Apple Butter

There is nothing more delightful than having a pantry stocked with homemade preserves and canned goods. The fall is the busiest time of the year for putting up the harvest but occasionally we get lucky and run across a chance to catch up. This past fall, I was fighting morning sickness so I did not get to do a batch of apple butter like I wanted. My Dad ran across a guy from West Virginia that still had bushel boxes of apples in his cold storage on his farm though, and for Christmas got me a box.

Since I did not have a chance to do the Apple Butter over my Holiday break, I decided to tackle that yesterday during the snow day as well. I am so glad I did. I now have 12 pints of beautiful light brown apple butter on my counter with their shining silver tops as well as a quart jar in the refridgerator that Stephen and I have already started working on! I am enjoying some with shortbread cookies and coffee at this very moment.

How perfect of a morning can you get? Sun is shining, ice is glittering, a tempting treat, hot coffee, hair in rollers...oh yea. That means i have to go to work in a few. Okay, so semi perfect morning!

Apple Butter
Lots of apples, peeled, cored and cooked in 1 part water to 2 parts apples (fill the pot with apples and fill with water halfway) until mushy. Strain through a small wire strainer reducing water as much as possible. Whirl apple puree in a blender or food processor (my new NINJA worked great for this) until a nice babyfood consistency. Return to stock pot and for every 8 cups add:

1/2 tsp Allspice
1/2 tsp Ground Cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar

Bring to a high simmer over medium heat (lightly bubbly) and cook for about 10 minutes stirring often to prevent cooking to much on the bottom. Pour into hot sterilized canning jars. Wipe rims, place on lids. Place jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Then flip them upside down on a clean towel to cool. when jars are still hot but you are able to pick them up, flip them over. As they cool further the lids will seal (you will hear the pop).

Perfectly canned Apple Butter. (Just add the white sugar and you can do applesauce the same way).

Peach and Blueberry Sonker

I promised I would list every version and concoction of the Sonker through the summer. This one is not much different then the previous post but here it is. I am trying to clean out my freezer to make room for fresh preserves. I found a lone package of peaches frozen from last year. The package was small so not enough to do the traditional peach sonker but I mixed it with a pint of blueberries and some vanilla for a flavorful purple pie full of antioxidants and southern goodness. I can not express the simple goodness of this pie. I put this together with hardly any time while waiting for my ingredients to cook for my zucchini casserole. Both items went in the oven together. I turned the oven off when I took the casserole out and let the pie finish baking as the oven cooled down. When we were done with dinner, the pie was ready! How perfect can you get for a summer dessert?

Ingredients:
2 cups sliced peaches
1 pint blueberries
2 sticks of butter
2 cups of sugar
2 cups milk
2 cups Self Rising Flour
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
In a 350 degree oven, melt butter in 9 x 13 casserole dish. When butter is melted, whisk in sugar and flour. Slowly whisk in milk and vanilla. When there are no lumps spread fruit evenly across surface. Bake for 45 minutes.

Blueberry Sonker

Growing up, I always looked forward to peach season. I LOVE peaches. They are probably one of my favorite fruits. There was something else about peach season I loved: Dessert. My momma was never one to bake desserts often. She could bake, don’t get me wrong, but it was for special occasions. She was a busy woman with two unruly girls to raise, gardens, farming, house and yard and a family business to deal with. So baking desserts wasn’t high priority and truth be told, none of us needed it anyway.

Oh the peaches though. We would get a box on the way home from the beach and we would have peach EVERYTHING. Peach ice cream, peaches in milk, peaches on cereal and Peach Cobbler were the highlights of childhood summers (okay, that and watermelon but that’s an entirely different story). My momma made the most delicious peach cobbler that she called Easy Pie. Boy was it easy. It was one of the first things I remember making with her and it can be added to and changed at ease (a little vanilla, a little cinnamon and nutmeg, a mix of berries etc).

Since I’ve grown up, I still make it but have learned a few things. It’s not just peaches that go well with this dish. It’s any soft fruit. I’ve also recently discovered (thanks to my momma) that this pie has a real name. Fruit pies made like this are called Sonkers. Sonkers is a name completely indigenous to the Mt. Airy, North Carolina area and expands out from there. (That’s Mayberry, as in Andy Griffith to ya’ll). They actually have a Sonker Festival every year complete with Pies of all size and fruit, blue grass music etc. that benefits one of the historical homes in the area.

There are several variations of the traditional Sonker and some argument about what the original was! Some use old biscuits and juicy blackberries. Still other’s make a deep dish fruit pie with dumplings. The most well known is the Easy Pie version.

I’m THRILLED and I am TOTALLY going to go this year. October 2nd. Mark your calendars if you are anywhere close to the area or planning a trip to “my neck of the woods.” I will report back on all the various ways of the Sonker and what is my favorite (though I doubt I will find one to rival my Momma’s but that’s pure sentiment…just don’t tell her that!)

Blueberry Sonker

Ingredients:
2 cups Sugar
2 Cups Self-Rising Flour
2 Cups milk
2 sticks of butter
1 pint Fresh Blueberries

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place butter in a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Melt butter in heated oven. Whisk sugar into melted butter (right in the dish). Add Flour. Slowly whisk in milk. Pour fruit evenly over the top.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until bread is golden brown on top. Enjoy!

As I play with different versions of the Sonker I will definitely post them!

Strawberry Mascarpone Scones

As part of my plot to conquer anything and all things strawberry, I decided a strawberry scone was in order. Not just ANY scone, but one with creamy Mascarpone cheese to make a luscious thick lightly sweet scone. So good. Even my husband who is not a sweets person, has been taking these to work for breakfast. YAY! They are very delicate, crumbly, juicy strawberries bursting in your mouth, a hint of cheese (almost Danish like but just a hint) and not too sweat. Love it.

Strawberry Mascarpone Scones
Ingredients:
2 ½ cups self rising flour
½ cup sugar plus some for sprinkling
1 stick butter, chilled and diced
1 egg
¼ cup milk
¼ cup mascarpone cheese
Zest of one lemon
1 ¾ cups fresh strawberries, sliced

Directions:
In food processor, combine flour and sugar. Add butter, and pulse a few times until butter is incorporated and the size of peas (like you are making a pie crust). In a small bowl, whisk together: egg, milk, mascarpone cheese and lemon zest. Set aside. Transfer flour to KA Mixer and add strawberries. On low speed for just a few seconds, mix with paddle attachment just so the strawberries are covered in flour and sugar but not so they are mashed or broken.

Pour cheese mixture into flour/strawberry mixture and gently on low mix until just incorporated. Turn dough out onto a WELL floured board and kneed for just a minute until its no longer sticky. Form patties, or cut into triangles for your scones. Place on a well greased baking sheet, sprinkle with sugar and bake on 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. Let cool completely. ENJOY!

These would also be good with a light powder sugar glaze if you want them a little sweeter.

Apple and Pear Crisp

What do you do when you have leftover fruit that is starting to go bad? Well, if its banana's tradition says you make banana pudding. What if its apples and pears? Well if you have a love affair with all things Ina Garten like I do, you whip up an Apple and Pear Crisp. I needed some MORE pears and apples than I had, so a quick trip to the farmer's market on an early Saturday morning, and I quickly put this dish together. It was warm, sweet and gooey and a bit hit with the husband and the family! Definately a keeper and I really had no guilt eating it! Honestly, this is a recipe I doubt I would even try to tweak.

Apple and Pear Crisp
Ingredients
2 pounds ripe Bosc pears (4 pears)
2 pounds firm Macoun apples (6 apples)
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
For the topping:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Peel, core, and cut the pears and apples into large chunks. Place the fruit in a large bowl and add the zests, juices, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour into a 9 by 12 by 2-inch oval baking dish.

For the topping:
Combine the flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal, and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed for 1 minute, until the mixture is in large crumbles. Sprinkle evenly over the fruit, covering the fruit completely.

Place the baking dish on a sheet pan and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the top is brown and the fruit is bubbly. Serve warm.

LowFat Applebutter Cake

I'm going to count this as a failure, but not one of mine. I made the cake to the recipe's instructions and it came out as a nice cake. The taste is very bland. (Low fat right? I should have expected this). There is NO SUGAR in this recipe, AT ALL. I greatly questioned this when making it, however, I used HOMEMADE Cinnamon Applebutter (which I will post a recipe for this coming fall when I make more). My applebutter is very flavorful and sweet so I thought "okay, maybe it will be okay."

WRONG. You can taste a hint of the apple butter flavor but thats it. Just a hint. This cake is very bland. However, I always post my failures and winners and to me this was bland but to someone out there who may be diabetic or prefer lightly flavored food, it may be a fantastic answer to their prayers. (yea, okay.)

To this Southern girl, it was a perfect desecration of two cups of perfectly good applebutter! LOL My girl Tonya is dropping by later to pick up the cake. Maybe she will comment on her families opinion of it!


Low Fat Applebutter Cake
Ingredients:
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
pinch of baking powder
2 cups apple butter
2 egg whites
2 cups finely chopped apples (I used two large apples)

Directions:
Combine the dry ingredients and stir. Add the apple butter and egg whites and mix well. Fold in the apple pieces.

Pour into greased bundt pan and bake at 350 for about 35-40 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

Cool.

Figgy Cranberry Pudding

"Now bring us some figgy pudding, now bring us some figgy pudding, and bring it right here. We won't go until we get some, we won't go until we get some..."

Have you ever noticed how bossy Christmas songs are? YOU WILL ENJOY CHRISTMAS AND YOU WILL FEED US. What is figgy pudding anyway? Figgy pudding is a tradtional sweet bread or fruit cake in Britain dating back to atleast the 16th century. Most traditionally steamed, they are now baked in a variety of flavors like Christmas Pudding, plum pudding etc.

In my desire to preserve tradition and retain some history, I decided to try figgy pudding. The only figs I could find were extremely pricey dried organic figs that were almost candied. To really bring in some flavor and modernize it a bit, I decided to add some dried cranberries as well and sweeten it with some brown sugar to cut the heavy molasses. Topped it with fresh whipped cream sweetened with confectioners sugar and cinnamon and it was a delightful end to Christmas day. Unfortunately you will have to take my word for it as I forgot to take a picture.

While I don't consider this experiment in history a failure, I'm not sure figs and I are friends. I think I prefer the tradition of gingerbread and peppermint at this time of year! Figs and molasses are a rich DARK taste, like what dark chocolate is to milk chocolate. I'm more of a milk chocolate girl.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup molasses
2 cups chopped dried figs
1 cup dried cranberries
1 tsp lemon zest
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup pecans (Chopped)
2 1/2 cups self rising flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Dash ground cloves

Directions:
Cream butter and sugars. Add molasses, buttermilk and eggs. Slowly add rest of ingredients (minus figs, pecans and cranberries). Fold in fruits and nuts. Pour into a greased 8 x 4 souffle dish. Bake at 325 for one hour. Let cool. Spoon out like pudding or cut into wedges. Center will be quite moist and may fall. I served up like a pudding.

Cranberry Sauce

Nothing is more beautiful during the holiday season than the bright red of cranberry sauce garnishing a place setting. Here is a quick recipe for a tart sauce full of color and flavor.

Cranberry Relish

Ingredients:
2 Oranges
3 cups water
2 Granny Smith Apples
1 bag Fresh cranberries
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup crushed pineapple in juice
1 cinnamon stick

Chopped nuts and coconut to garnish

Directions:
Boil spices and cranberries in water with zest of one orange and juice of same orange. When the first cranberries start to burst add the peeled diced apples, chopped segments of second orange and pineapple. When over half the berries have burst scoop out fruits into a blender with about 3/4 cup of the spiced juice and pulse till a rough sauce consistency.

Pour into serving containers. Place a few of the whole berries from the pot on top and sprinkle with coconut and chopped nuts.

Maple Apple Cream Pie

Everyone knows, I can bust out an apple pie in the blink of an eye. So to spice things up I decided to spin the apple recipe. This was a big hit. This is a very mild, lightly flavored fall treat served chilled.

Maple Apple Cream Pie

Ingredients:
1 Pillsbury Pie Roll Up pie shell
2 tbs butter
3 granny smith apples (peeled and thin sliced)
3 Red delicious or Golden delicious apples (peeled and thin sliced)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup maple syrup
3tbs flour (for thickening)
1 can evaporated milk
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbs sugar

Directions:
Roll out pastry shell into pie plate. Pinch edges for decorative crust. Double line it with tinfoil. Bake at 450 for 8 minutes. Remove foil and bake about 6 minutes longer till flaky looking. Cool on a wire rack. Melt butter in skillet. Add apples and brown sugar and cook until tender. (about 15-20 minutes). Cool to room temperature and then spread into pie crust.

In a sauce pan, combine syrup and flour. Whisk until smooth. Gradually add milk, whisking until blended. Cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until thickened and bubbly, stirring the whole time. Remove from heat and stir about 1/4 cup of mixture into egg yolk to temper. Pour back into pan and mix for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanille. When cooled pour over apples in pie crust. Chill for atleast 2 hour-4 hours.

Using an electric hand mixer, beat whipping cream until peaks are formed. Add cinnamon. Gradually add sugar until peaks reform. Serve with Pie. I spread over the pie and sprinkled with cinnamon but you can also "dollop" some on each peice when serving.

Pear Blue Cheese Salad

A crisp fall salad that will delight your senses and "pear" well with any main meat dish. I served it up next to my Basil Tomato Stuffed Grilled Chicken.

Pear Blue Cheese Salad

10 cups torn salad greens (I used Romaine and Iceberg)
3 large ripe pears, peeled and cut into large cubes
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
Blue cheese wedge
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Dressing:
1/3 cup olive or vegetable oil
3 tbs cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp salt
Pepper to taste

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine all of your ingredients. Grate desired amount of blue cheese over salad (I prefer to do this once its in serving size bowls to make sure each serving gets an adequate amount). In an Italian Dressing jar or any jar with lid, combine dressing ingredients and shake well. Pour over salad and toss gently. Serve immediately. (8-10 servings)

Apple Pie

Sometimes the simplest things can provide comfort to us and we look to our traditional cultural foods to provide those in our time of need. During a very emotional time for me, I turned to my love of food and cooking to help me cope. Being in the kitchen is comfort. Feeding people things I made from love and hard work give me joy.

Over home made warm apple pie and hot coffee, I found comfort in the simple things today. The things that make living worth it all. A sister who rushed to my aid, a husband who valiantly carried on while I took time to mend. A helping hand to clean my house while the fall leaves fell on a sunny day. A sweet dog lying in a patch of sun, a bag of fallen and bruised apples sent by a neighbor that found their way into an apple pie to be served up for my family.

Simple joys. Simple tastes. Simply comfort.

Ingredients:
Apples. (I prefer four or five gala apples and one granny smith for a kick but any apples will do).
3 tbs flour
3/4 cup white sugar (less if the pie is not heaped with apples)
3/4 cup brown sugar (less if the pie is not heaped with apples)
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tbs cinnamon
1/2 stick butter

One egg
two Pillsbury Roll Out pie crusts

Directions: Roll one pie crust into pan, pre-heat oven to 400 or 425 depending on your oven and elevation. Skin and slice apples thinly and arrange in pie crust. Sprinle lemon juice over it. In bowl, mix dry ingredients and pour over apples, spreading evenly. Divide butter into "pats" and spread evenly around pie. Roll top crust over and pinch together edges of two crusts. I use a fork or spoon to mash edges together and create a nice even sealed pattern. Cut an X into center of top. Whisk egg in bowl, add a bit of water and brush across top of pie crust. and around edges. Cover edges with aluminum foil and bake for 20-30 minutes till crust is startingly to bubble but before it turns golden. Remove tinfoil and bake an additional 10-15 minutes until crust is golden brown and shiny.

Cool and serve warm or cold. American tradition, simple, and oh so good.

Traditional Carrot Salad

Another comfort food growing up was my mom's carrot salad. This simple heavenly delight is good at any time of year, and so easy to make! We never waste apples or carrots (I'm sure the horses would not consider giving the old apples and carrots to them a waste, but I prefer to use them if they are not too far gone!) because we can always make this dish which never stays around the house long!

Use several large carrots (enough for about four cups of shredded carrot) peeled and shredded

One can of crushed pineapple (drained but reserve juice)

3 medium apples (more if you prefer), cored and diced into large chuncks

1/2 cup mayonaise

1 cup raisens

Soak raisens in reserved pineapple juice for about 5-10 minutes (do this first and then prepare carrots and apples)

Mix carrots, apples, crushed pineapple, raisens(drained from juice), and mayo together. Chill and serve! I've seen several versions of this over the years including adding nuts, coconut and other items but this simplistic country version holds my heart ...and TASTEBUDS!!