Caramel Apple Pie With Crumb Topping

This recipe is cobbled together from 2-3 different recipes.  And the end result is glorious.

1 9-inch pie crust (I used a pillsbury crust)
 Filling
6 apples (I used granny smith)
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon ginger
pinch salt
other spices to taste (I used a touch of nutmeg, cloves, and allspice)
Sauce
1/4 cup butter
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
5 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)
I also added a sprinkle of cinnamon and ginger

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Put crust in pie pan, poke with fork a few times, bake until slightly golden.  Set crust aside on a cooling rack.  Mix the dry filling ingredients in a large bowl or zipper bag.  Peel and thinly slice apples, toss in dry ingredients until coated.  Put filling in crust.  Make sauce in a medium sized pot.  Melt butter, then add flour and stir to form a paste.  Add sugars, water, and vanilla.  Bring to a boil, then simmer about 5 minutes.  Allow sauce to cool slightly, then pour evenly over filling.  Put topping ingredients into a large bowl.  Cut together using a pastry cutter or fork until it resembles coarse crumbs.  Top the pie evenly.  Cover loosely with aluminum foil (you may want to put a sheet of foil under the pie pan also to avoid drippings in the bottom of your oven).  Bake for 25 minutes, then uncover and cook for another 25-30 minutes until topping is golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack.

Spritz Cookies

Growing up I used to love making Spritz Cookies.  They were easy and fun.  But I haven't had a cookie press in a long time.  So I put one on my wishlist and lo and behold my grandma got it for me!  Ironically it was part of my boyfriend's birthday presents since I said it was to make him cookies.  So today on my day off I made some.  They are really easy to make.

Ingredients

1         cup butter, softened

1/2      cup sugar

2 1/4   cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

1/4      teaspoon salt

1          egg

1/4       teaspoon almond extract or vanilla

 

Directions

• Heat oven to 400ºF. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour, salt, egg, almond extract.
• Place dough in cookie press. Form desired shapes on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake 5 to 8 minutes or until set but not brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

For decoration I take confectioners sugar mixed with a little bit of water and food coloring and dip the cookie in that.  The recipe as it stands makes roughly 70-80 cookies.  

This is my new cookie press and the disc I chose

The batter is very dry so I highly recommend using a mixer

The cookies after baking

My icing

The finished cookies

Witch Hat Cookies

So for Halloween this year I decided to bring my co-workers cookies and brownies.  The brownies were going to be cut out into shapes and decorated.  But I discovered when laying out the cookie cutter over the brownies that I would waste a lot and not get many brownies out of the batch so decided against that.  However the cookies are easy and fun to make!  Simply take Keebler Fudge Stripe cookies, flip them to the back side (completely covered in chocolate).  Then buy some orange icing (which I must say was kind of difficult to find).  I settled on Wilsons Cookie Icing.  It says to microwave it, however this makes it like water and for what we're doing that's not good!  So I then put it in the fridge for a while and left it at room temp after that and it made it more manageable.  Also you will need some Hershey's Kisses.  I used the plain milk chocolate, but I'm sure most any kind will work.  So you lay out the cookies upside down.  I found the easiest way, after trying several different ways, is to lay out all the cookies then just drizzle a little icing around the center ring.  Put a kiss on that spot, then drizzle a ring of icing around the kiss.  The end result looks like a hat with an orange band around it.  It's very cute!  And like I said easy to make.  With this icing I suggest using wax paper.  And letting it set over night, or putting it in the fridge if you need to serve soon.  This will allow the icing to harden further.  I've included a couple of pictures to show the process and end result.  My last batch of brownies are in the oven soon to come out, then it's let them cool and deliver!  Hope you all have a great Halloween!  Enjoy!

Rolled Sugar Cookies

Next weekend we are celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas with my Dad before he leaves for Texas for the winter. Normally I make anything and everything for the holidays, except cookies because I suck at making and baking them. While I was cruising around the internet, I found a recipe for Best Rolled Sugar Cookies and it looked pretty simple to make and the reviews were all positive, so I have decided to give it a try! It is chilling in the fridge as we speak! Woot! I plan on baking them in the morning! I feel pretty confident that they will turn out for me! I'll let you know how they turn out! Wish me luck!

• 1 1/2 Cups soften butter
• 2 Cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 5 Cups flour
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Bacon Pineapple Fried Rice

I randomly decided I wanted to try to make fried rice for the first time.  I read a bunch of different recipes, looked to see what I had on hand, and threw something together.  This is another one of those recipes where my measurements weren't precise.

1 1/2 cups uncooked rice
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion
1 can of pineapple chunks
3 eggs
6 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped up
1/2 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
salt and pepper to taste

Cook rice ahead of time and refrigerate until needed.  Heat oil in a large skillet or wok, add onions and pineapple and cook on high until they start to brown around the edges.  Whisk eggs, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.  Add eggs to pan, stir until eggs are completely cooked.  Add bacon, peas, and rice.  Break up any clumps of rice.  Stir frequently until everything is hot.  Adjust seasonings and eat!

Pot Roast

So my boyfriend requested a pot roast for dinner.  I have a bad track record with those, even when I cooked it in the crock pot with water it came out dry and nasty.  So I consulted Nichole (who consulted her husband) as well as my co-workers, and the nice guy behind the meat counter at my local grocery store.  I picked out a boneless chuckeye roast that just happened to be on sale (yay sale!).  I also found this mix of stuff while looking at the seasoning packets.  It's made by Kraft called Recipe Makers New England Pot Roast.  It comes with 2 things a simmer sauce and a finishing sauce.  So I this morning I put the roast in the crock pot, along with a whole lot of potatoes, carrots, celery, and half a sweet onion.  I added the simmer sauce as well as a little bit of water.  The simmer sauce didn't look like it would be enough.  It comes in a bottle so I just added water to the bottle, about half a bottles worth, and put that in.  Then put the lid on it, set it for low for 8 hours and left it alone.  The Kraft mix calls for you to add the finishing sauce about 15 minutes before you are done, so at 7 I put it on and turned the crock to high.  When all was said and done, the veggies were yummy, the meat was literally falling apart, and the flavor was wonderful!  I can't believe how well it turned out!  So I will definitely be buying that again.  I also made some crescent rolls to go with it.  Over all a very good meal tonight!  Thanks to all who made it happen!  I included pictures of the box from Kraft as well as the finished product.  Highly recommend the Recipe Maker. 

Loaded Baked Potato Casserole

I was going to make twice baked potatoes for dinner tonight.  Then I discovered that my potatoes were getting a bit too green to eat the skins.  So I made something up.  Thus the loaded baked potato casserole was born.

4 medium to large potatoes, sliced thin
1 small to medium onion, chopped
6 strips of bacon, cooked and chopped up
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Butter (yes, butter not cooking spray) a 9 x 9 casserole dish.  Put potatoes, onion, and bacon in dish.  You can layer or mix as you prefer.  Add salt and pepper.  Cut butter into small chunks and distribute evenly.  Top with cheese.  Bake, covered, for about 40 minutes or until potatoes are tender.  Serve, top with a dollop of sour cream, and enjoy!

The real beauty of this recipe is its flexibility.  Anything you like on a baked potato can be thrown into the dish.  I think next time I'll add broccoli.