Apples, Apples and more Apples

Our weather took a sudden cool down. Now you all might laugh because we dropped to 59 during the day and just shy of freezing at night. But here in southern Arizona that is very unusual. So baking with apples sounded like a perfect thing to do. So I don't have a craft project for today but instead I started baking with apples and it got out of control!!!  I started my day with  making some
Homemade Chunky Cinnamon Applesauce.
Here is a picture with me taking a taste and the recipe so you can give it a try. lol

Recipe for Homemade  Chunky Cinnamon Applesauce:
8 med Granny Smith apples, peeled and cut into fourths. You can also use a mixture of apples such as adding Gala's.
2/3 c. sugar
3/4 c. apple juice
2 Tablespoons margarine or butter, melted
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix all ingredients together in a Crock Pot. Cover and cook on high 1 1/2 -2 hours. Although I find with my Crock Pot that it takes much longer than this. So watch and adjust time as necessary. The apples will begin to break up. Stir well to help break up the apple chunks. Depending on how chunky or smooth you want your end result will also determine amount of time you simmer this. Use a potato masher to help get the consistency you want.Cool and refrigerate to store it. Can be served warm or cold. Add ice cream or whip cream for a real treat.

Remember when I said I started with making applesauce but it got out of control? Well I peeled to many apples for the applesauce so I decided to make apple crisp. I made the recipe I talked about in a earlier post that came from a small town in  New York newspaper. Here is a picture for that although I don't think the picture does it justice. It is very hard to get a picture to match the taste isn't it? Anyway here goes:

Then as you can probably guess I still had an excess of apples. I over estimated again!! So I peeled a few more apples to make my final and I mean final apple item. Can you guess what I made? drum roll please.... tada

A very full  Apple Pie

So after many apples later I have 3 wonderful choices to choose from if I want a taste for apples.  Did I make you hungry? I wish I could send you all a taste. I guess you will have to get busy yourself and do some apple baking.

Oh by the way I added pictures of my Poor Man Turtle post so you can see those little gems. Check it out.

A Quick Recipe

Today I have a quick post with a recipe for a candy. I will be back in the next few days with a project.

My recipe is really quick and easy but with a big payoff in taste. So here we go:

3 simple ingredients

Poor Man'sTurtles

Ingredients:
A bag of Rolo's
Pecan halves or whole pieces
Waffle Pretzels (these are square shaped pretzels)
Supplies:
Parchment paper
cookie tin

Here is how they look going into the oven.

Step 1: Unwrap your Rolo's (this is the longest step in this recipe)
Step 2: Place a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet
Step 3: Place the waffle pretzels down first. You can make however many as you want. Just a few or fill your pan. If I fill a cookie sheet I make approx. 24
Step 4: Place a Rolo on top of each square pretzel in the center of the pretzel.
Step 5: Place in a pre-heated 350 oven for just 5 minutes
Step 6: Immediately when taken out of the oven place a pecan piece on top of each Rolo pressing down slightly. The Rolo's will have the caramel squeeze out but no worries.

 This shows me adding a pecan piece to the top of each Rolo and pressing down.

Step 7: Let totally cool!!!  If you're in a hurry you can place them in the refrigerator or even freezer while still on the cookie sheet to harden and cool faster. Once cooled they will be firm again and because it is on the parchment paper any amount that overflowed will stay with the candy piece when you peel them off the paper.

They are cooling on the rack but if you look close there is one missing.  If I had waited it would have peeled off clean with no chocolate or caramel left behind.  I just couldn't wait!!! lol

Warning-- these are addicting!!! If you have had these at my house or when I've brought them scrapping leave a comment below and let everyone know what you think of these little gems. I LOVE them lol Can you tell?

I hope you give them a try. Enjoy!!

Tasty Apple Crisp

 For today I decided on giving you a recipe instead of a project. I think you will think it was worth it.
So I am giving you  all a really good recipe for Apple Crisp.
This is a perfect dish for this time of year.  The recipe came from the "News of the Highlands" This is a newspaper in Highland Falls, NewYork.  My husband grew up in Highland Falls NY,which is 60 miles north of the city, and still subscribes to his hometown newspaper. Last week they had a title "Mmm...bake a fall apple crisp.  So I decided to give it a try. Well the title was right!!! This is a very yummy Apple Crisp. So here is the recipe so you can give it a try.

Apple Crisp
For the crisp topping:

• 6 Tblsp cold butter , cut into 1/2" chunks, or you can use 6 Tblsp canola oil or a flavored nut oil (hazelnut or walnut)
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cup flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats or 1/2 cup chopped walnuts,hazelnuts,or pecans
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
• using your fingers, a pastry cutter, or a food processor, work the butter or (oil) into the rest of the ingredients until you have a coarse crumbly mixture. Set aside.

For the  fruit filling:

• 2 1/2 lbs. apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4 inch thick chunks.
• 1/4 cup raisins(optional)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp grated lemon zest
• 1 tblsp lemon juice
• 2-4 tblsp sugar, to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
Butter a 2 quart baking dish
Toss the fruit with the other filling  ingredients and adjust the sugar to taste. Arrange the fruit mixture in the baking dish and cover with the topping. Set the dish on a sheet pan to catch any drippings.Bake until the fruit juices are bubbling and the topping is brown, about 1 hour and 10 minutes
Serve warm or at room temperature with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or with whipped cream.



ENJOY!!!