Caramel Apple Cobbler

 This is a delicious, company-worthy dessert.

Caramel Apple Cobbler
1 package vanilla or yellow cake mix
2/3 cup evaporated milk or half and half, divided
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
1 can apple pie filling
1 (11 oz.) bag* caramel bits
Toppings
Vanilla ice cream
Caramel sauce ( find a delicious recipe here)

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a 9 x 13 pan.
In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, melt the caramel candies with 1/3 cup evaporated milk (or half and half.)  Whisk until melted and smooth.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the cake mix with the cinnamon and nutmeg.  Add 1/3 cup evaporated milk (or half and half,) vanilla, and melted butter.  Stir until smooth.  Spread half of this batter into the prepared pan.  Bake for 8-9 minutes in the preheated oven.  Remove from oven.  Carefully arrange the apple filling on top of the partially -baked cake.  Drizzle the caramel mixture on top.  Spoon or dab the rest of the cake mix on top.  Return to oven and bake another 20-25 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes.  Cut and serve topped with ice cream and caramel sauce.  

*Caramel bits are sold near the chocolate chips:

Cinnamon Muffins -- With a Healthy Twist

Mmm. My house smells like autumn. Yours can too. With this delicious, healthy recipe!

This time of year I am always looking for new ideas for after school snacks and yummy things to send in school lunches. My children love cinnamon and this muffin recipe went over really well. It calls for applesauce instead of oil so it is low fat and scrumptious. We have a fair amount of zucchini hanging out around here from our garden, so I used shredded zucchini instead of apples and it worked great.

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

 3/4 cup whole wheat flour

 3/4 cup sugar (The original recipe called for "granular no-calorie sucralose sweetener, e.g., Splenda ®") 

 1/2 teaspoon salt

 2 teaspoons baking powder

 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

 1 egg, lightly beaten

 1/3 cup milk

 2 apples - peeled, cored and chopped OR shredded zucchini

Directions

1.      Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a 12 cup muffin tin with foil liners or spray with cooking spray.

2.      In a large bowl, whisk together the 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, 3/4 cup whole wheat flour, 3/4 cup sweetener, salt, baking powder, and 2 teaspoons cinnamon.

3.      In a separate bowl, mix 1/3 cup applesauce, egg, and milk. Stir the applesauce mixture into the flour mixture until just blended. Fold in the apples. Spoon into the prepared muffin cups, filling about 2/3 full.

4.      Optional Step: In a small bowl, mix 1/2 cup sweetener, 2 2/3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 2 2/3 tablespoons whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup applesauce, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, and oats. Spread evenly over the muffin batter.

5.      Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

I skipped the optional step for the following less healthy, but “more appealing to my children” option:

1 Tablespoon butter

Cinnamon and sugar mix

Brown butter on the stove. Put cinnamon sugar mixture in a bowl. After muffins are cooked and have cooled for 4 or 5 minutes, dip muffin top in browned butter and then cinnamon/sugar and give them to your hovering children to listen to them “ooh” and “aah.” Or satisfy your own cravings and enjoy a guilt free snack.

Pork Roast in the Crockpot with Apple Almond Butter Sauce

Oh man.  This is easily in my top ten favorite main dishes that I've made.  It is absolutely delicious.  An added bonus is that it is really easy, too.  The sauce is to die for, but the roast by itself is out of this world.  I used to say that pork was my least favorite meat.  Not any more.  This is moist, succulent and out of this world delicious.  If you haven't tried any of my other recipes, try this one.   You'll be so glad.

Roast Pork
1 pork tenderloin roast ( they sell them in packages of three at Costco)
Olive oil, salt, and pepper
2-3 cups chicken stock

Spray your crock pot and drizzle some olive oil in the bottom.  Put the pork roast in.  Drizzle it generously with olive oil and then salt and pepper it generously.  Pour the chicken stock around it (not on top or it will wash away the salt and pepper.)  Put the lid on and cook on high for about 4-5 hours.

Apple Almond Butter Sauce for Pork
This recipe comes from Andelin's Gable House cook book.  Andelin's Gable House was a wonderful restaurant in St. George, Utah.  It was THE place to go for fine dining as they had a five-course meal.  One of their best entrees was the pork with this sauce.  I don't know how they cooked the pork (above is my own recipe), but this is a slightly altered version of their delicious sauce.  President Thomas S. Monson from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints loved this dish and he and his wife usually ordered it when he went to the Gable House.

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 cup slivered or sliced almonds, toasted
1 granny smith apple, not peeled, but sliced very thin
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a saucepan on medium heat, melt the butter and brown sugar together.  When melted and the sugar is dissolved, add the toasted almonds, apple and salt.  Simmer for about 8 minutes on low heat.  Serve over the pork.

Perfect Apple Pie

Thinking of making apple pie for Thanksgiving?  This recipe is delicious.  I've made it for years and years and years.   This is my husband's all-time favorite dessert.  I serve it with vanilla ice cream and my  Buttery Caramel Sauce on the top.  It's over the top yummy, and because you use the microwave to partially cook it, it is really fast.
Perfect Apple Pie
Pastry for 2-crust pie
6 large granny smith apples
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 T. flour
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp . nutmeg
2-3 T. butter

Heat oven to 425
 Double Pie Crust (I make pie crust once a year at Thanksgiving time, and freeze these pie crust rolls.  It is so convenient and is really, really good crust.)
Roll out a crust and arrange it in the bottom of a non-metal pie plate (ceramic or glass)
Peel, core, and slice the apples (or get your husband to do it- that's what I do!)  Put in a large bowl.  Add the sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Mix well until the apples start to get juicy.  Dump the mixture into the pie crust.  Dot the butter all over the top of the filling. (Just cut little dots of the butter and put them evenly all over the filling.) Adjust the top crust(in which you've cut some holes for ventilation)  over the filling and cut and crimp edges.  Sprinkle with sugar or cinnamon sugar.  Bake on high power in the microwave for 8 minutes.  Then, with hot pads, place on a baking sheet and bake in your preheated oven for 10 minutes to brown.  Serve warm, topped with vanilla ice cream, and Buttery Caramel Sauce, if desired

Brie Cheese and Apple Appetizer

I succumbed. I go to Sam's Club firm in my resolution to just get the basics and get out. However, I don't mind testing a few of their samples along the way. That is where my resolution wavered. Last Wednesday they were serving Brie Cheese on their delicious dinner rolls. Heaven! As I savored in pure delight, memories of the first time I had Brie Cheese came flooding back. 3 summers ago we moved to Wisconsin for my husband's internship. In an effort to make the most of our 3 month adventure in America's Dairyland, we decided to try a new cheese each week. It took a few weeks, and some miserable cheese taste testing (see picture below), for us to learn that there are some cheeses you really shouldn't just cut off the block and eat straight.
  

One of those is Brie cheese. After posting our disgust on our family blog, kind friends and family members shared their favorite ways to eat Brie in an effort to convince us to give it another chance. We bravely accepted their advice and attempted the following recipe from my Aunt Joan. I l.o.v.e.d. it. The purchased cheese disappeared quickly. I smiled at the memory and tried to walk away. It didn't work. I came back. I mean, really, I had a whole bag full of fresh, hand-picked apples sitting in my fridge that needed eating. I needed Brie cheese to accompany them, right? Ten dollars later, I walked out of Sam's with a bag of 36 fresh rolls, a 16 oz. circle of Brie Cheese, and a smile on my face. My whole family has been enjoying this little piece of heaven ever since.

ABCD Appetizer: Apple and Brie Cheese Delight

Apples (The original recipe called for Granny Smith. This year I have been using Cortland and they are great too!)

Brie Cheese

French Bread (or any other white bread of choice)

It's simple really. Preheat oven to 350. Slice the bread. Spread on the Brie Cheese (I spread it rind and all because I can't bear the thought of wasting any of the the delicious cheese. Sometimes I pick off the rind after it has been baked and the cheese has melted off). Place on baking sheet and bake in the oven for 5 or 6 minutes, until the bread is slightly crispy and the cheese has melted. Top with thinly sliced apples. Enjoy warm.

Nathan's Apple Crumble

Nathan

This is my grandson, Nathan.  Nathan loves to cook.  While visiting me one day, he was playing on PBSkids.org and found a recipe for apple crumble.  He was so excited to make it.  There wasn't time that day.  When he returned to our house a week later, the first thing he said was, "Can we make the apple crumble?"  He and his mom( Kirsten)  made it and it was delicious.  It's easy enough for a kid to make, but surprisingly good!

We didn't have any vanilla ice cream, but a little chocolate in the ice cream never hurts anything, right?

Apple Crumble

1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1 cup brown sugar

12/ cup butter

4 cups sliced apples (about 7 apples)

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 T. lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350.  Cut the apples into small pieces.  Put the lemon juice on them and put them in a 9x9 baking dish that has been sprayed.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, oats, and brown sugar.  Melt the butter and pour it over the oat mixtures.  Mix well and pour over the apples.  Bake for about 30 minutes. Serve topped with ice cream.