Apples Apples Apples

My in-laws live in rural Washington and they were kind enough to bring us two huge grocery bags full of apples a few weeks ago. I made applesauce right away and gave some to my folks but struggled to find something new and creative to make with the rest. Finally, this weekend I thought "Forget it, stick with what you know and what everyone likes best."

It's a nice variation on apple pie and I try to make several ahead of time and then freeze just before baking. It can then be pulled straight from the freezer to the oven if you make in an aluminum pie pan or other metal baking pan.

I give you: Apple Crumble Extraordinaire:

Filling
5-6 medium apples, peeled, cored and sliced
2 tbls brown sugar
1 1/2 tbls flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger

Topping
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup butter

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix dry filling ingredients in a large bowl. Add apples, mix to coat and then arrange evenly in a pretty pie dish. Mix dry topping ingredients together, then add egg and mix with hands until mixture is combined into crumbly particles. Sprinkle over apple mixture and then pour butter evenly over topping. Bake for 30-35 minutes until topping is lightly browned. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

I love the recipe swap every Friday at The Grocery Cart Challenge and know that you will too. Go over and see what everyone is cooking this week! Your family and your tummy will thank you.

Holiday Pears Appetizer

This is an elegant appetizer to bring to any of your holiday parties. Poached pears, flavored with cinnamon on a base of cream cheese and bleu cheese with chopped walnuts (if you like).

2 large pears, sliced
4 cups water
1 tbsp cinnamon

2 blocks of cream cheese, softened
1/2 container crumbled bleu cheese
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

Place water and pears into a large shallow pan and sprinkle cinnamon over pears. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until pears are tender (if your pears are very ripe, you may not even need the 15 minutes). While pears are simmering, put walnuts into small saute pan, heat on medium and toss the pan occasionally to evenly toast the nuts. Mix cream cheese and bleu cheese and spread into a shallow serving dish (I use a nice pie dish). Arrange pears over cheese mixture and sprinkle toasted walnuts over the pears. There are no walnuts in the picture because I forgot to take them with us! I also sprinkled a little additional cinnamon over the pears in the picture.

My girlfriends and I used to top slices of french baguette with this delicious-ness and eat as a meal. Can also be served with crackers or endive (a hoity-toity lettuce!).

I get nothing but raves from this dish - enjoy!

The Grocery Cart Challenge is where you can find delicious recipes every week for the recipe swap - thanks to Gayle for hosting it. She's got a great cookie recipe and gift idea this week - be sure to check it out!

Thanksgiving Bakes

Have a lot of Thanksgiving leftovers? We did and every year I try to come up with something new to do with them all! I'm not sure why, but this year I had a lot of the green bean casserole left and that was even after I sent all guests home with some. These little dishes are a little bit of everything from your Turkey feast. I thought it would be cute to put them in these little ramekins but you can make it on a bigger scale in a casserole dish.

I sprayed the ramekins with a touch of Pam just to prevent sticking. Then add chopped turkey:

Then add some green bean casserole. It's already got mushroom soup mix and milk that will blend nicely with the turkey:



Then I topped them off with mashed potatoes and a really delicious artichoke stuffing that my Dad made from a Sunset magazine recipe:


Bake at 375 for about 20-25 minutes. I added some cheese to the tops - it was fabulous. The stuffing got nice and crunchy on top. This is a delicious way to use up some leftovers!

JD Pecan Pie

*Photo by Josh Weisberg

Have you ever noticed that people have their "things" for the holidays? "Things" are something that a person absolutely has to have on that particular holiday to make it feel like that holiday. My brother-in-law John is originally from Alabama and his "thing" for Thanksgiving is Pecan Pie. So I learned how to make a killer Pecan Pie for him! It's so easy and the ingredients are usually on hand but I have to admit, I really only make it once a year. Although this year, I'm hoping to make it more often because it's just so good.

3 large eggs

1 cup corn syrup

2 tbls butter, melted

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup Jack Daniels whiskey

1 1/4 cups pecan halves



1 pie crust - I make a couple of whole wheat at a time and keep in the freezer but you can use the premade ones



Beat the eggs slightly then stir in corn syrup, sugar, butter, vanilla and JD. Pour in to pie crust and arrange pecans on top. Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes until pie is set - it shouldn't jiggle when you touch the pan.



I have also used chopped pecans, not as picturesque a pie but tastes just as good. This year I got really creative - used extra pie crust and a mini leaf cookie cutter to decorate the pie edge.

**Thanks to Josh Weisberg for the awesome photo - that is the actual pie we had on Turkey Day!