FELLOWSHIP HAS CORE IN APPLE BUTTER

On certain days each year at the Evangelical United Church of Christ, they come and cook apple butter.

They cut up raw apples (55 bushels of them), build fires in small pits in the ground and use home-made paddles to stir the bubbling fruit to prevent scorching in the huge copper kettles.

The final chore is that of ladling the finished product into pint and quart containers for consumer use.

"They" are members of the church, located at 37 S. Ellis in Cape Girardeau, and the "certain days" of 1991 were Friday and Saturday.

"Members flock into the church from a wide area," says Marie Vincel. "They take a dull, arduous task and turn it into a time for fun and warm fellowship.

"Each year it's just like an ~`old-time' country corn shucking, or house raising," said Vincel. "People come prepared to stay all day for annual apple butter cooking days, which provides funds for several church improvements during the year."

Sixty-nine people participated Friday, said Vincel. On Saturday, the count ranged between 50 and 60 people.

When the final ladle of apple butter was placed into containers, figures revealed 732 pints and 381 quarts for the two days of work.

"We have orders for about 90 percent of the apple butter," said Vincel. "And what we have left will be gone within a week."

The annual cookout is nothing new for the people who show up each year. The "Union of Concerned Christians" organization, sponsor of the two-day event, first tried its cooking skills in 1975, when workers produced 300 quarts of apple butter, prepared in three kettles.

Church workers utilized 11 copper kettles for the latest cookout.

"These kettles range from a small one of about 10 gallons to the largest kettle of the bunch at 35 gallons," said Velma Roloff. "We started about noon Friday preparing apples cutting them into chunks. We started the first-day cooking as soon as we had a kettle full."

By the time the day ended, well after dark, the apples had cooked into a sauce.

"We place this sauce into sort of a grinder," she said. "The sauce drains into one bucket, the seeds and peelings go into another."

New fires are stoked up about 6 a.m. Saturday.

"The sauce is still usually warm," said Roloff. "We start cooking again."

Calvin Sailer and Gary Metje have been around the apple butter cooking scene for the church since the project began, but their apple butter cooking days go far beyond their years of work at the church.

"We used to make apple butter when I was a kid," said Metje. Sailer said he had been cooking apples more than 40 years.

Sugar is the secret to good apple butter, say the chefs.

"The sugar formula is usually about 10 pounds for every bushel of apples," said Sailer.

Metje and Sailer keep close watch on the sauce. When it reaches a certain color, they start the sugar process.

"The sugar is poured in slowly," said Sailor. "The sugar has to be stirred into the sauce."

"The first-day stirring is really a chore," said Bob Roloff, who has made at least 8 of the 11 paddles used in this year's cookout. "It's really tough to stir the apples when you have the core and peeling on them."

Among those cooking Saturday were some "first-timers."

Roger Ebers shared stirring duties with Frank Maevers, who has been involved in the project "a long time." Kristin Burton, 10, of Scott City, shared kettle-stirring with Tom Stoops and Ella Stoops, of Scott City.

"We like to get new people involved each year," said Vincel.

"Not all is work," she adds. "On Friday night, the group shared home-made chile and hot dogs, along with cakes and pies for dessert. And at noon Saturday, we had beef stew and desserts."

The process, although a long, slow one that demands constant watchfulness, is worth it, said Vincel.

"Apple butter tastes better when it is made in large quantities and cooked in big kettles," she said. "And, we must be doing something right ... Our apple butters tastes the same good."