Delectable Apple Crisp

Last night I made this apple crisp

- it's kind of a mish mash of several recipes, but it turned out great so I wrote down what I did and decided to share (yeah the pic is not great because I had already started eating it then ran into the kitchen to snap a pic before I gobbled it all up).  In my opinion here are the secrets: fresh vanilla bean, salt, pecans.  Those three things combined with the usual apple crisp ingredients make a rich, flavorful dessert.  AND bonus - it's wheat free (not necessarily gluten free because of the debate over oats and cross contamination, but oats in and of themselves don't contain gluten.  I think. ) 

Anyway here's the recipe!

Serves 4:

3 large apples peeled, cored, and sliced thinly

1 T. granulated sugar

3/4 cup of pecans

1 vanilla bean

3/4 cup of quick oats

1/2 cup of packed brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

5 T butter

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350.  Lay the apples in a tart plate or pie plate.  Sprinkle the granulated sugar over the apple slices.  In a medium bowl place the pecans, oats, brown sugar, and cinnnamon.  Slice a vanilla bean in half and scrape out the seeds - add it to the dry ingredients.  Cut the butter in - then with a sharp chopper, chop all the ingredients together until it looks all pretty and crumbly.  Pour this mixture over the apple slices.  Lastly sprinkle the salt evenly on top and bake for 20 - 30 minutes.  Don't over bake.  Since the apples are sliced thinly they should take that long to bake.  Remove from the oven and let cool slightly then serve it up with ice cream!  Yum!  Have a great weekend!

xoxo

jessica

Simple Fruit Galette

My mom and sister are visiting this weekend, and Saturday night after we enjoyed some Chicken and Dumplings we were in the mood for something sweet.  I had a refrigerated Pilsbury Pie Crust in the frig (those are THE BEST pre-made pie crusts) - so I whipped this simple galettte.  It was delicious!
In a bowl combine:
2 apples, thinly sliced
some strawberries, blueberries - whatever berries you have on hand
1/3 cup of sugar
1 T of corn starch
1/2 tsp of salt

Preheat the oven to 375.  Unroll the pie crust onto a cookie sheet (I placed it on top of a piece of aluminum foil for easy clean up).  Pour the fruit mixture out onto the middle of the pie crust.  Fold up the edges of the pie crust - pleating them as you go.

In a small bowl whisk an egg and some half and half.  Brush it onto the pie crust, then sprinkle with sanding sugar.  Bake it for about an hour until it's all juicy and beautiful - rotating it after 30 minutes.  Let it cool for several minutes, then serve with a tall glass of cold milk or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Yum!

Hope you all had a great weekend - we spent most of it in the fabric store or gathered around the cutting table - super fun!!  I'll show you something I made tomorrow - along with a tutorial so you can make your own.  Talk to you then!
jessica

Sweetheart Fruit Salad

Here's a quick, healthy, festive treat to serve your sweetie on Valentine's Day!

Red-skinned Apples

Strawberries

Blood (we like to just call them Red) Oranges

Shredded Coconut (frozen or fresh)

Peel and slice the oranges, then slice the apple and strawberries.  Put it all in a bowl and sprinkle with the shredded coconut.  Yum yum!

have a great weekend,

jessica

Fall Supper

This is what I made last night:  

Apple Butternut Squash Soup and Chicken Salad Sandwiches.  

It was really hearty and yummy!  The spices in the soup are curry, cardamom, and mace - well all I had was curry so I added a little bit of ground cloves instead of the cardamom and mace.  You could probably substitute cinnamon for curry if you don't care for that flavor (mom).  The chicken salad was nice and light - no mayo added - just chicken, nuts (I used almonds), apples, Crasins, and a vinaigrette that whips up in a sec.  Give it a try, especially if you have boxes of apples lying around from an apple festival...

happy homemaking,

jessica

Apple Biscuits

This is a third generation recipe from my husband's side of the family.  Many of them live in the northwest, where apples are prevalent, and so they have lots of wonderful apple recipes.  This is one of my husband's favs and Charlotte and I love it too!  It's simple, and perfect for this time of year.  Here is what you will need...
Ingredients:
2 cups of flour
3 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/3 cup of shortening
2/3 cup milk (add more if necessary)
3 medium Granny Smith apples - shredded (I use the cheese grater)
3/4 cup of brown sugar
3 T butter (softened)

Preheat the oven to 425.
Mix the first 3 ingredients.
Cut in the shortening.
Stir in the milk until it forms a dough ball.
Flour some parchment paper and roll the dough into a rectangle. 

Spread the butter on the dough.
Shred the apples using a grater onto a kitchen towel. Then wring out the juice.  (You can save it for cider in a bowl if you want).  If you skip this step, you will have soggy biscuits - that's no good!
So then sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the dough, and follow with the shredded apples- this step is especially fun for little ones!

Roll the dough toward you, like a jelly roll.  Slice the dough into about 1"-1 1/2" pieces.  Lay the biscuits onto a cookie sheet - make sure all of the biscuits are touching - it kind of forms a big circle on the sheet.  Bake about 12-15min.  They should rise and smush all together into gooey appley wonderfulness.  When you take them out of the oven, let them cool for a few minutes, then gently pull them apart and snuggle them into a warm towel.  Make sure you are wearing your elastic waistband p.j. pants and sit yourself on the sofa with a cozy blanket and a cup of tea or coffee - indulge in this delicious autumn treat!

Variations:  you could add cinnamon or toasted pecans if you are so inclined.
jessica

Don't sit under the apple tree...

with anyone else but me.....

Hope you all had a nice weekend!  We had a REAL Fall weekend.  It was cold, we had a fire in the fireplace, we went to the Apple Festival, and the leaves are just starting to change. 

At the apple festival we bought an entire bushel of apples...

so I will be busy making applesauce and apple-pie filling AND my in-laws are visiting and my MIL has agreed to share her yummy apple biscuit recipe with us!  So don't be surprised if a lot of posts this week are centered around fall foods - we are in the mood!

Since I'm feeling fallish (?) I wanted to just share a few tidbits about cinnamon.  It's a popular spice this time of year - ever wondered why?  It is categorized as a warming spice.  It literally can warm you from the inside out!  Here are some of the benefits of sprinkling this spice in your food...or tea...or coffee.

• Brain tonic - boosts the activity of the brain (hello- who doesn't need that?) and removes nervous tension and memory loss
• Blood purifier - can remove impurities within the blood
• Increases Blood circulation - one of the ways it helps you stay warm from the inside out.  Increased blood circulation can also reduce the risk of heart attack
• Anti-inflammatory - it can help remove stiffness in the muscles and joints (another cold-weather ailment)
• Blood Sugar Control - there have been many studies on the benefits of cinnamon for people suffering from diabetes.  You can read more about that here.
• Removes bad breath
• Digestive aid (can help with morning sickness, my prego mommy friends)
• Cold/Flu healing - because of the anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties it is a GREAT Tea to sip when you are sick.  
• My favorite cinnamon tea is: Good Earth Organic Sweet and Spicy Herbal Tea (caffeine free)
• Provides relief from menstrual cramps

(Most of that information came from here.) 

WOW! I did not know all of that, did you?!  I also found it humorous that it was listed as both an "aid in birth control" and an "aphrodisiac"......hmmmmm..... not sure I would trust it as birth control ;)  Anyway, it is a great addition to many recipes or simply to sip as a tea.
*I will caution against use of the essential oil -  it can be very toxic and should only be used under the supervision of someone who is familiar with it's contraindications*
Hope that information was helpful, or at the very least interesting.

 Have a happy fall day!

jessica

Backyard Apple Butter

It's the first of September and so I feel I can comfortably say HAPPY FALL!!!!

(I know for my Florida readers that is a bit of a stretch ;) 

So, in celebration of fall I am sharing my Backyard Apple Butter recipe.  This recipe is easy and delicious and pretty close to fool proof.  With the rather large crop of backyard apples we harvested last week, I needed to find a great apple butter recipe.  After looking around at several recipes, my mom and I came up with one of our own - kind of a mixture of several different ones.  You make it in the crockpot all day so the most time-consuming part is peeling and cutting up the apples.  Here's what you will need... 

3 quarts of apples - peeled, cored, and diced
fresh lemon juice
3 cups of sugar
1 cup of apple cider
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
5-6 whole cloves in a bag
freshly ground nutmeg - to taste

Begin by peeling and cutting up the apples into about 1 inch pieces. Grab a cup of coffee and invite a friend over (or smile sweetly at your husband) - because this process takes a little time. 

Occasionally squeeze fresh lemon juice over the apple pieces to keep them from getting brown and mushy.

Once you have about 3 quarts of apples, 

pour the apple cider into the crockpot and turn it on high.  

Add the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and the bag of cloves (I used muslin to make the bag)

Stir this well and let it cook on high for 2 hrs.  

After 2 hrs, turn it down to low for 5 hrs.   

Then, remove the lid and let it simmer on "keep warm" or a VERY low setting for 2-3 hrs.

REMOVE the clove bag, using tongs, and using an immersion blender, 

blend the apples until they are lovely and thick and sticky.  

(so...I forgot to remove the clove bag the first batch, and blended it up with my apples...whoops.  I think I'll keep that batch and just try to notice fabric pieces on my toast and pick them off - lol).

If you don't have an immersion blender (they are GREAT by the way) you can ladle small amounts of the hot apples into a blender and blend it up (leaving the lid vented just a little for the steam).  Once the apples have been blended into butter, boil about 2 inches of water in a pot and put your lids in to sterilize.  Fill the sink with HOT HOT water and place your jars in the water.  Spoon the apple butter into the hot jars.  Wipe the rim with a clean paper towel and place the lid on - screw into place.  Turn the jars upside down for about 30 minutes - then back to right side up.  Let them sit overnight to finish curing.  There you have it!

Yummy homemade apple butter!  Give it away as a gift, or drizzle it onto your oatmeal or toast.  Happy fall!