Apple Dumpling Gang

It's funny how recipes spread. Occasionally I'll be browsing some of the finer cooking blogs out there...you know the ones, they have more readers than we do...and within a day or two there are copycat recipes all over.

This one is one of those, but it's worth it, I swear. Even my husband thinks so and it has ZERO chocolate in it. That's the mark of a great dessert recipe.

I originally saw the recipe here on Ourbestbites.com. I thought it looked really interesting and kind of packed it into the file in my head marked "Try this one day when you're bored and you think Shane will try something not chocolate".

Then about one week after I read that post Shane came home blathering on and on about some apple dumpling recipe that this wife of a co-worker brought into the office. I told him I knew "all about that recipe". He said, "You should make it, it's incredible". The recipe then moved from to the file in my head marked "Make this sooner than later, Shane will eat it and it's not chocolate".

Then about a week after Shane salivated his way through a couple of servings of the dumplings at work I decided to try them. Note the date on the post, people...September 4th. It's not like I've kept the poor guy waiting for months for this recipe. I made them exactly 3 weeks after the original recipe was posted here and I can only imagine that's where the co-worker's wife got it...

I would advise you right now, do NOT wait 3 weeks from this post to make them. They are worth eating much sooner than that.

And if you want pictures...look at the original post. Mine looked exactly like that...professional pictures and all. (I swear)

APPLE DUMPLINGS

2 medium apples (I used Fuji)

2 cans refrigerator crescent rolls

1 cup (2 sticks) butter (I always use butter in cooking, not margarine)

1 1/2 cup sugar (I said they were good, not fat free)

1 tsp. vanilla

cinnamon (for sprinkling)

12 oz. (1 can) Sprite or Mtn. Dew (I used Sprite)

Peel and cut apples into 8 slices each. Wrap each apple slice in a crescent roll. Place wrapped apples in a greased 9x13" baking dish. In a medium saucepan melt butter and add sugar and vanilla (I added the cinnamon here). Pour butter mixture over dumplings. Then pour the Sprite/Mtn. Dew over everything. If you don't add the cinnamon with the butter you can sprinkle it over the top of everything. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes. Serve with a little sauce (in the baking dish) drizzled over the top.

It's like miniature apple pies, but without having to make crust!

Hot Buns Coming Through!

I had family coming for dinner last Sunday and I served Pulled Pork Sandwiches. I put a pork roast in the crock pot all day. That afternoon I shredded it, added a bottle of barbeque sauce and served it with these. They were soo good. Will make again, for sure!

Beautiful Burger Buns
Recipe and picture courtesy of King Arthur Flour

3/4 to 1 cup flour (Start with just 3/4 and add more later if needed. I didn't need to)
2 Tbs soft butter
1 lg egg
3 1/2 cups plain flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbs instant yeast

Directions:
1) Mix and knead all of the dough ingredients—by hand, mixer, or bread machine—to make a soft, smooth dough. (I used my Kitchen Aid for about 5 minutes)
2) Cover the dough, and let it rise for 1 hour, or until it's doubled in bulk. (I always warm my oven and turn it off and place my dough in there)
3) Gently deflate the dough, and divide it into 8 pieces. Shape each piece into a round 1" thick (more or less); flatten to about 3" across. Place the buns on a lightly greased baking sheet, cover, and let rise for about an hour, until very puffy.
4) If desired, brush buns with melted butter. Or brush lightly with egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water), and sprinkle with sesame seeds. (I did butter)
5) Bake the buns in a preheated 375°F oven for 12 to 15 minutes, till golden. Cool on a rack.

Upside-Down Pumpkin Cake

I was assigned dessert for last Sunday's dinner-with-the-family. About 8:00 p.m. on Saturday I set about deciding what to make. At that point there's no convincing me to go to the store for extra ingredients, my energy expired about 4 hours earlier. Though this would typically mean preparing one of the stand-by recipes that you always have the ingredients for, none of them sounded perfect. Instead I pulled out a recipe book I received from my Mom this past Summer. It's one of the classic compilation cookbooks, put together by a Relief Society, and handed out to friends and family for a great/cheap gift. I love them. I love them mostly because they are tried and true recipes that someone has made and enjoyed enough to put into a cookbook. This one is HUGE, very well organized and tabbed and it's from Alpine, Utah so it's high class, y'all. :)

I opened up the dessert section and started looking for recipes that sounded good that also included ingredients found in the Snow family pantry (which by the way is still a shelf, in my dining room...big, nice pantry is coming soon). Recipe #4....Upside-Down Pumpkin Cake...sounded perfect. It's Autumn, almost my beloved pumpkin season...AND I had all of the ingredients...

It was perfect. If by perfect you mean moist, easy, delicious and ok to cook 16 hours before it needs to be eaten - Perfect!

So, thank you Mr. and Mrs. Pranger from Alpine, Utah. I've never met you, probably never will, but the recipe you provided our Texas Snow family will be used again, and again, and probably again...

UPSIDE-DOWN PUMPKIN CAKE

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin

1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ginger

pinch salt

1 1/2 c. sugar (I would decrease this to 1 c., it was pretty sweet)

3 eggs, well beaten

1 box yellow cake mix

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

1 cup melted butter

Combine pumpkin, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt, sugar, and eggs in a large mixing bowl and blend well. Pour batter (it is pretty runny) into a greased 9 x 13 in. baking pan.

Spread dry cake mix over top of pumpkin mixture. Sprinkle with pecans and drizzle with butter. Moistening as much of the dry cake mix as possible with the butter. Bake 1 hour in 350° F oven. Cool slightly and serve with whipped topping.

Open-Faced Enchilladas

This is a different take on a regular taco salad.

OPEN FACED ENCHILLADAS

1 lb. ground beef or turkey

1 pkt. enchillada seasoning

1 big can tomato juice*

1 can black beans (do not rinse or drain)*

cornstarch and water

Brown meat. Add seasoning and beans. Cook until warmed through. Pour in tomato juice and bring to a boil for about five minutes. Mix cornstarch with water and add to sauce until desired thickness. Serve on top of totilla chips with desired toppings. Serves a lot!

*I only use 1/2 - 3/4 of the canned juice. If I use the whole can then I make it with 2 cans of beans.

Easy Tomato Soup

I am not a fan of tomato soup. I think I've hit on that point before. I love to use it in my cooking, I love that my kids love it, I just do not like to eat it...at all. However, I tell my kids it takes trying something about 14 times to learn to like it...this will be number 15...we'll see! This looks like a decent take on the old condensed soup - wish me luck!

EASY TOMATO BASIL SOUP

1 yellow onion, chopped
1/2 c butter
4 cans tomato soup
2 cans water
1 8 oz Philadelphia Cream Cheese (I will use fat free)
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1/2 to 3/4 c fresh grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
Half and Half, if desired

Saute chopped onion in butter until transparent. In separate sauce pan combine tomato soup and water and heat. Add cream cheese and stir with a wire whip until dissolved. Add sautéed onion, chopped tomatoes, cheese, basil and oregano. Add half and half if desired. Heat but do not boil.

Shrimp Kabobs

Clint wanted to grill something for my birthday a couple of weeks ago. While he was at work the kids and I skewered some kabobs and I realized I haven't had any in a long time. It hit the spot.
All I did was chop up:
Zucchini
Summer Squash
Pineapple
Onion
Green Pepper
and used,
Shrimp, peeled and deveined
and Cherry Tomatoes

If you soak the wooden skewers in water for 20 minutes before grilling they will not burn so easily. Then I let the kids add on all of their veggies and meat. I placed in a tupperware container and poured:
4 Tbs melted butter mixed with 1 Tbs lime juice over them
and sprinkled with Caribbean Jerk Seasoning.

I let them marinate for a couple of hours. They were so moist and delicious after they were grilled!
This is not really a recipe and most people have done it before. However, if your like me and have forgotten about them then it's time to do it again!

Another favorite way I like to make them instead of butter, lime, and Caribbean Jerk seasoning is to just sprinkle with cajun seasoning and then wrap each one in a stip of bacon. Yum!