An Apple A Day

If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, you won't be seeing the doctor for a long time after this meal!  All the recipes use apples.  They were all delicious and some parts of the meal can be made ahead to save you time. 
Drink...

Starbucks Hot Caramel Apple Cider
*recipe from: Stephanie O'Dea
This is supposed to be a replica of Starbucks cider.  I have never had their cider, so I can't really say how it compares to the original.  I thought it was very good and very easy to make, but it basically just tasted like mulled cider to me.  The best part of this recipe was drinking it out of an apple mug.  All you have to do it slice off the top of an apple.  Then cut a circle around the inside and scoop out the flesh of the apple with a spoon.  Rub lemon juice around the inside of the apple and the rim so it doesn't turn brown (as you can see, I skipped this step and mine started turning brown).  Then, pour the hot cider inside your cute apple cup! :)
Ingredients:

• 4 cups apple cider
• 3 tablespoons caramel syrup (the ice cream topping)
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 4 tablespoons sweetened whipped cream (I omitted this)
• 4 apple mugs

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients in a pot.
2. Cook on low on the stove or in a crock pot for up to 4 hours.
3. Pour into the apple mugs and enjoy.

Dinner...
Apple Chips and Stuffed Squash
Both components of this meal are simple to make, but take a little bit of time cooking in the oven.  I would make the apple chips ahead of time, so they will be ready to go for dinner.

Apple Chips
*recipe from: The Italian Dish
I guess I've never had apple chips before, but they are sooooo good!  This is a recipe I will definitely be making again.  I just wish I had a bigger oven so I could make more at a time.  They take a little while to cook, but require almost no work.  Once they're in the oven, you can almost forget about them!  I purchased a mandolin solely for making these chips and you definitely need it.  There is no way I could have sliced them thin enough otherwise.  And, I'm happy I have the mandolin because now I can make a lot more apple chips (and maybe slice some other fruits and veggies easier)! Check out my new kitchen tool below! :)

Ingredients:
(makes about 25 chips . . . you'll want a lot more!)

• 1 large Granny Smith apple
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. (I used greased aluminum foil)
2. Using a mandolin, slice the apples as thinly as you can.  
3. Mix the sugar and the cinnamon in a shallow bowl and dip the apple slices lightly in the mixture, just lightly coating them.  
4. Lay the slices on the baking sheets, about 12 slices per sheet.  
5. Bake for 1 hour.  
6. Remove one pan at a time and flip the apple slices over with tongs. When you return pans to oven, also rotate them - put the one that was on the top rack on the bottom.  
7. Bake for one more hour.  Remove pans from oven. Apple slices will start to harden up pretty quickly.  Remove with tongs. 

Sausage and Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash
*recipe from: Lightlife 
This recipe was REALLY good and was such a great fall dish.  Despite having a lot of apple components, I couldn't really taste much apple in the dinner, but I still highly recommend it.  
Ingredients:
(serves 4)

1 pkg Gimme Lean® Sausage (This is a vegetarian sausage recommended in the original recipe.  I didn't use but instead used Trader Joe's Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage, which goes really well in this dish 2 cups water 3 tbs extra virgin olive oil 1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped 6 stalks of celery, chopped fine 1 tsp dried sage 1 tsp dried thyme 8 cups of toasted bread crumbs  1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce 1 medium apple, diced, any kind 1/3 cup apple cider 2 large acorn squash, cut in half and seeded salt and pepper to taste Directions: Preheat oven to 450°.  Brown sausage in a non-stick skillet sprayed with a little olive oil, breaking it up and crumbling it with a spatula as it browns. Set aside.  Bring water and olive oil to a boil in a covered pot over high heat. Stir in onion, celery, sage, and thyme.  Cook, covered, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.  Stir in stuffing cubes, salt and pepper, applesauce, apple cider, apple, and the browned sausage, mixing to combine. Taste for seasoning. Divide the stuffing evenly among the acorn squash halves.  Arrange the halves in a roasting pan and pour water around (not on) the squash to 1 inch.  Spray a piece of aluminum foil large enough to cover the pan with olive oil spray. This will prevent it from sticking to the stuffing. Cover the pan tightly, tending slightly with the sprayed side down. Bake for about 1 1/4 hours, or until the squash is tender when pierced with a fork.  (I took the cover off the squash for about the last 15 minutes of baking to re-toast the stuffing, but it was too long because as you can see, my bread got burnt) Dessert...
Caramel Apple Parfaits
*recipe from Cinda B
I know I typically say that everything is really good on this blog.  However, I am not joking about this one.  It was decadant and amazing.  This would be a showstopper if you were having a dinner party.  When I was making it, I really was wishing I could just skip a couple steps and start eating.  I was thinking that maybe I could just use store bought caramel instead of making my own, but I am SO glad I didn't, because the homemade caramel was exceptional and was well worth it.  Just please make this.  It doesn't need it, but it would be great with ice cream too.  I topped it with one of the apple chips for a garnish.  This recipe makes a lot (I halved it and there still were almost 4 servings).
Ingredients:
For the Cake 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/3 teaspoon ground cloves 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened 1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar 2 tablespoons molasses 1 large egg 1 cup regular yogurt For the Caramel Sauce 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup water 1 1/4 cups heavy cream 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon For the Apples 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter 8 large Fuji or other crisp apples—peeled, cored and thinly sliced (12 cups) 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar 1 quart whipped cream Directions: For the Cake: Preheat oven to 350°.   Blend flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and allspice in a bowl and set aside.   In a mixer, blend butter with brown sugar and molasses at medium speed until combined.   Add in egg and beat till smooth.   Add dry ingredients in small batches, alternating with yogurt until all is blended together.   Scrape the batter into a large non-stick baking pan and place on the center rack of over.   Bake for about 20 minutes or until surface springs back easily to touch.  Let cool completely. For the Caramel Sauce: In a medium saucepan, stir together sugar and water and cook over high heat until sugar dissolves.   Stop stirring for about 4 minutes until a deep amber caramel forms.   Remove from stove and add heavy cream and cinnamon.  Once the caramel cools slightly place back on burner and continue cooking until the sauce is slightly thickened.  Pour the caramel into a bowl. For the Apples: In a skillet, melt 4 tablespoons of the butter.   Add 6 cups apples and stir over high heat until lightly browned.  Add half of each of the sugars and continue cooking until the apples become caramelized.   Pour into a large bowl and set aside, and finish the remaining ingredients exactly the same way. To Put it all Together: Cut the cake into 6 inch squares.   Spoon 2 tablespoons of caramel sauce into dessert cups or parfait glasses.   Layer 1 tablespoons of apples and 1/2 cup whipped cream to each glass.  Layer 2 or three cake squares next.   Repeat with the remaining ingredients, ending with caramel sauce and top with whipped cream.

A Very Merry Dinner!

The holidays are my favorite time of year, and there is nothing I love more than Christmas!  My family does not eat a traditional Christmas dinner (we usually have beef tenderloin, potatoes, and vegetables).  But, for the blog I wanted to try to make a typical Christmas dinner.  I did a little research and found that a lot of people eat turkey and stuffing for Christmas (which seems strange to me because we just had that meal at Thanksgiving)!  I am too intimidated to cook meat with bones in it (especially since I don't have the right cooking materials for that), so I decided to modify the dinner slightly.  I thought maybe they would have some kind of boneless turkey breast roast, but I couldn't find that (maybe it doesn't exist, but I think it should), so I decided to go with a pork tenderloin.  I used the same spices and herbs that I would have used on turkey and it turned out great (even though it probably would have tasted slightly better on turkey).

Drink...

Christmas Cocoa

This is a delicious holiday drink!  I would love to snuggle up by the Christmas tree with this!
Ingredients:
(serves 1)

• 8 oz hot chocolate
• 2 oz Baileys Irish cream (I used the original Baileys, but the one with mint in it would be extra good here!)
• whipped cream
• crushed peppermint candy

Directions:

1. Prepare the hot chocolate. 
2. Add Baileys.
3. Top with whipped cream and crushed peppermints.

Dinner...

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Holiday Stuffing

I was very impressed with myself after making this meal because it involved cooking a lot of things I have never made before.  It was pretty easy and it turned out soooo good!
Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Perfect Gravy
*recipe adapted from Disney Family

Like I said earlier, this would probably be slightly better on turkey, but it was still super good on pork and very easy.
Ingredients:
(serves 2-3)

• 1 lb pork tenderloin
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• grated zest from one orange
• 1/2 stick butter, softened
• gravy
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• Drippings from pork
• 1/8 cup flour, whisked into 1/2 cup of chicken stock until smooth
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• Salt and pepper 

Directions:

1. Mix salt with herbs and zest and rub liberally on the pork tenderloin.
2. Place pork in a large Ziplock bag or wrap in foil. Refrigerate for 24 hours.  ( I only refrigerated mine for about 5 hours and it was still great).
3. Remove pork from fridge and let sit at room temp for at least a half hour before roasting.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
5. Rub entire surface of the pork with softened butter, and place on a rack in a roasting pan.  Put it on the lower oven rack. 
6. Roast for about 35-45 minutes. 
7. Remove pork to a carving board, and cover with foil and allow to rest for up to 30 minutes. 
8. Make gravy: 
1. Place roasting pan over two burners on the stove. There should still be some brown bits clinging to the pan.
2. Turn heat to medium, then pour in wine, scraping up all those brown bits. 
3. Add flour/stock mixture and stir constantly until gravy thickens, about 5 minutes. Add more turkey stock to thin gravy as necessary, turn burners to low, and continue to stir occasionally until you are ready to pour into a serving vessel.
4. Taste for seasonings. You probably won't need to add salt, but a good pinch of pepper will be necessary.
9. Carve pork and serve immediately.  

Holiday Stuffing*recipe adapted from AllRecipes.com

I love stuffing and I think this was one of the best I have ever had!  I really wanted to use roasted chestnuts in it, but they were ridiculously expensive, so I went with chopped walnuts instead.  Next time I will try the chestnuts to make it even more Christmas-like!
Ingredients:
(serves 4-5)

• 2 1/2 cups cubed white bread
• 1/2 pound ground turkey sausage (I used Trader Joe's smoked Chardonnay Apple Chicken Sausage and it was perfect!)
• 1/2 chopped onion
• 1 1/4 teaspoons dried sage
• 3/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 3/4 Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (or chestnuts)
• 1/4 cup dried parsley
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Spread the bread cubes in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes in the preheated oven, or until evenly toasted. Transfer toasted bread cubes to a casserole dish.
3. In a large skillet, cook the sausage and onions over medium heat, stirring and breaking up the lumps until evenly browned. Add the  sage, rosemary, walnuts, and thyme; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes to blend flavors.
4. Pour sausage mixture over bread. Mix in chopped apples, dried cranberries, and parsley. Drizzle with chicken stock (you may not need all the stock.  Just enough to make the bread moist but not soaked) and melted butter, and mix lightly. 
5. Cover with aluminum foil and back for 40 minutes.
6. Uncover the stuffing and bake for an additional 20 minutes.

Dessert...

Candy Cane Cookies

*recipe from Kraft
These are the perfect end to a Christmas dinner!
Ingredients:
(makes about 4 1/2 dozen cookies)

• 1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened 
• 3/4 cup  butter, softened  
• 1 cup sugar  
• 2 tsp.  vanilla  
• 2-1/2 cups flour  
• 1/2 tsp.  baking soda  
• 4 squares Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted  
• 1 pkg. White Chocolate Chips, melted  
• 12 hard peppermint candies, crushed

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat first 4 ingredients in large bowl with mixer until blended. Add flour and baking soda; mix well. Blend in melted chocolate. (Dough will be stiff.) 
3. Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into 52 balls; roll each into 3-inch-long rope. Place, 2 inches apart, on baking sheets, bending top of each slightly to resemble candy cane. 
4. Bake 10 to 12 min. or until puffed and set; cool 5 min. on baking sheets. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. 
5. Melt white chocolate; drizzle over cookies. Sprinkle with crushed candy. Let stand until chocolate is firm.