Caramel Apple-Pecan Pie

CRUST

1 single crust pastry (add 3T sugar to your normal recipe)

10 caramels, each cut into 4 pieces

FILLING

7 C. apples

1/2 c light brown sugar

1 T. lemon juice

2 T. granulated sugar

1 T. cornstarch

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

PECAN CRUMB TOPPING

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 tsp salt

6 T. butter (cold and cut into pieces)

CARAMEL AND GARNISH
3 T. butter
1 T. water
30 caramels
1/2 c. chopped pecans
Large handful of pecan halves (I didn't have any so I just put a bit more chopped pecans)

1. Tuck pastry into 9 1/2 inch deep-dish pie pan. Scatter the caramel pieces in teh pie shell and place in freezer while you make filling. Preheat oven to 400.

2. Combine apples, brown sugar, and lemon juice in a large bowl. Then set aside while apples juice. (I drained this juice into a no-stick sauce pan and added 1 tsp butter and then carmelized it on the stove; shaking the pan - not stirring. Then I poured it back into the apples) Stir in the granulated sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and vanilla. Pour into crust and smooth fruit with your hands. Put pie on bottom rack and bake for 30 minutes.

3. Make crumb topping using a pastry cutter until you have damp, gravelly crumbs. Refrigerate until ready to use.

4. After 30 minutes remove pie from oven and reduce temp to 375. Dump crumbs in center of pie and spread them evenly over the surface. Tamp them down lightly. Return pie to oven for another 30-40 minutes. Turn the pie 180 degrees from where it was originally so you get an even cooking. You may need to cover your crust with tented foil in the last 15 minutes if it's getting too dark.

5. Let pie cool for 1 hour. Then prepare caramel. Combine butter, water, and caramels in top of a double boiler and melt the carmels over (not in) simmering water. This may take about 10 minutes or more. Stir until smooth. Then drizzle the caramel over the entire surface of the pie. Immediatly sprinkle with the pecans and let cool for another hour before serving.


Tastes best warm.
I make a lot of pie, and this might just be one of my favorites. It took more time to do all the steps than just a standard two-crust apple pie, but I think it might have been worth it.

Green-Tomato Raspberry Jam

Green-Tomato Raspberry Jam

(Cheryl Cook)

8 cups pureed green tomatoes (clean and trimmed)
2 cups of raspberries
5 cups of sugar (calls for 10)

Mix and cook at a low boil for 25 to 30 minutes.

Add:
1 t. of lemon juice
1 package pectin (or 6 T)
2 3 oz. packages of raspberry jello

Bring back to a boil and cook for 10 minutes.  Ladle into pint jars that have been sterilized.  Water bath for 15 minutes.  Set on counter overnight.  Recipe says it makes 8 pints.  (I got 6 from the recipe).

One note - I used red tomatoes as well as green ones.  I think the red tomatoes give it a slight tomato taste.  I think you wouldn't taste that with just green tomatoes.

This is not an approved recipe.  Proceed with caution because it primarily contains tomatoes which are a low-acid food.

No Knead Bread

3 cups bread flour
1 ¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
1 1/3 cups water (cool, 55 to 65 degrees)
Combine the flour, salt and yeast in a medium bowl. Add in the water and stir to mix. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and set the bowl at room temperature for about 12-18 hours. Remove the dough from the bowl, shape it into a round by tucking the edges of the dough into a seam, cover the dough in a floured tea towel and let rise again in a warm place for two hours. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Put a heavy pot with a lid (like a Le Creuset casserole or a Dutch oven) in the oven to heat. Carefully remove the hot pot from the oven and invert the dough into the pot, seam-side up.
Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and continue to bake an additional 15 minutes or until the crust is a deep brown color. Cool the bread before slicing into it.
Makes 1 10-inch round.

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/comfort-bread

Kathy's Chocolate Bundt Cake

1 pkg chocolate cake mix (I absolutely think that Betty Crocker is the best)
1 pkg instant pudding (vanilla or chocolate)
4 eggs
1 cup water
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Mix all above ingredients together. Beat for 3 minutes. Grease and flour a bundt pan. Bale at 350 for 45 minutes (sooner if your oven cooks hot, you don't want it to be dry). Cool.
Frost with chocolate frosting or buttercream frosting with chocolate shavings.
(Kathy)
 
VARIATIONS:
 
Too Much Chocolate Cake
from AllRecipes
1 pkg devil's food cake mix
1 pkg (5.9 ounce) instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
(Merideth)
 
Wendy's Variation
1 pkg chocolate cake mix
1 large package of instant chocolate pudding mix
2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
 
Glaze:
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3 T. butter
1 T. corn syrup
1 t. vanilla
(Wendy)

Tortellini with Edamame and Smoked Sausage

This is super easy and tasty!!

Hands-On Time: 30 minutes
Ready In: 30 minutes
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

1 pound frozen cheese tortellini
1 cup shelled edamame*
1 cup diced red pepper
1 pound smoked sausage
1/2 cup Italian dressing

Directions

1. Set 6 quarts of salted water to boil in a large pot.
2. Meanwhile, chop red pepper and slice the smoked sausage into 1/4 inch-thick rounds.
3. Stir-fry red pepper and sausage together until heated through -- about 5 minutes.
4. Add tortellini to boiling water and cook for 5 minutes.
5. Add edamame to water and boil for another 2 minutes. Drain tortellini and edamame well.
6. Toss everything together with the Italian dressing and heat through one final time.

I got this from Disney Family Go.

Sloppy Joes

Ingredients

1 pound lean ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
3/4 cup ketchup
3 teaspoons brown sugar
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1.In a medium skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef, onion, and green pepper; drain off liquids.

2.Stir in the garlic powder, mustard, ketchup, and brown sugar; mix thoroughly. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.


This recipe is super easy and tastes great!  It's almost as easy as opening a can of sloppy joe mix.  The recipe is originally from AllRecipes.

Canned Chicken

Our local stores have chicken breasts for $1.39 this week so I pulled out my never-used-before pressure cooker and tried canning chicken. I was a little nervous because of our infamous family story of my Grandma Coombs' pressure cooker blowing up while full of red beets.

I thawed the frozen chicken by placing it into a bowl of warm water for about 20 minutes. This is about five pounds of chicken. I did a total of 20 lbs. My 16-quart pressure cooker states that it will process 10 pints at a time, but it really only did 8 - maybe because I used wide-mouth jars. Each jar held about one pound of chicken.

When it was completely thawed, I trimmed off any fat on the chicken (which wasn't much). I then put the raw breasts into clean jars with about 1 inch of head space. I didn't add any water. I could have added a 1/2 teaspoon of salt, but because the chicken had already been injected with some broth, I choose not to add the salt.

After fastening lids and rings onto the pint jars, I placed them into my pressure cooker with 3 quarts of water and fastened the lid (the water amount will vary - see your own pressure cooker manual for specific instructions).

My pressure cooker manual states to cook meats at 13 pounds of pressure (adjusted for my own altitude of 5700 feet) for 75 minutes (90 minutes for quarts).

I think this was the hardest part of processing the chicken. Every pressure cooker works differently. I had to carefully read the manual several times. Make sure to read yours carefully for water amounts, pressure required, and processing times (always adjusting for altitude as described in your manual). I vented mine for 10 minutes, added the weight, processed for 75 minutes and then let the cooker drop pressure and cool. It required some watching to maintain the pressure at 13 pounds. By the third batch, I had a pretty good idea of where to set my stove top and was able to get some other things done.

This is the result! I did 20 pints of chicken (each pint is about one pound of chicken). Prepping the chicken was easy. Learning to use the pressure cooker was a little harder, but now that I've done it, I won't be hesitant to do it again!

Liege Waffles

This is a Liege Waffle. We were introduced to these at Bruges in Salt Lake City. I got a Belgian Waffle Maker for Christmas so tonight we gave it a try. These are NOT a traditional batter waffle. Instead, they use yeast and rise like a bread dough. Pearl sugar, which is not easy to find, adds a caramelized crunch. These are more of dessert than a breakfast. Divine!

Liege Waffle Recipe:

2 1/4 teaspoons of active dry yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
3/4 cup lukewarm milk
3 eggs
1 cup melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups pearl sugar

1.Sprinkle the yeast and white sugar over warm milk in a small bowl. The milk should be no more than 100 degrees F (40 degrees C). Let stand for 15 minutes until the yeast softens and begins to form a creamy foam.
2.Whisk the eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract into the yeast mixture until evenly blended; set aside. Stir together the flour and salt in a separate large bowl, and make a well in the center. Pour the egg mixture into the well, then stir in the flour mixture until a soft dough forms. Cover with a light cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes. Gently mix in the pearl sugar.
3.Preheat a waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions.
4.Place a baseball-size ball of dough on the preheated waffle iron. Cook waffles until golden and crisp, about 2 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough. Allow waffles to cool for 2 to 3 minutes before serving.

Source: All Recipes