Crab Apples - Bringing Neighbors Together

Our town has many, many crab apple trees! So many, that neighbors will leave bags or buckets of them on your doorstep, or call you repeatedly to come "please, PLEASE pick as many as you can!" This year, my wonderfully generous neighbor offered her tree for my use, while they were at the lake. I had just pinned a yummy looking canned apple pie filling I wanted to try, so I jumped at the chance of free apples! I ended up making 2 batches of pie filling, and 2 batches of spiced applesauce. Both are HUGE hits in my house!! Here are the recipes I used, and how I used my apple pie filling :)

Apple Pie Filling
6 cups prepared apples
1/2 cup water
1 TBSP flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 TBSP lemon juice

Steam apples & water until apples are soft. Remove from heat & stir in remaining ingredients, until sugar is dissolved. Ladle into hot jars, or Ziploc bags, & freeze. Easy peasy!!

I had 2 jars of filling that didn't seal, so I decided to make apple tartlets, with a twist. 30 tarts were gone in 2 days!! With many, many requests I make them all them time! Here is what I did!

Caramel Apple Tarts
Tart shells (I cannot make pastry to save my life, so I use packaged ones)
Apple Pie Filling
Caramel sauce (I used ice cream topping)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter

Put filling & caramel sauce in tart shells. Mix together sugar & butter, and sprinkle on top. Bake at 350*F about 25 minutes, or until shells are golden brown.

Turkey Casserole

Thanksgiving was a couple weeks ago, and my boys are SO tired of turkey now! However, I still had SO much food leftover! Soo, I came up with this, and froze it :) Perfect for when you start to crave a yummy turkey dinner between October & December!! You can make them in 9x9 pans, or even loaf pans! I used loaf pans, because it was all I had at the time!

Simply layer your leftovers! How easy is that?! Here is how I layered my casseroles.
Turkey
Veggies (we had carrots this year)
Stuffing
Gravy
Mashed Potatoes

That`s it! Easy peasy! You could also sub out chicken for the turkey, if you have leftover chicken. When you are ready to eat, simply throw in the oven at 300*F for a couple hours. Enjoy!

Rainy Days = SOUP!

Today has been wet, gray & rainy. There is nothing like a hot bowl of soup on a rainy day! Today I decided to finally make some tomato macaroni soup. I found the recipe a while ago, but it has been just too hot for soup! Today was perfect soup weather, and it came together very fast! It also made my house smell so yummy!!

1 tsp oil
1 tsp butter
2 onions, chopped
2 celery, chopped
1/2 cup celery leaves (didn't have this, used a 3rd piece of celery)
2 carrots, chopped
8 cups beef (or your choice) broth
28oz can diced tomatoes
2 tsp onion soup mix
1/2 tsp Worcestershire
1/2 cup uncooked macaroni
Salt & pepper to taste

Heat oil and butter. Add onions, celery/leaves and carrots, saute until soft. Add broth, tomoatoes, soup mix and Worcestershire. Simmer for 45 minutes; add macaroni. Cook on low until pasta is cooked, about 30 minutes. Season with salt & pepper to taste.

Raspberry Freezer Jam

Last year, we planted some raspberry bushes, and I could not wait for all of my yummy fresh berries! Sadly, we had about 4 all season :( This year, our harvest was a little bigger, and I have learned that raspberries need to be establish before they really start producing those delicious red globes! In the meantime, I made due with some frozen berries I had bought when I made cheesecake muffins last month. This is a quick & easy jam, no cooking, that can stay in the freezer for up to 1 year! Remember that jam is a finicky thing, so be sure to follow the pectin recipe to the letter! I used Certo, so will post their directions that I followed.

Raspberry Freezer Jam
2 cups crushed raspberries (about 4 cups whole berries)
4 cups granulated sugar
1 pouch Certo liquid pectin
2 TBSP lemon juice

You can push the berries through a sieve if you like, but I don't have one, so I didn't. Mix berries & sugar in a bowl, and let sit for 10 minutes. Stir in pectin & lemon juice, and stire for 3 minutes. Place in clean jars or tightly sealing plastic containers, leaving 1/4 inch at the top. Let sit at room temperature for 24 hours before freezing. Will keep the freezer for up to 1 year, and 3 weeks in the fridge once thawed.

Mustard Beans

My grandma used to make mustard beans that I could eat by the jarful! I just could not get enough of them! Well, I got her recipe a few years ago, but the whole canning process scared me. This year, I decided that I just HAD to have some! My amazing mother in law dropped off loads of yellow beans for me, and I got to work! I made 2 batches, and ended up with 17 delicious looking yellow jars!!

8 cups yellow beans
3 cups vinegar
1 cup water
1 TBSP celery seed
1 tsp tumeric
1/2 cup dry mustard
3/4 cup flour
2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp salt

Cook beans in boiled salted water until just tender & drain. Mix water, 1 cup vinegar & celery seed & let sit. Mix tumeric, mustard, flour, sugar & salt until combined. Bring water/vinegar & remaining vinegar to a boil. Slowly add a small amount of hot vinegar to dry ingredients. Blend well (no lumps!), then add paste to pot and cook, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Add beans & bring to a boil. Pour into sterilized jars and seal.

Caramel Corn

My neighbor introduced me to this deliciously addiction snack! It's so simple to make & my boys absolutley LOVE it! A large bag does not last long here!!

1 large bag Popcorn Twists
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 tsp baking soda

Dump the twists into a roaster. Put butter, sugar & corn syup into a large pot. Whisk together & being to a boil. Add baking soda. The caramel will foam up (which is why you need the large pot). After the caramel starts to deflate, pour over twists in roaster. Stir to coat all pieces. Bake at 250*F for 45 minutes, stirring ever 10 minutes. Pour onto wax paper, and let cool. After it has cooled down, break up the larger pieces & store in a covered container.

Carrot Cake

Nothing says Easter like carrot cake! This one is very easy to make, thanks to a cake mix, and just by adding some of your favorites, it can be totally customized to suit your tastebuds!!

1 box Spice Cake mix
2 cups shredded carrots
1 can crushed pineapple
1 cup raisins
1 cup coconut
1 cup walnuts - I never add these, due to hubby/oldest son allergies!

Mix up cake mix as directed on box. Stir in carrots, pineapples, & other add ins (I find carrots & pineapples to be the most important!). Pour into greased cake pans, and bake at 350*F until toothpick comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cakes cool completely & frost with cream cheese frosting.