Apple Crisp

Here's another dessert I served last week.  Top with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.  Yummy!


Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups butter
• 2 quarts peeled, cored and sliced apples

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, oatmeal, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar. Cut butter into mixture until crumbly.
3. Take half of the mixture and pat it into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
4. Cover crumb mixture with apple slices, then sprinkle apple slices with remaining crumb mixture.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 to 50 minutes or until apples are tender.

Perfect Pumpkin Pie

I have been craving pumpkin pie lately.  It's my favorite thing about fall.  Last week I hosted a Scentsy party at my house, and I wanted all the food to be fall themed.  So, of course, pumpkin pie was high on the list on desserts to be served.  I did not anticipate the huge brick wall in my way.  NO ONE is selling pumpkin right now.  I guess the pumpkin crop got wiped out last year so there is only a little supply left, so the stores wont be putting them on their shelves until closer to Thanksgiving.  So...  I had two options.  I could not make it, or I could buy an actual pumpkin (why are there real pumpkins in the stores and not canned pumpkin?  Did the Fry's worker lie to me?) and make it from scratch.  Well, I didn't want to do any of those things, so through the magic of Facebook,  I tracked down a can.

So, here is the recipe for my delicious-almost-didnt-happen-pumpkin-pie.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
• 1 2/3 cups evaporated milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. Combine the sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, cloves, pumpkin puree, evaporated milk and eggs; blending until smooth. Pour batter into the prepared unbaked pie shell.
3. Bake at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) for 15 minutes then lower oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue to bake for about another 40 minutes or until pie is firm. 

This pie was amazingly delicious and I hope you guys can track down some pumpkin so you can try it! The only thing I suggest is to cook the pie at LEAST 15 minutes longer than the recipe says. Enjoy!

Apple Dumplings

Well, it's finally September and that means fall is finally here!  That means cooler weather (finally!) and cooler weather means that I'll be more in the mood to cook!  I already have a bunch of new recipes to try, so check back often!  On Sunday I made these babies:

8 servings

2 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and quartered 1 (8 ounce) can refrigerated crescent rolls 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup butter 3/4 cup white sugar 1 cup orange juice 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Wrap each apple piece in one crescent roll. Place seam side down in an 8x8 baking dish and sprinkle with cinnamon.  In medium saucepan, combine butter, sugar, and orange juice; bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour over rolls.  Bake for 30 minutes, or until pastry is golden and apples are tender. Spoon sauce over rolls when serving.

I made this recipe as written and I thought it was fantastic!  The only problem I had was that my crescent rolls were butter flavored.  I DO NOT recommend this.  It made the dish taste too buttery, which I didn't think was possible.  So buy original crescent rolls and you'll be golden!