growing up i thought that our family had invented applebutter.  no other families talked about applebutter nor did i see it explicitly sold in the stores.  and no one knew what i was talking about what i said our family makes applebutter every year.  "applebutter?  what's that?"  applebutter, in fact, is not butter nor is there any butter within the mixture.  i can tell you that it has apples and some other stuff (not sure if the family recipe is a secret, but i'm pretty sure).  think of applebutter as a yummy/delightful spread like strawberry jelly -- something my grandparents make also from their strawberry patch.
the apples come from the apple trees on my grandparents property out in millersbug, indiana, which is just outside of paoli, indiana.  come to think of it, i don't think millersburg is a town anymore.  if it is, it's too small to be on the census.  to continue with my topic sentence, the apples are collected and then sliced and diced and then frozen.  come applebutter day, we add them to the huge kettle and cook them with assorted ingredients for about seven hours. 
i woke up at around 5:45 with my uncle and step-dad, which was, suprisingly before grandad.  the fire started at 6:15, apples added at 7:30.  applebutter jarred around 2:30.  licked kettle clean with homemade rolls at 2:35.
in the exuberant amount of fotos you'll notice the stars, grandad and nanny, the shed/house that my grandad built to cook the applebutter (the process used take place completely outside way back in the day), jd the dog, nieces, cousins, uncles, nephews, siblings, aunts, kettles, paddles, the farm, and whatever else i could fotograf.  in case you're wondering, i did quite a bit of work and not just make fotos.

what tradition(s) does your family have?

well, enjoy the series.