Apple Crisp

The perfect autumn dessert! If you have one of these:
now is the time to use it! Just peel your apples first and then stick 'em in your wedger. It's a quick way to get uniform slices that will bake up evenly.

APPLE CRISP

10 medium apples, peeled, cored, and sliced (Granny Smiths are good)
1 Tbsp. sugar
3 tsp. cinnamon, divided
1/2 cup flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
3/4 cup (a stick and a half) butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl mix apples with 1 Tbsp. sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon until evenly coated; pour into 9x13 baking dish.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, oats, and 2 tsp. cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly; sprinkle evenly over apples.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until apples are tender. Serve warm with scoops of vanilla ice cream.

Cranberry Cake with Warm Vanilla Butter Sauce

This recipe was recently featured in the Make a Cake Series on Make It and Love It. It is not a very sweet cake and really seems more fitting as an adult dessert. It's served sliced and drizzled with a sweet sauce. A squeeze bottle makes it easy.



I deviated from the recipe, which suggests making candied cranberries for garnish, and instead simmered the cranberries into a cranberry glaze to spoon over individual slices as desired. A pretty, grown-up dessert for holiday parties!

CRANBERRY CAKE
Cranberry Cake with Warm Vanilla Butter Sauce on Make It and Love It

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
1 bag fresh cranberries, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Liberally grease a bundt pan with shortening. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a mixing bowl. Beat in butter, eggs, and milk; do not over mix. Fold in 2 cups cranberries. Pour batter into bundt pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes then invert pan onto wire rack. Let cake cool completely.

WARM VANILLA BUTTER SAUCE

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cream or half-and-half
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium-low heat and stir until butter melts and sugar is dissolved. Let cool slightly, then pour into a squeeze bottle for drizzling, if you have one.

CRANBERRY GLAZE

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
remaining cranberries from bag

Combine water and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Add cranberries. Heat to boiling; reduce heat and simmer until thickened, about 10-15 minutes, slightly crushing cranberries as they simmer. Let cool and serve over cake slices.

Cranberry Glazed Pork Loin Roast

This is a great roast for the holidays. It looks pretty and festive and has great flavor.

You can usually find prepared horseradish by the mustard in your grocery store. I put 1-2 tsp. in the recipe because I made it with 1 teaspoon but personally would like the added kick of an additional teaspoon.

CRANBERRY GLAZED PORK LOIN ROAST
from Quick Savory Cranberry Glazed Pork Roast on Allrecipes.com

1 (4 lb.) boneless pork loin roast
1 (14.5 oz) can whole cranberry sauce
1 cup apple jelly
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
4 cubes chicken bouillon, crushed
1-2 tsp. prepared horseradish
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme (or 1 tsp. dried thyme)
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a saucepan, combine cranberry sauce, jelly, mustard, bouillon, horseradish, garlic powder, and thyme; bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Line a large baking pan with foil. Place roast fat side up and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spoon enough sauce onto roast to cover; reserve remaining sauce for basting.

Cook for 1 hour, basting (spooning sauce over) roast every 15 minutes. Let roast stand 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with sauce/gravy from pan.

Chicken Pesto Alfredo

This is a variation of a recipe I found at The Cottage Home. Once I saw it I had to try it. I loooove pesto and I loooove alfredo and combining the two just blew my universe apart. I added chicken to make it a little heartier (and so the menfolk wouldn't complain). As Backpack would say, "Yum yum yum yum yum delicioso!"

CHICKEN PESTO ALFREDO
adapted from Creamy Pesto Pasta Alfredo

3 chicken breasts, trimmed and pounded to an even thickness
2 tsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1 lb. box penne pasta
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/3 cup prepared pesto (store-bought or fresh)
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (plus more for garnish)
salt and pepper to taste

Start water for pasta - cook according to package directions. Strain, reserving 1/3 cup cooking liquid.

Heat 2 tsp. olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper and add to pan. Brown both sides and cook through.

Meanwhile, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for one minute. Add pesto and cook for 2-3 minutes more to mellow the flavor. Stir in cream and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add Parmesan cheese and stir until melted. Stir in 1/3 cup reserved cooking liquid from pasta and add salt and pepper as desired.

Chop cooked chicken into bite size pieces. Combine pasta and chicken in a large serving bowl and pour sauce all over. Stir to coat and serve with grated Parmesan on top.

Nutter Butter Ghosts/Snowmen

It's a little late to make these guys unless you want to make them into snowmen. But they are so darn yummy! Caralie and I made a batch about a week before Halloween and I forgot all about posting them until now.

NUTTER BUTTER GHOSTS/SNOWMEN

1 (1 lb.) package Nutter Butter cookies
1 (1 lb.) package white almond bark or vanilla candy coating
mini chocolate chips (for face, buttons)
Fruit Roll-Ups (for scarves)

Melt almond bark or candy coating according to package directions. Dip cookies to coat and place on wax paper-lined cookie sheet. Add mini chocolate chips for face (ghost/snowman) and buttons (snowman). Put cookies in fridge to harden. Cut fruit roll-ups into "scarves" and wrap around the neck of snowmen.

Italian Soup

Here is another soup for you to enjoy! Once again, it contains Italian sausage (am I sensing a theme here?), but no pasta this time. I made it last night and it was a surprisingly satisfying meal coupled with Golden Dinner Rolls (made with butter instead of shortening). The photo above is not the greatest representation, but I do the best I can with my camera and light conditions. I urge you to try this recipe. You won't be disappointed.

And if you're wondering what julienne means, here's a photo:

Kinda like thin sticks? (Or you can dice 'em).

And I'm putting 2-3 cans of beans, because I made this with 2 cans but I think it could use one more can if you are like me and like a lot of beans. If not, the 2 cans are plenty.

ITALIAN SOUP
adapted from Italian Sausage Soup on Allrecipes.com

1 lb. mild Italian sausage
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano (Italian style)
4 cups (32 oz) beef broth
3 carrots, shredded
2-3 (14.5 oz) cans great northern beans, undrained
2 zucchini, julienned
1 (9 oz) package chopped frozen spinach, thawed and drained
salt and pepper to taste

In a large stock pot, brown sausage with garlic, drain any fat. Stir in tomatoes, beef broth, and carrots, and season with salt and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Stir in beans (with liquid) and zucchini. Cover and simmer another 15 minutes or until zucchini is tender.

Remove from heat and stir in spinach. Cover and allow heat from soup to cook spinach. Soup is ready to serve after 5 minutes. Great garnished with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Butterscotch Blondies

These are sooo good. And sooo bad for you. These are the kind of treats that you only make when you have to bring treats to a party or potluck or whatever. Otherwise, you'll eat them all yourself. And that would be bad. Very, very bad.

But it would feel sooo right.

(And if you are going to eat one, try to get an edge piece because the edges get uber-chewy and delicious.)

BUTTERSCOTCH BLONDIES
adapted from Disappearing Marshmallow Brownies on Allrecipes.com

1 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking dish.

Combine butterscotch chips and butter in microwave-safe bowl. Melt in the microwave, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Set aside to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Add in flour, baking powder, and salt. Fold in mini chocolate chips and marshmallows. Pour batter into baking dish and spread evenly.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Cool and cut into squares. Store in airtight container.