Apple Turnovers

 My Mom didn't call them Apple Turnovers. She didn't call them fruit pies or apple pockets. She called them hand pies it's the first dessert I can remember her teaching me how to make. She used to fill them with any fruit she found at the local produce stand...peaches, apples, cherries, strawberries and blueberries. So good and so easy to make now that we can buy puffed pastry already made and ready to use.

Apple Turnovers (Apple Hand Pies)

1 package frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed
2 medium Fuji or Gala apples – peeled and diced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water
course sugar for topping (optional)

Line baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Melt butter in a large skillet and add diced apples. Cook for about 3 minutes. Next add brown sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, cornstarch, and nutmeg. Continue cooking until apples are tender and sauce has begun to thicken. Stir apples occasionally while cooking. Remove apple mixture from heat and add the vanilla. Set aside to cool.

Unfold pastry sheet on a lightly floured work surface. Smooth or roll out seems to make sure they do not separate. With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut each sheet into four squares.

Mix the egg white and water together to make an egg wash. Brush egg wash all along the edges of the pastry squares. Next spoon about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the mixture into the center of the 1 pastry square leave about an inch on all sides. Fold pastry in half diagonally and pinch the edges with a fork to seal. Prick with fork for steam vents. Sprinkle a little course sugar on top if desired. Repeat with remaining squares.

Transfer to an baking sheet. Leave at least an inch between pies. Bake at 400 degrees for 14-16 minutes until the top is puffed and nicely browned. Remove turnovers from pan to a wire rack and cool 10 minutes.

Vanilla Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla

Combine powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. Mix to a smooth, thick consistency. Add more milk to thin, if necessary. Drizzle glaze over warm turnovers and serve.

 Photograph is copyrighted and the property of ©Welcome Home.

Glazed Almond Bundt Cake

I love bundt cakes.  I think the world needs more bundt cakes! I am one

of those people that never gave up on them long after bundt pans seemed

to disappear in the stores.  As a matter of fact, I'm still using the same 

bundt pan I used in the 70's!  Another thing I love is almonds...so this

happens to be one of my favorite cakes to bake.  So moist and delicious.

And wait 'til you smell the aroma coming from your oven!  OH MY!

Glazed Almond Bundt Cake ​​

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups granulated sugar

4 eggs

1 and ½ teaspoons almond extract

1 and 2/3 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup ground almonds

1 cup milk ​

Glaze
​

1/4 cup milk (more or less as needed)

¾ cup powdered or confectioners sugar

½ teaspoon almond extract

½ cup sliced almonds, toasted ​

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan. Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and ground almonds. Set aside. ​In a large bowl, cream together the butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract and vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with 1 cup milk, mixing just until incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pan. ​ Bake in the preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes and invert on a wire rack. Cool 10 minutes longer.

Glaze:

Place rack on waxed paper. ​ Combine 1/4 cup milk, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract and toasted sliced almonds; pour over warm cake. For a thicker glaze use more sugar. For a thinner glaze use more milk. Sprinkle with more almonds as desired.

Photography is the property of and copyrighted to ©Welcome Home.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

The first time I ever ate at PF Changs, my friends told me the chicken lettuce wraps were a must.  I noticed everyone around me was ordering them and so I thought why not?  Oh my gosh! They were so good that I ended up ordering them for my appetizer AND my dinner.  I couldn’t get enough of them that night.  I decided to make them at home and so I went online to find a copycat recipe. I added a few of my own things to make them even better.  Now I make them all the time!  I even grow my own Butter Lettuce so I can have them as often as I want! They are so good and so easy to make, I eat them a couple times a week all summer long!

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

1 head butter lettuce (also called Boston Bib)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound ground chicken

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, diced

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

1 teaspoon Sriracha, or more, to taste

1 (8-ounce) can whole water chestnuts, drained and diced

2 green onions, thinly sliced

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Rinse whole lettuce leaves and pat dry, being careful not tear them. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium high heat. Add ground chicken and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the chicken as it cooks; drain excess fat.

Stir in garlic, onion, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ginger and Sriracha until onions have become translucent, about 1-2 minutes. 

Stir in chestnuts and green onions until tender, about 1-2 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste.

To serve, spoon several tablespoons of the chicken mixture into the center of a lettuce leaf, taco-style. Delicious! 

Photography is the property of and copyrighted to ©Welcome Home.

Attention Subscribers to the Welcome Home Online Blog Magazine:

Attention Subscribers to the Welcome Home Online Blog Magazine:

If you are a subscriber to the Welcome Home online magazine then you will want to read this update. There is good news about the magazine that will begin again for another year this coming month.
That's right....we are beginning a new year and it's now time to renew your subscription for more recipes to come!

I have a great new change that I think you'll love! There will no longer be a monthly magazine. It will be a daily/weekly/monthly magazine. What does that mean you ask?

It means you will no longer have to wait each month for a new issue to arrive. The magazine will have new recipes added randomly all throughout the entire year. You may get a new recipe every day. Or you may get a new recipe on Monday and another on Tuesday....and then 3 new recipes on Wednesday and more the following week. It will be an ongoing Magazine Blog filled with new recipes, tips, hacks, kitchen gadgets and more all the time...not just once a month.

The important thing is that when you renew your subscription, you NEVER lose the 600+ recipes that are in the magazine now. Those are yours for as long as you renew your subscription each year. I am sure you have made some of the recipes in the magazine, maybe copied them or printed them out. They will always be there as long as you renew your subscription each year. On the other hand, if you choose not to renew, your address link will expire and you will no longer have access to the magazine.

The price will be the same at $24 annually to renew ($2.00 a month) and nothing changes. You will continue to access the magazine just as you do now. You will still have the same 600+ recipes you have now PLUS you will continue to get more new recipes for another full year.

How to renew:

1. Click on this link: http://www.welcome-home-blog.net/p/my-store.html

2. Click on the Subscribe Today button at the top of the page.

3. That will take you to PayPal so you can pay with your PayPal account or with a credit card. If you prefer to renew with a check you will find instructions back at the link above on the Welcome Home blog or you can message me for instructions.

3. After you renew, please email me at welcomehomefriendsllc@gmail.com and tell us you have renewed.

4. Simple as that. Your subscription will renew for another year!
The deadline to renew will be July 10th at midnight.

If you were given a free subscription by another member, please message me and let me know so that I can see if we have any subscription donations left.

We will be emailing and messaging reminders out to all our subscribers as we move closer to the deadline. But it's best to go ahead and get your renewal in early.