Quick Apple Crisp

One of my all time favorites. I use Granny Smith apples here on the west coast. But if you are anywhere near apple country in the east coast and pick up some Mccouns, eat some for me.

This was a recipe I got 6 years ago from a coworker who was starting her 2nd career as a Pampered Chef consultant. I loooved the idea of using yellow cake mix. But I have embellished the recipe, quadrupling the butter amount (of course), adding oats, and much more cinnamon.

Ingredients:

5 Granny Smith Apples
1 package of Yellow Cake mix
2 Tbs sugar
2-3 Tbs cinnamon
1 1/2 sticks of butter
2 Cups oats

ice cream and/or whip cream (homemade of course)

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix crumbly topping first.
3. Core and peel apples. Slice them thin and dump them in your lightly greased pan.
4. Cook for 25-30 minutes until you can stick a fork in the apples and have go straight through.

German Pancakes

Classic German Pancakes. My kids loooove to watch them Poof in the oven. This recipe I got from Smitten Kitchen which I frequent often. However, I had NOOO white flour. (Yeah we've been chocolate chip cookieing quite a bit.) So I used whole wheat flour instead. And I was out of milk so I used buttermilk instead. (It's Friday people, I'm out of a lot of things.) Still tasted wonderful! But definitely a thicker consistency than what they should be.

German Pancakes
From a blender cookbook

4 eggs
1 T sugar
1/2 t salt
2/3 cup sifted flour
2/3 cup milk
2 T soft butter

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Butter well 2 9-inch cake pans. Put eggs in blender container, cover and process at “stir” until light yellow in color. Push “mix” button, remove cover and add remaining ingredients; process until smooth. Pour into prepared pans and bake 20 minutes; then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake 10 minutes.

Slide onto hot plates. Serve with lemon slices, powdered sugar and butter if you follow recipes to the letter, raspberry syrup, maple syrup or fresh berries.

Cabbage and Corn Slaw with a Cilantro Orange Dressing

Yep. That's exactly what I thought when I saw this picture the first time on Epicurious. "A slaw that I might actually enjoy!" The citrus dressing instead of a typical mayo-based dressing is very refreshing. And it is more healthy too! I highly recommend cutting the corn straight off the cob. The canned corn is just okay in comparison.

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1/3 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1/3 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1/3 cup canola oil or vegetable oil
2 (8-ounce) bags coleslaw mix
4 ears of fresh corn, shucked, kernels cut from cob
2 medium carrots, peeled, coarsely grated
1 medium red bell pepper, stemmed, cored, cut into thin strips
6 medium green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Whisk orange juice concentrate, rice vinegar, and canola oil in small bowl. Season with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD Dressing can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.

Combine slaw mix, corn kernels, carrots, red bell pepper strips, sliced green onions, and chopped cilantro in large bowl. Toss with enough dressing to coat. Season slaw to taste with salt and pepper. Let stand 15 minutes for flavors to blend. Toss again and serve.

Chocolate Chip Goodness

Oh yeah baby ... These are by and far my favorite treat to make. Seriously. Chocolate Chip cookies and an ice cold glass of milk. What could be better?

A cookie may taste good but to me, but it has to look even better. I'm not a flat greasy cookie girl. I like them soft and chewy. There is only one secret in this recipe to make them look so good. And here it is .... CREAM THE BUTTER AND SUGARS for as looooong as you want. I often make dinner while I'm letting them cream. A good 5-10 minutes is nice. You'll see the color change a bit.

That's the secret. Now go bake, eat and enjoy your food hang over.

½ lb. butter

1 cup brown sugar (packed)

¾ cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 Tbs. vanilla

3 cups flour

¾ tsp. salt

¾ tsp. baking soda

1 package chocolate chips

Cream butter with sugars. Add the next 5 ingredients. Mix. Fold in chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

And Thus it Begins...

Okay. So this is post one of my food blog. It's time for me to keep a recipe file. So here it is. I'm going to cook what I like and organize my recipes while doing it. And I'll even take a picture or two of what I'm cooking so I can remember just how yummy it really was.

My goal, to combine my recipes from my email, external hard drive, computer, favorite websites, favorite blogs, recipe books, and hand stuffed recipe book. Eventually I will have all my favorite things to eat right here, so I can enjoy them forever and not keep asking myself "Just where is that darn recipe?"

And what better way to start than with my favorite chocolate chip cookies.