Apple Crisp

I made two trays of this apple crisp for my class the other day and it was almost all gone!  I had a few people ask for the recipe, so I thought I would share.  Apples are in season right now and taste so good, this is a great fall dessert for that reason.  I hope you try this, its so very easy!  I'm even including the recipe for the whipped cream I made to go with it.

Apple Crisp
by: Betty Crocker

4

medium tart cooking apples, sliced (4 cups)*I used a combo of Macintosh and another tart cooking apple

3/4

cup packed brown sugar

1/2

cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

1/2

cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats

1/3

cup butter or margarine, softened

3/4

teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4

teaspoon ground nutmeg  **I also added about 1/2 tsp of cloves

Cream or Ice cream, if desired

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1. Heat oven to 375ºF. Grease bottom and sides of 8-inch square pan with shortening.
2. Spread apples in pan. In medium bowl, stir remaining ingredients except cream until well mixed; sprinkle over apples.
3. Bake about 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender when pierced with a fork. Serve warm with cream (or warm with the whipped cream below).

Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream
by: me :)

• 8 oz heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar (or more if you think its not sweet enough)
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste 

1. Put a metal bowl in the freezer for about ten minutes so it is nice and cold.  This helps that whipped cream whip faster (it really does work!).
2. You can use a hand mixer or electric mixer for this (or a whisk if you are really brave).  
3. Pour all the ingredients into the cold bowl.
4. Turn your mixer on high and whip until stiff peaks form.  Don't whip too long, or you'll end up with butter.
5. Put in the fridge until you are ready to use it and resist the urge to eat all of it with a spoon.

Chicken Fricassee with Mashed Potatoes

This is a meal my mom would make a lot when I was a kid.  It is great for those leftovers you may be getting sick of or if you want a good comfort meal.  My mom calls it chicken fricassee, but I don't know what the real name of it may be, all I know is it is delish!

Chicken Fricassee
from: my mom

Ingredients:

• 1/2 an onion, diced
• 1/3 cup of butter
• 1/3 cup of flour
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup or more of peas and corn (or whatever your preference may be)
• 2 cups chicken (or turkey) torn up into bite size pieces (precooked!)

Directions:

1. Melt butter over medium heat.  When butter is melted, add onions and saute until translucent.
2. Sprinkle flour over this mixture once onions are ready.  Whisk until all of the flour is absorbed.  Cook this mixture and stir very often for about 3-5 minutes.  You want to make sure that you cook it long enough to get all of the raw flour flavor out.
3. Whisk in milk and broth.  You will want to whisk it good, or there might be lumps! 
4. Stir often over medium heat until the mixture starts to bubble.  You will also notice that the gravy will begin to thicken at this point, like magic!
5. When it gets pretty thick (like it would coat the back of a spoon), turn the heat to low. Now, add the peas and corn (frozen still is fine, that's why the heat is still on!) and chicken.
6. Finally, add salt and pepper to taste.  Don't add too much salt without tasting it because broth can be kind of salty!
7. Pour over your favorite mashed potatoes on each individual plate (homemade or boxed, I won't tell!), but don't combine it all until you are ready to eat, it might get a little soupy.
8. Leftovers are super good :)

Thanks Mom!

Pumpkin Cream Pie

I love this time of year and all of the pumpkin goodies.  Me and my friend Hope cooked almost all of Thanksgiving dinner on our own (Max put some butter on the turkey).  Instead of the traditional pumpkin pie, I made this pumpkin cream pie that I found on the Pioneer Woman's website.  I love her and her food always looks amazing!  I missed her when she came and visited OU :(

Ree's recipe called for a homemade graham cracker crust, but I already had so much today that I used a shortbread crust that I got at Target.  They had run out of graham cracker crusts already!  I probably shouldn't have done my shopping the day before Thanksgiving!  Also, I didn't use the whiskey that is optional.

Pumpkin Cream Pie
from: The Pioneer Woman 

Ingredients

• FOR THE CRUST:
• 1-½ package Graham Crackers (about 15 Cookie Sheets)
• ½ cups Powdered Sugar
• 1 stick Butter, Melted
• FOR THE FILLING:
• 1 box (3 Oz. Box) Vanilla Pudding (Cook And Serve Variety)
• 1 cup Half-and-half
• ½ cups Heavy Cream
• Pinch Of Cinnamon
• Pinch Of Nutmeg
• Pinch Of Ground Cloves
• 2 Tablespoons Whiskey (optional)
• ½ cups (plus 3 Tablespoons) Pumpkin Puree
• ½ cups (additional) Heavy Cream
• 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
• Extra Graham Cracker Crumbs, For Garnish

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Grind graham crackers in a food processor (or, if you don’t have a food processor, place them in a large ziploc and pound ‘em with a rolling pin.) Add powdered sugar and melted butter and process until totally combined. Press into the bottom and sides of a pie pan until nice and firm. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until warm and “set.” Remove from oven and allow crust to cool completely.
In a medium saucepan, mix dry pudding mix with half-and-half and cream. Add spices. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is bubbly and thick. Remove from heat and stir in whiskey, if using. Add pumpkin and stir to combine. Place lid on pot and set aside to cool. When cool enough, place pot in the fridge to cool completely.
When mixture is cool, remove from the fridge. In a mixing bowl, add 1/2 cup heavy cream and brown sugar. Beat until very light and fluffy. Fold in pumpkin cream mixture until combined. Pour into cooled crust.
Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight. Serve with graham crackers crumbled on top.

Pumpkin Bars

Hello again.  I know its been a while.  I'm more than halfway through my student teaching and I have really been enjoying it.  I had a little time last weekend and was hanging out with Brittani, so I made some pumpkin bars in honor of Fall!!  I love pumpkin and all things pumpkin related. These bars are very yummy and have the perfect balance of frosting and cake.  I hope you get to try these and enjoy them!

Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
from: How to Simplify

Ingredients:
Bars

• 4 eggs
• 1 2/3 cups sugar
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Frosting

• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 3-4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 baking dish.
2. Mix the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin with a mixer until light and fluffy.
3. Pour flour, powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda into another bowl and mix.
4. Pour flour mixture into pumpkin mixture and mix until incorporated and smooth.
5. Pour the batter into the baking dish and level out the batter.
6. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before removing from the dish or frosting.
8. Frost the bars when they have cooled -- To make the frosting: Combine cream cheese and butter in a bowl and mix until smooth. Add the sugar slowly until you reach the desired consistency. Stir in the vanilla.

Hiatus

Sorry for the lack of posting lately.  I am currently doing my student teaching and working from 5-11 every night.  I'm only at home and awake for about an hour a day, so there hasn't been much baking or cooking for me.  I might be posting every once in a while, but not very often.  Wish me luck!

Berry Crumble

Its been so hot in Oklahoma lately that I haven't been baking too much.  Our little apartment gets so hot once the oven is turned on and our air conditioner barely works.  So, I'm going to post this recipe for berry crumble that I made for some friends in June and for Max's family in July.  It was a real hit with everyone and there were no leftovers either time I made it.  This recipe is very easy and the only thing you will probably have to buy are berries.  I hope you enjoy!

Berry Crumble
adapted from Playing House

•  6 cups of berries of your choice (I like to use half frozen, mixed berries and half fresh berries such as strawberries or blueberries)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon or apple pie spice
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon brown sugar (light or dark)
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits, plus some for the pan
• 1/2 cup rolled oats (not instant)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus extra for juicy fruit
• Dash salt

1. Heat the oven to 400 F. Toss the fruit with half the cinnamon or apple pie spice, the lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon brown sugar (and a tablespoon of flour if your fruit is juicy) and spread it in a lightly buttered 8-inch square or 9-inch round baking pan.

2. Combine all the other ingredients, including the remaining cinnamon or apple pie spice and brown sugar, in a food processor and pulse a few times, then process a few seconds more, until everything is well incorporated but not uniform. To mix the ingredients by hand, soften the butter slightly, toss together the dry ingredients, then work in the butter with your fingertips, a pastry blender, or a fork).

3. Crumble the topping over the fruit and bake until the topping is browned and the fruit is tender and bubbling, 30-40 minutes. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature. (I really like to serve this with vanilla ice cream when the crumble is hot, yum!)

Summer Veggie Lasagna (No Bake)

As you may have noticed from my previous post, I have indulged a bit over the past few weeks.  Max and I needed to start eating some more veggies so I combined a few recipes for Summer Veggie Lasagna that I found online.  This is nice for the summer too because you don't have to bake it in the oven so you don't heat up your whole house.

Summer Veggie Lasagna
adapted from a bunch of places

• 1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
• 1 small summer squash, thinly sliced
• 1 small eggplant (optional), peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 tomato, thinly sliced
• 1 diced onion
• 1-2 tsp of minced garlic
• 3 tsp chopped, fresh basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2 cups part skim ricotta
• lasagna sheets
• olive oil

1. Boil salted water for the lasagna sheets.  The number of lasagna sheets you need depends on how many people you are feeding.  You will need two sheets per plate.  Boil lasagna for the time stated on the box.  Set aside.
2. Saute onion in olive oil until almost translucent.  Add garlic and saute for another 2-3 minutes.  Remove onion and garlic from the pan and set aside.
3. Add summer squash, zucchini, and eggplant to the same saute pan.  Cook until the squash starts to become translucent.  Add salt and pepper.  You may need more olive oil to cook these.
4. In a bowl, mix ricotta, onion and garlic mixture, basil, oregano, salt and pepper.  Taste the mixture to make sure it is seasoned well.
5. To create the lasagna: cut one sheet in half and put on the plate.  Spread with ricotta mixture.  Layer with squash, eggplant, and tomato.  Cut another lasagna sheet in half and put it on top of the tomatoes.  If you want, you can sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top and microwave for about a minute to melt it.  Enjoy!