Puff Pastry Tarts

I love baking... I love autumn time and the fruits that are available at the grocery stores and farmers markets. I especially LOVE the smell of fall baking... Yum!! I haven't baked with puff pastry much but Alton Brown had a Good Eats episode on puff pastry and showed this recipe. I tweaked it a little but the original recipe is here. Enjoy!!

Puff Pastry Tarts
Ingredients:
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
Sugar, for dusting (I used cinnamon sugar)
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced into wedges
1 ripe peach, peeled, and thinly sliced into wedges
1 ripe plum, thinly sliced into wedges
Apricot or peach  jam

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. After puff pastry has thawed, place on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Unfold, and cut into 3 even strips. Move so they are a couple of inches apart.
I used a mandolin to cut my apple slices, just have them thin as possible. The peaches and plums I had slightly thicker. 
Poke pastry sheets with a fork down the center but leave about a 1/2 inch on the sides un-poked to provide an outlet for steam. Sprinkle pastry with sugar (or cinnamon sugar) and arrange apple slices an plum / peach slices on top.
Bake in the middle of the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Poke the crust; if it feels soft it needs more time in the oven.
Microwave some apricot jam for 30 seconds. When the tarts come out of the oven dab (don't brush) the jam on the tarts. Cool tarts at least 4 hours and seal in a resealable plastic bag. Serve at room temperature or heat in the microwave and top with ice cream or fresh whipped cream.
Enjoy

Fruit Salsa

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and have wanted to try it out for a while. Last weekend I decided to give it a go... So YUMMY! If you are going to make a brunch this is a perfect treat/ appetizer / beginner......while you are cooking eggs or frittata or whatever you want for brunch. Loved it. You can put any fruit you want in it or add to what I put in it. I might try adding kiwi or melon next time. Yum!

Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Tortilla Crisps

3 10-inch Tortilla Chips (or use about 1 tortilla per person)

Cinnamon Sugar

Cooking spray

1 apple ( I like Pink Lady apples)

1 lime (you can use lemon if you like, I just had a lime)

1 cup strawberries, rinsed and the stems cut off

1 cup raspberries, rinsed and drained

2-3 Tablespoons Raspberry Jam

First, Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Next spray your tortillas with cooking spray. Using a pizza cutter slice tortillas  into strips then diagonal wedges about 2 inches long. Place on your prepared baking sheet in a single layer and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Turn tortilla strips over and sprinkle this side with cinnamon sugar as well. 

Bake for about 8 to 11 minutes until lightly browned and crisp.

While your Crisps are baking: Zest your lime into a large bowl. 

Next slice your apple into large chunks and place in a food processor. Pulse about 10 times or until apple is finely diced. Add to your zest in bowl and squeeze the juice from the lime into the bowl, toss with apple. Next add your strawberries and raspberries to the processor and pulse again about 10 times or until berries are about the same size as the apple. Add to the bowl with the apple along with 2 Tablespoons Raspberry Jam. Stir to combine. Taste, if you need more jam or a pinch of sugar add at this point. 

Serve with warm cinnamon crisps and enjoy!

Blueberry Nectarine Crisp

This recipe is adapted from one the Pioneer woman did. I love watching Saturday morning Cooking shows. I also love Fruit Crisps warm from the oven with a healthy scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on top...what's better than that? You could use Peaches in this rather than nectarines if you want. Enjoy!

Blueberry Nectarine Crisp

Ingredients:Filling:
5 or 6 nectarines, sliced, no need to peel ( or peaches, but peel those)
1 quart blueberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 heaping tablespoons cornstarch
Pinch of salt
1 orange, zested and juiced (reserve the zest for the topping) Or you could use lemon if you don't like orange (Like my husband)

Topping:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup oats (you can use quick or Old-Fashioned..Old Fashioned will be a bit chewier)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
Pinch of salt
1-1/2 cubes cold butter
1/2 cup chopped pecans ( OR more)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish or spray with a non-stick cooking spray.
Gently toss the sliced nectarines and blueberries with the granulated sugar, cornstarch, salt and about 1 Tablespoon of the orange juice in a large bowl until combined. Gently dump the fruit mixture into the prepared baking dish.
For the topping:
Combine the flour, oats, both sugars and salt in another medium to large mixing bowl. Slice 1- 1/2 cubes of the butter into pea sized cubes, then cut the butter cubes into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter or your fingers. Next add the pecans and orange zest and stir to combine.
Sprinkle the topping over the fruit.  Cover with crisp with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue cooking until the top is browned and the fruit is bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool a bit before serving.
Serve while still slightly warm and top with a generous scoop of Vanilla Bean ice cream. 
YUMMO!

Peach Almond Crisp

I love fruit crisp.... especially with extra 'crisp' on it and vanilla ice cream. I loved this recipe, I saw it on one of the cooking channels and had to give it a shot. But I doubled my Crisp recipe... you can never have enough of the stuff. Perfect with peaches and this time of the year when peaches are in season. Enjoy!

Peach Almond Crisp

INGREDIENTS

• TOPPING:

• 1 cup rolled oats

• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar

• 1/2 cup sliced almonds

• 6 Tablespoons butter, softened

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

•

• FILLING:

• 6 cups sliced peaches (about 4 to 6 peaches)

• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar

• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

• 1 teaspoon almond extract

• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

DIRECTIONS

For the topping: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. 

In a small bowl, combine the oats, sugar, almonds, butter, cinnamon and salt and stir with a fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs; set aside. 

For the filling: In a medium bowl, stir together the peaches sugar, cornstarch, almond extract and nutmeg and transfer to an 8- or 9-inch shallow baking dish. Crumble the topping over the peach mixture. Bake until the filling is hot and bubbly and the topping is golden brown, 40 to 50 minutes. 

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream if desired.

Strawberry-Coconut Freezer Jam

One of my favorite memories of my childhood is my mother's homemade bread -warm from the oven topped with lots of butter and lots of homemade jam. I loved it. I still do, just don't eat as much bread now as I did back when I was a child. It tends to stick to my hips more now.  But if you want a Yummy jam to go on homemade rolls for Thanksgiving this year this is a recipe you need to try. I ran across it on one of my favorite food blogs. That's where I got the idea for Coconut with Strawberry but I followed the strawberry freezer jam recipe in the CERTO Premium Liquid Fruit pectin box because I wanted it to turn out and just added the coconut and coconut extract.  This was delicious and yes, I made home made bread to try it out on...can you just hear Barbara Streisand breaking out in her song "Memories" about now?? I think between me and my hubby we pretty much ate a whole loaf. Enjoy!

Strawberry-Coconut Freezer Jam
2 cups crushed strawberries, (fresh or thawed and drained frozen work)
1/3 cup flaked coconut, sweetened or unsweetened work (i used sweetened)
4 cups granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 pouch Certo Premium Liquid Fruit Pectin

First wash and rinse your containers with tight fitting lids. Let dry. Set aside. ( I like to use 1 cup containers, that way it doesn't get old in the refrigerator)
I put my berries and the 1/3 cup coconut in my food processor and pulsed a few times (about 5 or 6) to chop my coconut a bit and mix more into the berries. Place your berry and coconut mixture into a large bowl and add your sugar. Mix well. Let this stand for 10 minutes stirring occasionally to help dissolve the sugar a bit.

Add the lemon juice and coconut extract (I added about 1 1/2 teaspoons coconut extract--I like a bit more coconut flavor)to the strawberry mixture and stir to combine.
Stir pectin into prepared fruit. Stir constantly until sugar is completely dissolved and no longer grainy, about 3 minutes. (a few sugar crystals may remain and that's okay)

Pour or ladle jam into prepared containers, leaving about 1/2-inch space at the top. Place lids on containers and let stand at room temperature for 24 hours until set.  Refrigerate up to 3 weeks or store in freezer for up to 1 year. Thaw in refrigerator.
Enjoy!

Berry Cheesecake Trifle

I love Trifles....I'll be honest, I haven't made many but you can do anything you want when it comes to a trifle. You can use brownies, angel food cake, cookies..... but I used a pound cake. You can layer any flavor pudding , whipped cream, fruit, just use your imagination. I decided to make one for Mother's day. I LOVE Cheesecake with fruit on top, so that's the flavor I was going for. I layered cut up pound cake, pudding, berries and a little bit of graham cracker crumbs and whipped cream. Sooooo yummy! and not too filling. Use your imagination and go create a trifle... you won't be sorry. :)

Berry Cheesecake Trifle
1 pkg.  (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Cheescake Flavor Instant Pudding
2 cups cold milk
1- (8oz.) container  COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 cup fresh sliced strawberries
1 cup fresh blackberries
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 prepared loaf pound cake, (I made mine from a mix)
1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

Prepare the pudding according to package directions in a separate bowl. 
Slice 1/2 the pound cake (or as much as you want, I used half and it was plenty) into slices, then cut into bite-size cubes. 
Place half the pound cake cubes in the bottom of a trifle bowl (or any clear bowl will work) then spread 1/2 of the pudding on the pound cake. Next sprinkle 1 Tablespoon of the graham cracker crumbs on the pudding. Now place half of each of the berries around for the next layer. REMEMBER to save 4 or 5 of the prettiest of each kind of berry to decorate the top of your trifle, set these aside. Now spread half of the cool whip on top of the berries. Repeat with more pound cake, then pudding, then graham cracker crumbs, berries then cool whip. To garnish the top sprinkle with a little graham cracker crumbs and the pretty berries you saved.
Serve and enjoy!! This was so yummy!

Peach and mixed Berry Galette

I love Autumn! I love peaches and berries and everything that screams autumn. I ran across this recipe here and just had to give it a try! I did tweak the filling just a bit, (I added raspberries too), but followed the recipe pretty closely! You have to try this recipe, it was amazing and easy. I really liked this crust recipe. 

In case you don't know what a Galette is, it's a French term that refers to a variety of flat, round cakes, usually with a flaky pastry dough of some kind. The term is very broad though and includes a wide variety of desserts. But more often than not, it typically means a free form tart that is made with a flaky crust! I liked it because you don't have to try to form the crust into a pie pan, and rather liked the rustic pie look it had. AND best of all it was YUMMO! I suggest topping with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream while still warm. Enjoy! 

Peach and Mixed Berry Galette
Serves 6-8

For the Pastry dough:
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon Cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
10 Tablespoon cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3-6 Tablespoons cold water

For the Fruit Filling:
2 medium size ripe and juicy peaches, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch wedges
1 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed and dried
1 cup fresh raspberries, rinsed and dried (you could also use blackberries if desired)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon lemon juice
pinch of ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon Milk
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar for sprinkling

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and sugar until combined. Scatter the butter pieces on top of the flour mixture and pulse until it resembles coarse bread crumbs and the butter is the size of small peas , (ten to twelve 1-second pulses). Sprinkle 1 Tablespoon of water over the mixture and pulse for 1 second; repeat with the remaining water until the dough begins to form small curds and holds together when pinched with fingers. (Depending on the humidity in the air, you may not need all 6 Tablespoons of water--I did today however, very dry). Empty the dough onto a work surface. Using a bench scraper, form the dough into a mound about 12 inches long and 4 inches wide perpendicular to the edge of the counter. Starting at the farthest end, use the heel of your hand to smear about one-sixth of the dough against the work surface, pressing away from you. Repeat until all the dough has been worked. ( This technique is called frisage).  Gather the dough into another  mound and repeat frisage technique. Form the dough in to a 4-inch disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold and firm but malleable, about 1 hour.
Adjust the oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. (if the dough had been chilling for longer than an hour, let it rest at room temperature for 15 minutes to become malleable). Lightly dust a large sheet of parchment paper with flour. Roll dough into a 12-inch round circle about 1/4-inch thick, dusting with flour as needed. Transfer parchment and dough onto a baking sheet and refrigerate until cool and slightly firm.

Meanwhile, gently toss together the peaches, berries, and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Sprinkle the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and salt over the fruit and gently toss to combine. Remove the dough on the baking sheet from the refrigerator and mound the fruit filling in the center of the dough, leaving a 2 1/2 -inch border around the edge. Cut the last Tablespoon of cold butter into small cubes and place on top of your fruit. 
Carefully fold one edge of dough over 2-inches of fruit, leaving a 1/2 -inch area of dough between fruit edge and inside edge of galette. Repeat folding around the tart, overlapping dough every 2 to 3 inches while gently pinching dough at the pleat, but without pressing dough into the fruit. Using a pastry brush, brush the dough with the milk and sprinkle with the Tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, the fruit juices should be bubbling and the crust golden brown. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and cool for 30 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream!! Enjoy!!

Cherry Crisp

I love fruit crisps....especially warm from the oven with ice cream... YUMMO! I got my new Food Network magazine the other day and this recipe was in there and of course I had to try it out! I wasn't disappointed either... LOVED it. I tweaked it a bit by adding a little almond extract to the fruit... cherry and almond go awesome together don't you think??? Their recipe called for dark rum... it was an optional ingredient which I don't have on hand.. but I had some butter rum extract so I threw some of that in just to see what it would taste like but you don't have to if you don't have it. Plus I think I did the recipe for the topping 1 and 1/2 times.... cuz recipes never have enough topping if you ask me..... after all that 's the best part! I also bought frozen cherries since I don't have a cherry pitter.... I let them thaw slightly and then cut them in half. I used 2 packages. But feel free to use fresh cherries if you have a cherry pitter. I hope you enjoy as much as we did!

Heavenly Cherry Crisp
First, preheat the over to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking dish.
Melt 6 Tablespoons of butter in a small dish and set aside.
In a large bowl, toss the following:
6 cups pitted cherries ( thaw if using frozen)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon butter rum flavoring (optional)
1/4 teaspoon almond flavoring
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons flour
Pinch of salt
Toss to combine, then spread  the cherry mixture into your prepared baking dish.

 Next, in a smaller mixing bowl, combine the following:
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds
Then add the 6 Tablespoons of melted butter and stir with a fork until combined. Sprinkle this mixture over your cherry filling. Bake in the preheated oven for about  45 minutes to an hour until the filling is bubbling and the topping is golden brown.

Let cool slightly before serving.
Serve with ice cream or whipped cream. YUMMO

Coconut Cream Fruit Dip

This is another fruit dip I took for my "Treat the office" day. I LOVE coconut and toasted coconut! This recipe was delicious if I do say so myself. I had apples, grapes and vanilla wafers for dipping.. would be great with strawberries and cut up pineapple too! Enjoy!

Coconut Cream Fruit Dip
1 (8-oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 (15-oz) can Cream of Coconut (NOT Coconut Milk!!! you find cream of Coconut in the aisle with the margarita mix and other mixes)
1/4 teaspoon coconut extract (or a little more for stronger flavor)
1 (8-oz) tub Cool Whip
1/2 cup toasted coconut (I got mine at the Prepared Pantry, it's the toasted coconut that Bakers use to top donuts with, if you can't find it, you can toast your own coconut by following the directions on the back of regular coconut.)

In a large mixing bowl, whip the cream cheese with the cream of coconut and the coconut extract until all the lumps are gone.
Add the whipped cream and toasted coconut, gently fold until everything is incorporated. Spoon into a serving dish and serve with sliced fruit, vanilla wafers, graham crackers or whatever you choose for dipping. Enjoy!

Key Lime Fruit Dip

I LOVE Key lime anything..... it was my day to "treat the office" today. I was planning on making home made Twinkies to take in since "Hostess" went out of business, but the recipe I had didn't turn out. So I had to come up with something quick to take instead. In the middle of the night, I woke up with this idea... don't all good ideas seem to hit you at 4 am?? Anyway, I had this basic dip recipe but added the lime juice, flavorings and whipped cream and it turned out great! I had sliced apples, grapes and vanilla wafers for dipping, but it would also be good with graham crackers and any other kind of fruit. Enjoy!

Key Lime Fruit Dip
1 (8-oz.) package Cream Cheese, softened
1 (7-oz.) jar Marshmallow Creme
2 teaspoons lime extract (I found mine at the prepared pantry, if you can't find it, should be okay with just juice)
2 Tablespoons lime juice
2 drops green food coloring
1/4 teaspoon citric acid (you can get this at the pharmacy, it's great for lemonade)
1 (8-oz) tub Cool Whip
Lime Zest for garnishing

 Add the citric acid to the lime juice and stir to dissolve. In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened cream cheese, marshmallow cream, lime extract, lime juice/citric acid mixture and food coloring together until smooth and there are no lumps. Add the cool whip to the bowl and gently fold into the cream cheese mixture.
Spoon into a serving bowl, and add some lime zest to the top for garnish. Serve with cut up fruit, vanilla wafer, graham crackers or whatever else you like for dipping. Enjoy!

Toffee Apple Dip

One of my favorite things in the fall is caramel apples, apple pie, caramel apple bars.... any thing with caramel or cinnamon or apples. YUM! A friend that I work with brought this apple dip to an office party, (yes, any reason we get to have an office party we do!) and it was yummy! I needed to make something for a treat the other night and I remembered this recipe. I looked it up on the Internet and there are LOTS of different ones out there, but I don't like using too much sugar, it's kind of grainy, so this is what I did. Slice up some of your favorite kind of apples and dip away!
Toffee Apple Dip
2- 8-oz packages Cream Cheese, softened (or brought to room temperature)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoon Vanilla (yes, that's 1 Tablespoon vanilla, love it!)
3/4 cup Toffee bits (found by the chocolate chips in most grocery stores)

In a large mixing bowl, whip the cream cheese, brown sugar and vanilla together until it's combined smooth with no lumps. Stir in the toffee bits.
Serve with sliced apples. Enjoy!

Apple Crisp

I love Apple Crisp... it was my favorite growing up, although back then I loved the crsip part more than the apple filling. I had to make some apple crisp for a refreshment for a church function a few weeks ago. I actually made my peach and strawberry cobbler and this apple crisp recipe for variety. I used my home canned apple pie filling but you can use store bought, and if you want to doctor it up a bit with some cinnamon go ahead, I like a lot of cinnamon in my apple pie filling. It was yummy served warm with ice cream on the top. Enjoy!!

Apple Crisp
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Add 2 quarts (or large cans) apple pie filling to a 13x9 baking dish.
In a medium size bowl mix together:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Cut 1 cube (1/2 cup) cold butter into flour, oats and sugar until crumbly. Sprinkle over the top of the pie filling. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until hot and bubbly and top is golden brown.

                                         Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream. YUM!

Peach and Strawberry Cobbler

Don't you love cobbler's? I do.... especially warm from the oven with a scoop of ice cream or a healthy squirt of Whipped cream... YUM! I ran across this recipe here and just had to try out the recipe. I made it for breakfast last Saturday...after all it had lots of fruit in it and both me and my hubby thought it was delicious. It's not too sweet and the mixture of peaches and strawberries is lovely and pretty to look at too! Reminds me of the pink and orange sunrise I saw the other morning with big pink and orange cotton candy clouds.... I wouldn't change a thing about this recipe, except next time I make it I might add 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar with the 1/3 cup of the flour mixture that you sprinkle on the fruit. I found some of the fruit a little tart... but then it was good that way with ice cream or whipped cream. Anyway you serve it, it was YUMMO!
Peach and Strawberry Cobbler
4-5 ripe, medium-sized peaches (or I used 1 bag of frozen peach slices that I let thaw out)
16-oz container  fresh strawberries (or you can use frozen, I used fresh)
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup butter, cold
1/3 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375F. Lightly grease an 8 or 9-inch square baking dish.
Slice peaches and remove pits (or use a bag of frozen sliced peaches, just thaw for a minute or two in the microwave). Hull strawberries and halve or quarter berries. Place a medium bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Rub butter into flour mixture until it's the texture of coarse sand.
Remove 1/3 cup of the flour mixture and sprinkle over the sliced fruit. Toss fruit to coat, then pour into prepared baking dish.
Add milk and vanilla extract to the remaining flour mixture and stir until dough comes together. Breaking dough up into small pieces with your fingers, sprinkle evenly over the fruit.
Bake for about  35 to 40 minutes, until topping  is golden brown and fruit is  bubbling and tender.
Allow to cool slightly before serving.
Serve with ice cream or whipped cream while still warm.... Enjoy!!
Serves 6.

Lemon Curd (or we could call it Citrus Curd)

Did you miss me?? Can't believe how busy life has been lately... planting gardens, taking care of the yard, get-aways with my hubby, and get-aways with my daughter!! But I did find some time to make some Yummo cupcakes for my birthday!! I put this lemon curd in the middle of them. I had been wanting to make this recipe since I ran across it on the Internet... I actually found two different recipes and combined what I liked about both to get this recipe. It was delicious!!! You could fill cupcakes, or regular cakes with it or even make baby tarts with this in the middle with a fresh blackberry or raspberry on the top... how yummy would that be? Anyway, I made it with straight lemon juice the first time I made it, then the second time, I used a combo of lemons, limes, and an orange... I love anything citrus or lemon, don't you??

Lemon Curd
6 egg yolks
1 cup sugar (may want to add about 1/4 cup more if using straight lemon juice, mine was quite tart)
Zest from 2 lemons (or lemon, lime, and orange, about 2 tablespoons)
1 cup lemon juice (or a mixture of lemon, lime, and orange)
8 Tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

In a medium size saucepan, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and zest for about 3 to 4 minutes until light in color. Next, whisk in the juice. Put the pot over medium/low heat and continue to whisk until the mixture starts to bubble and thicken. This takes about 8 to 10 minutes. Start adding the butter 1 Tablespoon at a time, stirring while adding. When all the butter is incorporated, strain the lemon mixture through a mesh sieve to another container to cool. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap down on the top of the curd, that way you won't form a skin on the top of it as it cools. Completely cool in the refrigerator.
Use as desired.

Christmas Fruit Salad

This is a fruit salad that I put together for Christmas morning. It's tradition to go to my parents house along with 2 of my brothers that live close and we have a big family breakfast on Christmas morning. I usually make this salad, and scones, and we have sausage, bacon, hashbrowns and scrambled eggs too. This would be good for breakfast any day or with a brunch. I make it for Christmas because the fruit I use is usually in season at this time of year. I don't put bananas in mine because they tend to get mushy and brown, and I don't like them that much. Use whatever fruit you like! Enjoy!

Christmas Fruit Salad
2 apples, peeled and diced
2 oranges, peeled and sliced (Save 1/2 an orange to juice later)
2 cups grapes, sliced in half
1 pineapple, peeled and sliced into bite size pieces
2-4 kiwi's, peeled and dices
1 pomegranate, seeded
1/2 lime (for the juice)
2 Tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons poppyseeds

Combine all of the sliced and diced fruit into a large bowl. Squeeze juice from the 1/2 orange and 1/2 lime, put juice in a small bowl along with the honey and poppy seeds, whisk to combine. Pour juice mixture over the fruit and toss to combine.
Enjoy!!

Toffee Apple Dip

This is another recipe I got from a lady I work with from our "Treat the office days".... It's an easy, delicious apple dip that you'll get addicted to really quick!! YUM!

Toffee Apple Dip
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Toffee Chips (use to taste)

Whip the Cream cheese, sugars and vanilla until light and fluffy. Right before serving stir in your toffee chips (they tend to get soft if they sit in the dip too long)
Serve with sliced apples and other sliced fruit! YUM!

Can-Your-Own Apple Pie Filling

I have one little apple tree in my yard and this year it produced apples like you wouldn't believe!! I think I got at least 4 big boxes out of it. I've looked and there are a lot of Canning recipes for Apple Pie filling out there on the internet,  but another friend I work with makes this delicious Dutch Oven Apple Crisp/Cobbler that she brings into the office every Christmas for a treat, it's soooo goood! And when I asked her what she did for the apple filling she said she canned her own pie filling. I had to get the recipe!!! It's delicious! So here is the recipe(I tweaked the recipe a little, and added just a touch more cinnamon and nutmeg, I like a spicey apple pie) and I added the Apple Crisp recipe below that... I haven't made it at home yet so I don't have a picture... but it's delish!!! I love the way my home smelled when making the cinnamon syrup for the apples... YUM!  And don't you love the 'hominess' look of the jars of canned apple pie filling?? I think it would be a cute holiday gift with a cute apple fabric to cover the lid with ribbon tied around it...you could make a basket with pie filling, a pie tin, and premade pie crust.... oh the possibilities!!!

Can-Your-Own Apple Pie Filling
Makes 7 Quarts. Each quart is enough for a double crust pie.

Peel, core and slice 6 -7 lbs of tart apples.

In a large sauce pan blend together:
4-1/2 cups sugar
1 cup cornstarch
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt

Stir in 10 cups water. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly. (I didn't time mine, but it took a while to get good and thick and I let mine get to a good boil, so it bubbles a little even when stirring)
Add 3 Tablespoons lemon juice. Stir and cook a minute or two more.  Remove from heat.
Pack your apples into hot sterilized quart jars leaving a 1 " head space. Fill jars with hot syrup leaving 1/2 " head space. Use the handle of a wooden spoon to poke into the jars and move apples around to help the syrup distribute around in the jar if necessary.
Wipe the rim of the jars with a clean cloth then place sterilized lids on jars and tighten with rims.
Process in water bath for 20 - 30 minutes (I did mine for 30 minutes)
Remove from water bath and place on towel and let cool over night. (don't you love the 'popping' noise of the jars sealing?? what makes you more happy than that?) Don't they look lovely??

Dutch Oven Apple Crisp
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Add 2 quarts apple pie filling to a 12" Dutch oven
In a bowl mix together:
1 cup flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
Cut 1 cube (1/2 cup) cold butter into flour and sugar until crumbly. Spread over top of pie filling. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes or until hot and bubbly and top is golden brown.
Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream. YUM!

Peach Cobbler

I love fall.... have I said that before? Anyway, there are apples, all kinds of fruits and veggies to cook with and of course making those autumny (is that a word?) comfort foods you've missed all summer. I bought a 1/2 bushel of peaches and while I like eating them just plain, I also like to cook with them, whether it is peaches cooked in brown sugar and butter for a crepe filling or fresh peach pie, it's all good. I had been trying to find a good peach cobbler recipe for a while... one that my hubby would say reminded him of his childhood... and I think I'm finally close. I tried a peach crisp, and a peach cobbler with a cake mix on the top, and another that was similar to this, but not quite as good. I found this one on the Pioneer Woman's blog, she did her's with Blackberries, but I did mine with just peaches the first time I made it and then with peaches and raspberries. I also added more fruit than what she used, I thought it could use more. YUMMO! We ate it warm from the oven with icecream... and then all week I've warmed a serving up in the microwave and had whipped cream on top for breakfast before work. Peaches and cream are okay for breakfast... right???

Peach Cobbler
Ingredients:
1 stick Butter
1-¼ cup Sugar
1 cup Self-Rising Flour (or to make your own self-rising flour add 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt to 1 cup all purpose flour)
1 cup Milk
3 cups fresh peeled Peaches, cut into bite size pieces (or 2 cups peaches and 1 cup fresh raspberries)

Preparation Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
First, melt the butter in a microwavable dish and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar and flour (and baking powder and salt if you don't have self-rising flour) Whisk in the milk until combined. Then pour in the melted butter and whisk some more until the butter is all incorporated into the flour mixture. Next, take a baking dish (I used a 9x13 glass baking dish) and generously butter the bottom and all sides.
Pour the batter into the buttered baking dish. Then sprinkle the peaches (and raspberries if you are using them) over the top of the batter; distributing evenly. Sprinkle ¼ cup sugar over the top.
Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until golden and bubbly.
Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream! Enjoy!!

Caramel Apple Empanadas (or mini pies)

Apples, apples, apples and more apples....everywhere I look my neighbors have TONS of apples on there trees, I have Tons on mine too, they are just small and sour at the moment. Since my neighbor's tree was overflowing with big nice juicy ones, he was kind enought to let me have a bowl full, or two!! I've made my recipe for Caramel Apple Bars, and I was thinking of all the wonderful appley recipes I could make but I was hungry for the Caramel Apple Empanada's that you can get at Taco Bell. So I looked up recipe after recipe on the internet. There were two variations, one which made a pastry dough using Bisquick or refrigerator bisquick dough, but my favorite was the one using your favorite homemade pie crust, or pie crust dough from the store! I made my own pie crust and a half batch of the recipe using bisquick, both tasted close to the same while still warm, but after cooling I liked the texture of the pie crust better. I cut my dough into squares and folded it over to make a semi-circle shape, but they cracked and weren't too pretty. Next time I make these I'm going to use a large canning lid ring and cut 2 circles of dough for each empanada, placing the filling on one and topping it with the other, then crimping the egdes with a fork. Don't forget to poke a hole or two in the top. I think they will be much prettier that way. But the recipe for the caramel apple filling I came up with (by combining what sounded good from two different recipes) was awesome!! It would even be good by itself  as an Ice cream topping... I might have to give that a try sometime..... YUMMO!

The pic on the left is what I'm going to try to make them look like next time I make them.. the one on the right it how mine looked...not as pretty but good.

Caramel Apple Empanada's

3 to 4 cups diced apples

1 Tablespoon Flour

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon Allspice

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

dash or two of salt

1/2 cup Kraft Caramel Bits

2 Tablespoons butter (if necessary)

Pie Crust

Cinnamon Sugar

In a large skillet melt the 1/4 cup butter over medium heat. While butter is melting add flour and lemon juice to your apples and toss to combine. Once butter has mostly melted, add your apples and saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Then add the brown sugar, seasonings and caramel bits. Stir to combine and continue to cook for 3 to5 minutes more or until your apples are mostly tender and caramel bits have melted.  If your mixture looks a little dry add the other 2 Tablespoons butter and stir until melted, it will smooth out the mixture a little and help give it a creamier texture. Remove from heat.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a large cookie sheet by lining with parchment paper (you could spray with non-stick cooking spray, but I have become a fan of parchment paper lately!)

Roll out your pie crust on a lightly floured surface, and cut into squares if you want triangle shaped. Or read my hint in the recipe introduction above, using the 2 circles of pie crust dough. Fill with a Tablespoon or so of filling, then crimp the edges to seal, poke a hole in the top with fork, and brush each empanada with melted butter or an egg wash  and sprinkle with a generous coating of cinnamon sugar. (I place my dough on the baking sheet and filled them on there, that way I didn't have to try to lift it from the counter to the cookie sheet)

Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown around the edges and the filling is bubbly. Serve warm with ice cream.... mmmmmmmmmm.

Here's a good pastry recipe I got out of a pie cookbook I have. It's a European-style pastry mostly used for tarts, but if you keep it cold it works good for these. I think it would work great for the 2 circles of dough method since you wouldn't have to fill it and fold it.

Sweet Butter Pastry

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, cold

1 egg yolk

1/4 cup milk or half and half

Stir flour, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Work the butter into the flour mixture by rubbing between your thumb and fingers until butter pieces are the siz of small peas. Combin egg yolk and milk . Add to flour mixture and toss with a fork until mixture start to form a ball. If necessarh, add more milk 1 teaspoon at a time  to crumbs in bottom of bowl. Gather dough in your hands and gently shape into a flat ball. Place flatten ball in a piece of saran wrap and let sit in fridge until ready to make your pastries.

You might want to double this recipe so you have enough dough for the caramel apple filling.

Mom B's Fresh Peach Pie

Don't you love Autumn..... and all the yummy things you can make with the fruit and vegetables that are in season this time of year? Especially peaches...mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm nothing like my mom's peach pie. And it's not that hard to make. Here's her recipe. Enjoy!

Mom B's Fresh Peach Pie

For crust:
1 - 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (or I like vanilla wafer crumbs)
1/3 cup melted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Use a fork to mix together well. Pour ingredients into a 9 inch pie pan. With the sides of a measuring cup, pat the crumbs around the edges of pan, then with the bottom of the cup pat the rest of the crumbs onto the bottom of the pie pan so you have a good solid coverage of the pie pan. Bake in oven for 8 minutes. Let cool completely before adding filling.

Peach filling:
Blend in blender:
2 really ripe peaches and approximately 1/2 cup water. (If peaches are really juicy, use a little less water)
Pour into saucepan and add:
1 cup granualted sugar and 3 Tablespoons Cornstarch.
Whisk together and bring to a boil over medium heat. Continue to cook until this thickens really well. (about 5 minutes or so.)
Remove from heat and add:
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Whisk together until butter has melted. Let cool**. (this is the glaze for your pie)

Peel and slice 4 to 5 peaches (depending on size) I put in a large strainer and toss with 1 Tablespoon lemon juice. Let peaches sit over a bowl (to catch juice) for about 1/2 an hour so the excess juice runs out of them.
When crust and glaze are cool, spread about 1/2 cup or so of glaze along the bottom of the crust, add peaches and pour remaining glaze over the top, may have to lift peaches here and there to let glaze seep down in between them. Let chill in fridge for about an hour or so before serving.
Garnish with whipped cream. YUMMMMO!!!

**Hint: After the glaze and pie crust have cooled for about 15 minutes, I put in the refrigerator to help them cool faster.
Sometimes I have a hard time with this pie not setting up too well, so it makes a mess when slicing... but if you don't mind that it always tastes really good!!