Apple Raisin Bars

Here in Connecticut apple season is just beginning.  Last week the kids and I headed to our local orchard to pick up a basket full of bright red, juicy, tart Polared Apples.  YUM!  Apples are one of my all-time favorite fruits to bake with--I wait alllllllllll year for apple season!  So, to kick off the season right I thought I'd share one of my family's favorite recipes:  Apple Raisin Bars.  These bars are a sweet-tart, chewy-yet-light texture that make for a great breakfast, dessert or anytime snack.  Although I've never tried them this way, I bet they'd  be divine with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!  They're simple to make, which is a good thing because they go FAST in this house! :)  Here's how to make 'em:

Ingredients:

--2 cups all-purpose flour

--2 teapsoons baking powder

--1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

--1/2 teaspoon salt

--2 cups packed light brown sugar

--2 eggs

--1 stick butter, softened

--1 teaspoon vanilla extract

--1 1/2 cups diced apples (I prefer firm tart varieties!)

--3/4 cup raisins (I love to use a mixture of craisins and raisins for extra tartness)

Directions:

--Heat oven to 350.  Liberally coat a 9" x 13" baking dish with non-stick spray, set aside.

--In medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt, set aside.

--In large bowl blend together sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla with electric mixture on medium speed for about 3 minutes until smooth.

--Reduce speed to low and gradually add flour mixture.  Mix for 2 minutes, just until incorporated.  Stir in diced apples and raisins.  Spread into prepared pan.

--Bake at 350 for 35 minutes until top is golden brown and inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Cool completely before cutting into bars.  Enjoy!

If you give these a try let me know how you like them!  I hope you love them as much as we do! :)  

 *I originally found this recipe at: www.familycircle.com

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Cinnamon Nut Dessert Wontons

As part of our Chinese New Year celebrating, I decided to try this recipe for dessert wontons. They are sooooooooo good! And the best part is they're soooooooo easy!! I think they took me about 10 minutes to make. Yep, that's it. So, I thought I'd share the recipe with you, courtesy of an old issue of Everyday Food. The recipe below makes 12 wontons, but I just used a random amount (whatever I had leftover after making dumplings!) and tweaked the ingredients accordingly. It's not a fussy recipe where everything needs to be just so. Anyway, here's what you do:

Ingredients:

-12 wonton wrappers
-1 T melted butter
-3T sugar (I used brown sugar for extra yum!)
-1/4 C finely chopped almonds (we used pecans, which were also delicious!)
-1 1/4 C fresh strawberries, sliced
*optional: dash of cinnamon (my own add-in!)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place wonton wrappers on rimmed baking sheet and brush with melted butter.

mmmm...butter :)

Sprinkle with sugar, nuts (and dash of cinnamon, if using).

Bake in oven until golden brown and crisp, about 5-7 minutes. Be careful to get this just right. If you pull them out too soon, they're chewy, but if you wait too long they'll burn rather quickly. That's the only slightly tricky part of the recipe, but it's not too bad. Just don't, you know...go vacuum or dust or something while they're baking (not that *I* would ever be in danger of doing either of those things anyway! Ha!).

This is what they'll look like when they come out....Ooo-la-la! Crispy deliciousness!

Transfer to wire rack (or be lazy like me and pop 'em onto a plate instead) to let cool. They cool very quickly--about 5 minutes.

Top with sliced strawberries and enjoy! Feel free to plop a big ol' dollop of whipped cream on there, too...or yogurt, or honey, or cottage cheese...whatever floats your boat, really! But they're great even with just the strawberries, trust me. :)

See, wasn't that easy?!

If you decide to give them a try I'd love to know about it! :)




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Squishy Squash Soup

I. LOVE. SOUP. It is one of my absolute favorite foods in the world. I love all kinds--brothy, creamy, stewy (I think I just made that word up!)...you name it, I'll slurp it! Now that the chilly weather is here, I've been making soup like crazy. I have this wonderful cookbook called Blue Moon Soup by Gary Goss.

It has all of these adorable illustrations throughout the book which makes it just that much more spectacular! Look at how cute these are:

Sadly, this book is out of print, but I was able to purchase mine online at a used book site for just a few dollars. One of the unique things about it is that it's organized by seasons, so you can easily get inspired whenever you find yourself in a "recipe rut." (Don't you hate those?!) If you love soup like I do, I highly recommend this book! One of my favorite soup recipes for Fall is Squishy Squash Soup. It's colorful, it's creamy, and oh-so-nutritious! So, without further ado here's how to your very own pot of Squishy Squash Soup:

You Will Need:
--2 T butter
--1 small leek, chopped (about 1 cup)
--1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
--1 tsp. dry white wine (optional)
--1 pinch nutmeg
--1/4 tsp. salt
--1/2 tsp. pepper
--1 carrot, chopped
1/4 C fresh chives (plus extra for garnishing)
--2 1/2 C milk


Directions:

1. Melt butter in soup pot over medium heat. Add leek, half of the squash, the wine (if using), nutmeg, salt and pepper. Saute for 5 mins. stirring frequently.

2. Add carrot, chives, remaining squash and 2 C water. Stir.

3. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.

4. In blender or bowl blend or mash half of the soup with the milk until thick and silky smooth.

5. Return the blended soup to the pot and stir. (or, if you prefer a completely pureed soup, use a submersible stick blender to puree)

6. ladle into bowls, garnish with chopped chives and enjoy!

Mmmmmmmm....

Happy Slurping! :)

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Jack-O-Lantern Tortillas!

These little jack-o-lanterns are a simple and delicious way to make mealtime fun! I got the idea from a book called the Preschool theme calendar. It's full of neat seasonal activities organized in calendar format. My guys were just tickled about cutting pumpkin faces (with a REAL knife, mind you!) and they all loved the taste as well! As I've mentioned before, I'm a huge fan of SIMPLE fun. Here's how to make 'em:

You'll need:
--flour tortilla shells (corn would work well, too)
-- non-stick spray
--shredded cheddar cheese (or cheese of choice, preferably orange)
*optional: taco seasonings plus sour cream & salsa for dipping



Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With sharp knife (little ones will need help from Mom!) carve a face into tortilla shell

(Don't worry, I promise no little fingers were injured in this process!)


2. Coat baking pan with non-stick spray and arrange "carved" tortillas on top

(My tortilla is the scary one. The "minis" are for Megan.)



3. Sprinkle tortillas liberally with shredded cheese. If desired, lightly sprinkle with taco seasonings.
(Don't worry about covering up the facial features with cheese. When the cheese melts it'll turn brown and crispy making it easy to remove.)

(Adam's and Luke's are much cuter and sweeter than my scary one!)


4. Bake in 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes or just until cheese melts.

This is what it looks like when it's finished!


5. Dip them in whatever your hearts desires and enjoy the simple gooey Fall goodness of your very own jack-o-lantern tortilla!

6. Or, stick it over your face like a mask.

7. Or, look at it lovingly and poke it saying, "Puuuuh-kin! Puuuuuh-kin!" over and over again instead of actually eating it. Whichever, it's up to you. :)

Enjoy!

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Coffee Mug Scrambled Eggs

I recently found this great little recipe in a magazine (I can't remember which one! I was reading several in one sitting.) and have been enjoying this simple breakfast ever since. It's great for hurried mornings on-the-go! I just thought I'd share it with you. (And bonus: You only dirty one coffee mug in the process!)

Ingredients:
--2 large eggs
--1 T milk
--2 T shredded cheese (cheddar works well)
--salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Spray inside of microwave-safe coffee mug with non-stick spray. Add 2 large eggs, milk, salt, pepper and cheese. Scramble with fork and place in microwave for approx. 1-2 minutes on high. (Cooking time will vary.) Watch the mug until the eggs begin to rise above the rim of the mug. At this point remove the mug, flip over the eggs inside and microwave an additional 10 seconds or so. Viola!


You can play around with additional ingredients (e.g. veggies, sausage, bacon bits, etc. I haven't personally tried this yet but I bet it'd be yummy!)

Enjoy!

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Great Guacamole (hold the cilantro, please!)

At our house guacamole doesn't last long. Aside from the obvious health benefits (avocados happen to be one of nature's super foods!) guac packs some serious YUM into each scoop. And one of my favorite things about making my own guacamole is that it doesn't contain any cilantro! (One of the strange and random things about me is that I LOATHE cilantro. I blame genetics!) I also load mine up with tomatoes, onion, lime juice, garlic and plenty of cumin. I've gotten so used to my own guacamole that most other guacs out there taste rather bland in comparison! So, if you like a lotta flavor and aren't cilantro's BFF give this recipe a try! It's super simple, fun and great to make with kids! Here's how:

You Will Need:


-3 ripe avocados
--2 large tomatoes (or 3 medium), diced
--2 cloves of fresh garlic finely, minced
--approx. 2 T. chopped onion (I use a little more if vidalia are available. YUM!)
--1 tsp. ground cumin
--juice from 1 lime or approx. 2 T. bottled lime juice
--salt and pepper to taste
(Optional: Add a few drops of Tobasco sauce or dash of cayenne pepper if you like a little heat. Finely minced jalapeno is great in there, too. I usually leave these out b/c my little munchkins can't take the heat. Nor do they get out of the kitchen. (Ha-ha...get it?! Sorry. I'm a slave to those corny jokes, I tell ya!)


Directions:
1. Mash avocados with fork (or put your kids to work! Make sure to avoid stab wounds!)




2. Transfer mashed avocado to bowl and add remaining ingredients. Stir well!


Tip: I LOVE using this Pampered Chef Garlic Press for recipes calling for minced fresh garlic. I know these tools spark a lot of controversy amongst serious garlic lovers but I'm definitely on the "pro-press" side of the debate! Simply put, it's just awesome. :)

I'm also a big fan of fresh coarsely ground black pepper! (Have I mentioned yet that my guacamole would not make a good first date food?!)


3. Mmmmm...and now for the best part: Grab a chip and DIG IN!!
Sooooooooooooo goooooooooooood!

And the best part: 100% cilantro free!

But if you absolutely must desecrate my recipe and add cilantro, I suppose that would be ok! ;)

Enjoy!



**Warning: if you and your ilk love guacamole as much as my family does I highly recommend making a double batch! This lasts about, oh ten minutes before being completely devoured around here!


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