Apple Crisp (over 100 yrs old)

If a recipe is that old and is still around, it should be a good one right?! I grew up surrounded by apple orchards so I've had my fair share of apple pie, apple crisp, apple cobbler, dried apples, apple dip, apple juice...and the list goes on. This is my all time favorite apple crisp and nothing beats dishing up a nice warm bowl of this and topping it with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream!

INGREDIENTS
6 medium apples, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup sugar
cinnamon

TOPPING:
1 cup white sugar
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt (I use 1/4 tsp)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
(I ALWAYS double the topping)

1/2 cup butter, melted

DIRECTIONS
Mix apple slices, 1/4 cup sugar, and cinnamon. Put into a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. In a medium bowl, mix sugar, flour, salt, and baking powder. Add egg and mix until it looks like crumbs, the size of peas. Sprinkle over apples. Drizzle 1/2 cup butter over top of crumb mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until light brown. Let cool 5 minutes. Serve with ice cream or cool whip.

Divine Breadsticks

Sunday we had family coming over for dinner and my husband informed me we were fixing Spaghetti for dinner (his favorite, not mine). I've made these breadsticks several times and I love them 1st for the taste, and 2nd for the quickness in whipping up a batch. I found the recipe at one of my favorite recipe internet stops My Kitchen Cafe. Enjoy!

*Makes about 20-25 breadsticks, depending on how thick or thin you cut them.

1 ½ cups warm water
1 T. instant yeast
2 T. sugar
3 ½ cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
3 T butter, melted (for the baking sheet)

Mix all ingredients (except melted butter) in a large bowl or electric mixer and knead for three minutes. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spread melted butter onto an 11X17-inch baking sheet. Roll out the breadstick dough about 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick and cut into strips with a pizza cutter. Twist slightly if desired and place about 1/2-inch apart on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with garlic salt, herbs of choice and parmesan cheese. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes. Bake 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees until golden brown.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

My gma recently took an old family favorite peanut butter cookie recipe and spiced it up by adding some oatmeal to the mix. From now on I don't think i'll ever make peanut butter cookies again w/o adding oatmeal. It makes the cookies so chewy and adds more flavor and texture to what was already a great cookie.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
Beat thoroughly.
Add: 2 beaten eggs.
Add:
1 cup peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups quick oats
2 tsp. soda
Drop onto a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Mormon Champagne

My mom came up with this yummy drink for my sister's bridal shower this summer. I also recently served it at another bridal shower this fall and both times it got rave reviews. It's so simple and it's even better to make extra so you can sip on leftovers for the next couple of days!

INGREDIENTS
1 (2 liter) bottle grapefruit flavored soda (Fresca), chilled
1 (64 fluid ounce) bottle Welch's white grape juice, chilled
8 oz. jar maraschino cherries plus 1/2 the juice

DIRECTIONS
Combine above ingredients and serve.

Halloween puffed treat

My mom shared this recipe with me TWICE while we were visiting in WA for apple harvest. Although I was blatantly ignoring my health while consuming this tasty treat, we polished off the first bowl so fast I was secretly hoping she would make a second batch, and i wasn't dissapointed. During the next 3 weeks I whipped up 4 more batches but did force myself to share most of it because the guilt was slowly rising...but it really is that good!

INGREDIENTS
2 cubes butter
1/2 cup light karo syrup
1 1/3 cup sugar

Cook over medium heat to soft ball stage (constantly stirring). Pour over 1 1/2 bags of Chester's puffs (buttered flavor).

Apple Dip

I made the mistake this week of trying 2 similar dip recipes at the same time, side by side. Of course I got into a hurry and dumped the wrong ingredients into the wrong bowl. The result was pretty tasty. Below are the 2 separate recipes. Our family has always enjoyed the first with the peanuts but when you combine both recipes with the peanuts and the toffee bits, it's even sweeter and a great treat to share!

Apple Dip #1
INGREDIENTS
1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chopped peanuts

DIRECTIONS
Blend ingredients and serve with apple slices.

Apple Dip #2
INGREDIENTS

1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2/3 pkg heath toffee bits

DIRECTIONS
Blend ingredients and serve with apple slices.

Chili in a Pumpkin

When Brandon and I were on his field trip earlier this week the cashier lady told me about a recipe I should try with the pumpkin. She said that the particular pumpkin we were buying was really good for baking. (I am completely oblivious to the differences in pumpkins). Anyway, it looked like a smaller "sugar" pumpkin.

She said to cut the top off the pumpkin and scrape out the seeds and guts. Then dump 2 cans of chili inside. Spray the outside of the pumpkin with cooking spray and place it on a cookie sheet lined with foil. Bake at 375 degrees for approx 1 1/2hrs or until the inside of the pumpkin can be forked easily. About 3/4 way through the cooking time I placed another peace of foil over the top of the pumpkin because I was worried about it getting too dark.

Once the pumpkin is cooked, scoop out the inside of the pumpkin along with the chili and place into bowls. Top with shredded cheese and sour cream.

I was so excited to try this recipe that I just used canned chili that I had on hand. It was really good. Next time though i'm definitely going to make homemade chili to try in the pumpkin.

Cauliflower Soup

1 head cauliflower, rinsed and cut into large chunks
1 can chicken broth

Combine above 2 items into a pot and bring to a slow boil. Cover with lid and cook on medium high for 10 minutes or until cauliflower is tender.

In a small bowl combine:
2 T. butter, melted
2 T. flour

Once cauliflower is tender, mash with a potato masher to desired chunk consistency. Stir roux into chicken broth/cauliflower mixture.

Slowly add 4 c. 1/2 and 1/2 milk.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Best Ever Lemon Squares

I made these lemon squares yesterday for a party and they turned out really good. The part of this recipe that caught my eye was that you line the pan with tin foil and after the dessert cools you lift it out of the pan and it makes it so easy to cut into squares. I found this recipe on a website called yourhomebasedmom where she recently put together a lovely lemon recipe collection. I would love to try every single recipe there; I love lemon!

Crust:
1 1/2 cup plus 4 T. flour
2/3 cup powdered sugar- plus extra for garnishing
4 T. cornstarch
12 T. butter, cut into pieces
Filling:
4 eggs
1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 T. flour
2 tsp. lemon zest
2/3 c. fresh lemon juice
6 T. cream
1/4 tsp. salt

Don't preheat oven quite yet. Line a 9 x 13 pan with foil. Spray the foil with cooking spray. Pulse flour, powdered sugar, and cornstarch in food processor. Add butter and process to blend, 9 to 10 seconds, then pulse until coarse. Pour the dry mixture into lined pan and press over pan bottom. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. While it chills, you can make the filling.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. When oven is preheated, bake the pre-chilled crust for 18-20 minutes or until edges are very lightly browned.

Filling: Lightly beat the eggs, sugar, and flour together in a bowl. Add lemon juice, lemon zest, cream, and salt and mix well.

Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Stir filling again, then pour filling over warm crust. Bake for 20 minutes or until filling no longer appears wet and shaky.

Set on a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Lift from pan, place on a cutting board, dust with extra powdered sugar and cut into bars.

Taco Soup

Brown: 2 lbs. ground beef and 1 onion, chopped

Add:
1 qt. spicy v8 juice (tomato juice for really mild flavor)
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 c. frozen corn
2 cans red kidney beans, drained
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
1 can pinto beans, drained
1 pkg. taco seasoning mix
2 tsp. salt
1 T. sugar

Simmer on low for 25 minutes.

Serve with tortilla chips, grated cheese and sour cream.

Buttermilk Banana Bread

I've never had a favorite banana bread recipe....until this one. Thank you to My Kitchen Cafe for introducing me to this recipe. Love it!

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
1 cup mashed bananas (I use about 3 average sized bananas)
4 tablespoons buttermilk
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
dash baking soda

DIRECTIONS
Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs, bananas, buttermilk and vanilla. In a separate bowl mix dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to banana mixture. Mix until combined. Divide batter into greased and floured bread pans and bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. This recipe makes about one large loaf of banana bread (I usually have a bit leftover for a mini loaf pan or I like to use the batter in all my mini's which will fill 5 loaf pans. *The timing will be completely different for mini loaves...around 30 minutes, so watch carefully).

Potato Salad

INGREDIENTS
4 medium red potatoes, boiled, cooled, peeled and diced
4 hard cooked eggs, chopped
1/2 c. sliced green onions
1 c. diced baby dill pickles

Dressing:
3/4 c. mayonnaise
1 tsp. white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. yellow mustard
1 tsp. dried dill (or 3 T. chopped fresh dill)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper

DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl, combine potatoes, eggs, green onions and pickles. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, dill, salt and pepper. Pour dressing over salad; mix gently. Referigerate at least 1 hour to blend flavors.

Baked Beans

INGREDIENTS
1 c. onion
5 (15 oz.) cans pork and beans
1 (15 oz.) can chili
3/4 c. brown sugar
2 T. molasses
1/2 c. ketchup
1 lb. bacon, fried and crumbled, optional

Saute onion in 2 T. oil. Combine in large bowl, pork and beans, chili, brown sugar, molasses, ketchup, and bacon. Pour into large casserole dish and bake at 325 degrees for 2 hours. (I usually combine all ingredients into the crockpot and cook on low for 3 hours)