm
and balance.
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