Thanks for the replies. I decided after I posted this message to wait on making the filling. I was reading some USDA extension info and I heard about using clear-gel. So, I am going to try and get some of that before proceeding. I live in a very rural area and I've don't remember seeing anything like that at either Walmart or BiMart (the only two big stores other than Safeway). There is a small market run by the Mennonites so I am going to check there. I've found some interesting items there before and I have a feeling they might have it. Carol - the recipe is for filling that is thickened but I don't think I am going to use it. I remembered what the County Extension agent said when I took a canning class about using only recipes that you know have been tested and found safe, so I am going to follow that advice. I am new to the world of canning (other than making jam) and I want to be sure my filling will turn out OK. My Ball canning book has a recipe for apple pie filling that is then frozen - have any of you ever froze your filling?

You can cut down on the sugar, just not the added acid in the pie filling. I am assuming you will use Clear Jel since that is the only safe thickener to use in pie fillings. Normally I thin it down with more apple juice or just don't use as much Clear Jel to start with. It seems to be too thick, I find, if using the entire amount of Clear Jel.

that "massive amount of boilover" is no joke. I make sure my apples come to a full boil, at which point the batch will do a serious foam up in the pot. Once that happens, I know they got hot enough to release all the air in the fruit. If you don't do that before you pack them, it will happen while processing. When you open the canner and find your jars floating because the release of air pushed all the liquid out of the jar . . . I've even had it happen with apple sauce if I did not make sure to get a good boil going ot release the air from the fruit. Apples are really prone to this. Though I don't do a wide variety of fruit, apples are the only one I know of that have a serious air retention issue. It is also why when you bake a double crust apple pie, as it cools and settles, you end up with a big hollow under the upper crust because the apples lost all thier air. That is one advantage of using canned apples for filling. Since they are already cooked, you can pile them high and when the pie is done, you still have a full pie as the apples did not have all that air to release. BTW - you don't need to cook the pie near as long with already cooked apples as you would with fresh.

Diane, Stop talking about pie? Well, OK, we can stop talking about it but I also could say just what my mom used to say....."And if everyone else went and jumped off the rooftop, I'd suppose you'd have to do it too." (A momily. A momism. You know what I mean, just substitute 'eating pie' for 'jumping off the rooftop". LOL) And, exactly what baby weight are you referring to? I don't see any excess weight on you in the photos on your blog. You look perfectly normal and healthy, and NOT fat, girl. In fact, you look wonderful for a woman who's had a whole bunch of children....better than most women look after 1 child. Melissa, "MY" apple pie jam is Linda Lou's Apple Pie Jam recipe from the Harvest Forum here at Garden Web. Just go there and use a forum search using the search box, and a million threads with the recipe will pop up. I especially love the apple pie jam on apple muffins. For the best salsa recipe in the world, go back to the Harvest Forum and type in "Annie's Salsa". Every batch I've made has been darn near perfect and every person to whom I've given a jar has said the same thing..."that's the best salsa I've ever had". It is better than every other recipe I use. I think I made 7 or 8 kinds of salsa this year, and next year I may make only Annie's Salsa. Tomorrow I'll try to sit still long enough to type in the other salsa recipes I use, but Annie's Salsa is all you'll ever need. : ) If you can't find Annie's Salsa or Linda Lou's Apple Pie Jam on the Harvest Forum, let me know and I'll go find them. I never post on the Harvest Forum, but I scout it often for recipes. And, while you are there, search and find the oh-so-easy sour cream walnut recipe. I usually make pecan pralines as Christmas gifts, but next year I think that I'll make sour cream walnuts. If you make them, you have to wrap them up and give them away as gifts RIGHT AWAY or you'll find yourself eating all of them....just you and your family, sitting there munching away until the whole batch is gone....not that we did that here...but we wanted to! Dawn