FRIED GREEN TOMATOES

I know it's the end of the season for my tomato plants, but there still are many beautiful green tomatoes left. I need to make use of them somehow......hhmmmmm, I GOT IT..FRIED GREEN TOMATOES.!









Ingredients

• 2 green tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup corn flour or flour
• 1/4 cup cornmeal
• Old Bay Seasoning to taste
• oil or bacon grease for frying

Directions

1. Soak the tomato slices in the buttermilk for at least 30 minutes.
2. Mix the flour, cornmeal, salt and pepper.
3. Pull the tomato slices out of the buttermilk dredge them in the cornmeal mixture.
4. Fry the tomato slices in oil over medium heat until golden brown on both sides, about 3-4 minute per side.

*I served this with ketchup and a horseradish sauce (just freestyled a little sour cream, mayo, horseradish, dijon, salt, and pepper).

Try them on your BLT for an unusual twist !

PIZZA DIP

Ingredients

• 6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup mozzarella, grated
• 1/4 cup parmesan, grated
• 1 cup pizza sauce
• 1/2 cup mozzarella, grated
• 1/4 cup parmesan, grated
• 2 ounces pepperoni, sliced
• 2 tablespoons green pepper, sliced
• 2 tablespoons black olives, sliced
• 1/4 cup sliced mushrooms

Directions

1. Mix the cream cheese, sour cream ,mayonnaise, mozzarella and parmesan  ...spread it across the bottom of a pie plate.
2. Spread the pizza sauce on top and sprinkle on the cheese, pepperoni,mushrooms, green pepper and olives.
3. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until the cheese has melted, bubbling and golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Serve on sliced french bread brushed with olive oil!

                                 Great for Game Day!

CHOCOLATE~ CARAMEL APPLESAUCE

Applesauce has developed a reputation as the least-sexy snack around, and for good reason.The prepackaged kind tends to consist of bland, runny pureed apples, sugar and preservatives.Clearly, you’re better off making your own, which is great because it’s absurdly easy and has the added benefit of making your house smell amazing.



Nothing says fall more than apples!
Crisp, juicy apples and cider, fresh from a local orchard...
candy apples at the fair... or a house filled with the wonderful
aroma of apples and spice coming from the kitchen.



There's something about the fresh autumn apple that's definitely worth capturing and savoring all year.  I had a hankering for some fresh homemade apple-sauce. So over the weekend I whipped up a batch and it turned out amazing! Here’s an easy recipe for you to try. Home-made apple sauce is a great low-calorie, nutritious snack.







No peel applesauce makes for easier preparation that yields a beautiful sauce full of extra nutrients.Homemade Cinnamon Applesauce is an ideal texture for even early post-ops; smells like heaven and is super easy for even a non cook. Make a big batch; your family will eat it up. Blend your delicious applesauce with unflavored yogurt, cottage or ricotta cheese, or use to sauce thinly sliced roasted turkey tenderloin or chicken thighs.

Eating fruit is part of a nutritional diet but apple skins specifically contribute to preventing chronic diseases. Apple skins contain phytochemicals and quercetin, which can be linked to a reduced risk for cardiovascular disease, asthma and diabetes.

The phytochemicals in the apple skins also work as antioxidants in your body. Antioxidants help your body remain healthy by fighting off the process of oxidation, which could lead to life threatening diseases. Apple peels can help to reduce the growth of cancer cells in the liver and colon.
Directions:

1. Prepare your water bath by filling with water 3/4 way up the side of the pot. Cover and bring to a boil. In the meantime, sterilize your glass canning jars in the dishwasher by running them through a cycle. Place a small pot on the stove with the canning lids to sterilize as well. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer while you can the applesauce.

2. Cut your apples into large chunks, removing the core and seeds. No peeling is necessary!I use this handy dandy cutting device I found at the apple orchard.Remember to add the cores to your flower beds... the worm friends will love ya!

3. Place the apples in small quantities in your blender and add approximately 1/2 cup  apple cider before pulsing/blending the mixture until smooth. Add more cider as necessary.

4. Transfer pureed apples to a large stock pot and  add 1 small  bottle caramel syrup( the kind you flavor coffee with), a package dry hot chocolate mix and cinnamon (I use about 1 Tbsp cinnamon and 1 Tbsp or more apple pie spice for a large stock pot full of applesauce). Heat sauce until just warm. Add 1 Tbsp. vanilla.

5. Once the applesauce is heated and sweetened, pour carefully into your sterile glass quart size canning jars (a funnel is ideal for this process). Place hot lids on jars .

6. Place jars in a boiling water bath. Once water bath is full of jars, cover, and return water to boiling point. Once it is boiling, process for 20 minutes, Transfer to the counter to cool completely.


Now get  to making some applesauce! It really is that easy and not very expensive. Once you taste homemade applesauce you’ll wonder what the store-bought variety is really from.

Give a jar to friends and family with some granola. What great Christmas gifts !

CANNING CARAMEL APPLE PIE FILLING

This Canned Apple Pie Filling is perfect because it uses lots of spices, tastes perfect in a pie crust, and can be used as a topping on pancakes, french toast, and even ice cream!

Ingredients:

* 4 1/2 c.brown sugar
* 1 c. cornstarch
* 4 tsp. ground cinnamon
* 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
* 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
* 1/4 tsp. ground allspice
* 2 tsp. salt
* 2 Tablespoons pure vanilla extract
* 10 c. water
* 3 Tbsp. lemon juice
* 6 pounds apples ...I like to use Cortland

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large pan, mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add salt and 8 c. water and mix well. Stir till dissolved and place over low heat. Then mix 2 c. water, lemon juice and cornstarch and set aside.

2. Sterilize canning jars, lids and rings by boiling them in a large pot of water.

3. Peel, core, and slice apples. Pack the raw sliced apples into hot canning jars, leaving 1" of head space.
4. Bring sugar mixture almost to boiling then stir in the cornstarch mixture and stir or whisk the mixtures quickly. When the white of the cornstarch disappears, ladle hot syrup over the sliced apples leaving a 1/2" of head space.

5. Gently remove air bubbles with a wooden spoon handle.

6. Put lids on and process in a water bath canner. Process for 15 minutes if using pint size jars, and 20 minutes if using quart size jars.

Yields 7 quarts of apple pie filling.

Note: Do not use metal utensils when canning. It can cause the glass jars to shatter.

Carmel Apple Pie 

This Carmel Apple Pie is packed full of flavor and goes great with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on a summers day.

Ingredients:

* 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

* 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

*1/4 cup powdered sugar

* 6 cups home canned apple pie filling 

* 1 (2.5 ounce) package caramel apple circle or chopped caramel pieces

* 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar

Directions:
. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Roll out pastry and set aside.

 In a large bowl, blend cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth and creamy. Set aside.


 Add apples to cream cheese mixture and stir until apples are evenly coated.


. Pour half of apple mixture into pastry-lined pie plate. Place caramel circle over top or sprinkle caramel pieces evenly, then pour in remaining apple mixture. Cover with second pastry. Seal edges and cut steam vent in top. Sprinkle with coarse/turbinado sugar. Place pie on baking sheet covered with aluminum foil.

7. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. If you notice overbrowning after 25 minutes, reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Note: Unless you use a deep dish pie pan, do not use all of the juice or it will overflow while cooking.

BROWN BAG APPLE PIE

Ingredients

• BOTTOM CRUST:
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 2 1/2 tablespoons cold water, or more as needed
• 
  
•  FILLING;
•  Home Canned Apple Pie Filling plus 2 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs
•  
• TOPPING:
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 1/2 cup superfine sugar
•  
• 2 12x30-inch pieces of parchment paper

Directions

1. To make the bottom crust, stir the flour and white sugar together in a bowl until well-combined. Rub the unsalted butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs; sprinkle with cold water, a couple of tablespoons at a time, mixing the dough together lightly with a fork until it barely holds together.
2. Form the dough into a ball and roll it out to a circle about 1/8-inch thick. Gently ease the dough into an 8-inch pie dish. Cut off any excess pastry with a knife. Finish the edge of the crust by gently pressing the tines of a fork into the dough all the way around the edge of the pie dish. Set the crust aside.
3. To make the topping, mix 1/2 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of softened butter, and the superfine sugar together in a bowl until you have a sticky, moist dough.
4. To assemble the pie, cover the bottom of the pie crust with a light, even layer of graham cracker crumbs. Fill the pie with the apple mixture, piling it up in a mound shape. Pinch off pieces of the topping mixture, flatten them a little with your fingers, and dot them at random all over the top of the filling, covering as much of the filling as possible.
5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F 
6. Place pie in a large brown supermarket bag on its side, not standing up, making sure the bag does not touch the top or sides of the pie. Carefully fold over the opening of the bag and staple it closed to seal the pie in. Bake at 400 for one hour. It will smell like the bag is burning in the first 30 minutes of cooking, but then you can smell the pie cooking so don't worry! 

MOTORCYCLE CAKE TOP

This is the  groom's motorcycle

Get your motor runnin"....

I had the pleasure of helping a fellow decorator out with a groom's cake she was working on. I have to tell ya , as much as I have it all figured out in my head how the finished product should look , sometimes it's better than expected and sometimes not so much. I was fortunate this one was what I expected.

I sat in front of the computer for a couple hours playing with the fondant, and krispie treats until the proportions were just right. Kinda brings me back to the old days playing with my playdough.

Wheww....The pieces are made for the body, and tires, fenders, and forks. I hope the tires fit.....


Working with the picture of the bike on my screen, I was able to make the engine pieces easier.

 Edible silver dust mixed with vodka was used for all the chrome.

 I have no idea what all these parts are, but I came as close as I could.

For some reason, I can hear Steppenwolf in the background when I think of this cake... "Get your motor running, head out on the highway..." 

                         Thanks for Looking!