The Blog of Awesome Recipes

Apple pie filling (Makes 7 quarts)

2008-10-07T11:04:00.005-05:00

Syrup

4 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup corn starch
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
10 cups water
3 Tbs lemon juice

I used golden delicious apples because that's what Cathern told me to use, lol. My Ball Blue Book says to use 2 1/2 to 3 pounds apples per quart. I peel them and use the slicer/corer to get uniform pieces.

Cook all above ingredients until thick. Add 3 Tbs lemon juice.

Peel and cut apples into hot sterilized quart jars and add hot syrup to cover apples leaving a 1/2 inch headspace. Seal and process in a boiling water bath 20 minutes for quarts and 15 minutes for pints. Remove from canner and cool. I had trouble with some of them bubbling up and the jar not sealing. Cathern tells me that she turns her jars upside down and lets them cool overnight that way.

1 quart finished pie filling is not enough for one pie. I can some pints too. A quart and a pint are enough for 1 pie. 3 quarts are perfect for 2 pies.

If you freeze this instead of canning it, I would cook the apples for 15 minutes or so in the syrup and then put them in freezer bags when they are cool.

Bake at 375* for 1 hour or until crust is browned and filling is bubbly.

Cherry Pie Jam

2008-06-30T13:39:00.003-05:00

Cherry Pie Jam (yield 4-5 cups)

4 cups pitted and mashed sour cherries
2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 tsp Pomona's pectin*
2 tsp calcium water

Measure sugar, cinnamon and pectin into a bowl. Mix well and set aside.

Measure cherries and calcium water into pan and stir well. Bring to a boil. Add sugar mixture; continue to cook and stir vigorously for 1-2 minutes to dissolve pectin. Return to boil and remove from heat. Stir in almond extract.

Fill hot, sterilized jars. Screw on 2 piece lids. Process 5 minutes in BW bath.This was a softer set. It was very much like cherry pie. Add more pectin and calcium water if you like it set firmer. You can double or triple this recipe.

*Pomona's pectin is a special type of pectin that uses calcium to set. Since it doesn't use sugar to set, you can use any kind of sweetener you like. The package comes with pectin and calcium and instructions to make the calcium water.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

2008-06-24T21:26:00.002-05:00

This recipe comes from my Aunt Flo.

2 chickens (we use chicken breasts)
1/2 bottle Russian Dressing (Dark Red)
1 package Lipton Onion Soup
1/2 jar Apricot Jam or preserves

Mix soup, dressing and jam together. Pour over chicken. Bake at 375 degrees until tender. We've also done this in the crock pot, starting on high and then on low.

White Chicken Chili

2008-03-28T15:20:00.003-05:00

I made this for dinner last night and it was awesome. The kids really, really liked it. (Mike did too!) We also served this with tortilla chips and kind of used the chili as a dip. I think I'm going to have to make a double batch next time. I adapted this recipe a little from the Betty Crocker website.

4 boneless chicken breasts (you can use chicken thighs but we like the chicken breasts)
2 cloves garlic (I used lots more because we love garlic)
1 14oz can of chicken broth
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 can great northern beans (I used 3)
3 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Place garlic, broth, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper and chicken in crock-pot. Cook on low for 4-5 hours. Take chicken out and shred. Return to crock-pot. Add beans, lime juice and cilantro. Cook another 15 to 20 minutes or until beans are hot.

-Barbara

Cinnamon Butter

2008-03-13T12:39:00.002-05:00

This is yummy!

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk (chilled)
1/2 tsp corn syrup
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix in food processor.

Dandelion Jelly

2008-03-13T12:33:00.002-05:00

1 quart dandelion blossoms
1 quart water
1 pkg Sure Jell
2 tbls lemon juice
4 1/2 cups sugar

This is really good! It tastes a bit like honey. It's fun for the kids too. Just be sure to use dandelion blossoms from an untreated yard.

Hold each flower by its calyx (the green base) and snip off the golden blossoms with scissors into your saucepan. Discard calyx. Boil blossoms in 1 qt. water for 3 minutes. Strain off 3 cups liquid. Add sure jell and lemon juice to liquid. When it comes to a rolling boil, add sugar and a few drops of yellow food coloring (we don't), if desired. Boil 3 minutes or until it reaches the jelly stage. Pour into jelly jars and process.

Delicious French Dressing

2008-03-13T12:30:00.002-05:00

1/2 cup vegetable oil
3-5 tbls sugar
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp steak sauce
1 clove garlic
2 tsp grated onion
1/2 tsp paprika

I usually double this recipe. Combine evrything in the blender and blend until combined.

Italian Beef

2008-03-13T12:25:00.001-05:00

3 pounds beef chuck roast
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 cap vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 pkg dry Italian dressing mix
garlic salt to taste
oregano to taste

Cook roast in crock pot on low in water with bouillon cubes overnight. In AM, add dressing mix, 1 cap vinegar, garlic salt and oregano to taste.
Cook in crockpot on low all day.

My crockpot cooks a little hot so I don't need to do it all night and then all day. I usually start it in the am on high and turn it down to low and add seasonings about noon. Crockpots are very forgiving though.

My Turn

2008-03-09T15:12:00.004-05:00

Well, I guess I should add a recipe to this blog and since this meal has been requested for tonight's dinner I will share it with you all. This is REALLY good - even if you don't think you will like - it was brought to us after we had Matthew and we almost threw it out without trying it but I just couldn't do that so I tasted it and LOVED it. We all liked it so much that I had to get the recipe. Now we have it quite often. Hope you enjoy it!

Thai Chicken and Sugar Snap Peas

3/4 cup Italian Dressing
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into pieces
2 Tbls Crunchy Peanut Butter
2 Tbls honey
2 Tbls soy sauce
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 bag sugar snap peas
8 oz thin spaghetti, cooked and drained

Pout 1/4 cup of Italian Dressing over cut up chicken and toss to coat. Cover and regrigerate 1 hour to marinate (I have, in a pinch, skipped this part and just added the dressing when cooking the chicken and it worked fine).

Mix 1/2 cup dressing, crunchy peanut butter, honey, soy sauce and crushed red pepper with a wisk. Set aside.

After 1 hour cook and stir the chicken in a large skillet on medium heat until cooked thru. Add sugar snap peas; cook and stir an additional 3 - 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add chicken and spaghetti to the dressing mix. Toss to coat and serve immediately.

It is so easy to make and I have been known to pull this off in under 30 mins.

It's Egg-tastic!

2008-03-05T16:31:00.002-06:00

Sorry about the title. I couldn't help myself.

I'm making this yummy egg casserole for dinner tonight. It's a pretty standard recipe, but I still thought I'd share. I kind of made it up last week when my MOPS table had to bring breakfast. This makes a lot, but if you have a lot of egg eaters in your family (like I do), there's not much left over at the end!

Egg Casserole

12 eggs
2 cups shredded cheese (I use colby-jack)
1 package O'Brien style potatoes (from a frozen bag)
sliced mushrooms
4 strips bacon, chopped

Preheat oven to 350*

Spray the bottom of a 13x9 inch baking dish with Pam. Pour frozen potatoes into pan. In a separate bowl, beat eggs. Add cheese, mushrooms and bacon to eggs and combine. Pour egg mixture over potatoes. Bake at 350* for 1 hour. Enjoy!

Don't Know What It's Called...

2008-03-04T00:42:00.002-06:00

This is oh so yummy, but not a meal.

Sliced tomato (usually one large for me lol)
Provolone slices
Balsamic vinegar
Salt
Pepper

Slice tomato and arrange on plate. Sprinkle with balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. Top with the cheese. Eat as is, or pop in the microwave until just warm.

It's yummy goodness.

Hamentashen

2008-03-03T09:10:00.006-06:00

For my first recipe, I'm going to post a recipe for Hamentashen. You typically eat these cookies at Purim. This year, Purim falls on March 20, but I thought it would be fun to go ahead and make these cookies with the kids today. I've never made them before but it can't be that hard. Instead of the traditional prune filling, I'm going to use cherry and apricot (because that's just tastier). I'll post pictures of the finished product later tonight. Also, I can't remember the site that I got the recipe from, but it does seem to be in a lot of places on the 'net, so it can't be that bad!

Hamentashen

3/4 cup stick margarine (not tub)
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp lemon zest or splash of lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
cherry pie filling (or any fruit preserves)
2 1/4 cup flour
drops of water

Cream margarine and sugar together. Beat in lemon, egg and vanilla until combined. Slowly add flour and salt. Beat in drops of water, just a few at a time, until dough comes away from sides. Put dough in a large plastic bag and form into a disc. Chill for 2-3 hours or up to 2-3 days.

Roll dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut into 3-4 inch circles using a glass or cookie cutter. Spoon 2 cherries and some filling (or small scoop of preserves) into the center of circles. Fold up sides and pinch corners into a triangle. Sprinkle cookies with a touch of sugar. Bake at 350* for 12-15 minutes or until lightly golden.

Here's what they look like when done. They probably could have cooked about 1 minute longer, but they were tasty. I probably put a little too much filling in them since they fell open on one side. Doesn't change the taste, though! Mike took off with all of the apricot ones, leaving 2 cherry ones left this morning!

Enjoy!
-Barbara

Welcome!

2008-03-02T23:01:00.000-06:00

Okay, so the blog is just getting underway, and the title is dumb, but it's up and running. If you didn't get an invite to join and want one, please let me know. One caveat...I can't just have random people posting on here, so if I don't know you, please don't ask! I've never done a team blog before, so if anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please let me know, otherwise, we'll all learn together.

Again, welcome and post away!
Barbara