Fall is upon us!!

These are new things that I came to me one morning at 3am. I couldn’t sleep and I was thinking about food. Go figure! If you know me, you know that food is never far from my mind! I love talking about it, thinking about it, making it, and of course, my favorite part, eating it!

So here are a couple of recipes and some pictures of how I utilized the recipes in my kitchen. I used the mini tartlet tray and the pastry bag to put the filling in the tarts. It work good for the apple, but the pumpkin was a little runny. I think something that had a lip or maybe a liquid measuring cup would have worked better. Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Apple Pie Filling for…later

6 lbs apples (tart work best)

4 1/2 cups sugar

2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup cornstarch

1 teaspoon salt

8 cups water

3 tablespoons lemon juice

3 drops yellow food coloring

I used about 20 medium size apples, grade B. Meaning they had bumps, bruises, and blemishes. Since I peeled and sliced them it didn’t really matter! They still tasted delicious!

1.      Sterilize 6 quart jars, if canning, by washing them with soap and water and putting them in the oven at 215 degrees for a minimum of 15 minutes. They can stay in the oven until you are ready to take them out.

2. Peel, core and slice apples. (Leave slices about 1/2 inch thick).
3. Combine sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cornstarch and salt in large pot.
4. Add water and cook on high heat, stirring frequently at first and then constantly until it boils. Let it boil for about a minute, at this point it should be nice and thick. Watch it very carefully, when it starts to thicken it goes fast!!
5. Stir in lemon juice and food coloring
6. Pack apples in hot jars and fill jars with sauce just to the bottom rung of the mouth of the jar. I use a wooden spoon to push the apples down. DO NOT FILL THEM ANY HIGHER! THEY WILL EXPLODE!
7. Process jars in hot water bath for 20 minutes.
8. If you are freezing them, mix apples and sauce and put in freezer ziplock bags or freezer containers.

Pumpkin Pie Filling

1 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp cloves

½ tsp salt

2 large eggs

1 ¾ cups pumpkin (15 oz. can)

1 ½ cups evaporated milk (12 oz. can)

Combine dry ingredients, in a separate bowl slightly beat the eggs. Stir in the pumpkin and the dry ingredients, mix well. Gradually add the evaporated milk, pour into pie shell and bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes!

I made my own pumpkin puree!! It was SUPER easy and came out tasting delicious. Even the most novice of cooks can do this, it is a great way to get kids involved in the kitchen too!

Roasting a Pumpkin

It sounds daunting and scary but what better time of the year to tackle such a culinary task!! Trust me, it’s easy!

Cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and “stringy” stuff. Put cut side down on your Flexipat or deep Flexipat, add ¼ cup water and put in a 250 degree oven for 1 hour, or till flesh is “fork tender”. Take out of oven, let cool to touch and then scoop out the flesh. Place flesh in a blender or food processor, process till a smooth consistency is reached. Use in muffins, breads, pies or mousse!

REMEMBER: Roast the pumpkin seeds for a healthy, fibrous snack!

450 degrees for 8-10 minutes or till golden brown

Fall is Here

Good Morning!

These wonderful fall days bring to my mind apple pie, soup, and all the wonderful fall foods that come from the earth! Today I am going to be giving you some recipes, and on Friday there will be a post continuing the menu planning topic, so watch for that.

My favorite part of fall is that I can start making soups again! Mmm…potato, beef vegetable, ham and bean, split pea, or maybe a butternut squash? Nothing like sunny day that is cool enough for a sweater and a bowl of steaming soup.

So, I am going to share my favorite beef vegetable soup recipe. It is made with ground beef and can be ready is 1 hour or less. I will include a variety of ways to change it up, as this is a very versatile soup. Yum!

Beef Soup

½ onion, chopped

1 lb. hamburger

4-6 carrots, sliced (depends on size and if you like carrots)

1-2 large potatoes, cut into cubes

1 TLBS beef base (purchase at Costco)

2 cups water

1 28 oz. can tomato sauce, S&W tomatoes,

OR 1 quart jar home canned tomatoes or tomato puree

1 tsp. dried oregano

½ tsp. dried thyme

¼ tsp. celery salt (you or 4 ribs celery, chopped to the soup, my family doesn’t like celery)

Salt/ pepper to taste

Brown beef and onion, put in 3-6 quart pan, add water and tomatoes. Shake beef base with small amount of water in a jar with a tight fitting lid (2-3 TLBS water). Add remaining ingredients, except for macaroni. Cook for 30 minutes on medium high heat or until soup starts to reduce/thicken.

Variations:

Add:

½ cup or more of mashed acorn or other type of squash

1 cup cauliflower, chopped

1 small or medium size zucchini, sliced

¼ cup beet puree

If you don’t have time to cook the soup down, add ½ cup noodles, quinoa, or barley and cook till veggies and starch are done, 15-20 minutes. Add more water or tomatoes as needed and remember check if seasoning needs to me adjusted as well.

NOTE: You can use any kind of veggies your family likes in this soup. Don’t limit yourself to what I have written here. You can also use veggie purees too! Great way to get your family to eat veggies they wouldn’t normally (squash puree, zucchini or spinach puree, carrots and beets work too!)

Roasted Veggies

In the picture I roasted whole vegetables. Beets, zucchini, carrots, red potatoes, and onions. I rubbed the vegetables with olive oil, sprinkled them with some salt, and put them in the hold, covered with the octagonal Silpat and put them in the oven on 250 degrees F for about 2-3 hours.

They are wonderful to eat right out of the oven or puree and freeze for later use in recipes. This is one of the ways that I sneak veggies into my families food. Roasting seems to make the flavors of the foods easier to hide when I puree them AND it seals all the nutrients inside of them.

You can do this with any type of squash, cut in half, rub outside and inside with olive oil place cut side down on the Deep Flexipat or in the tart mold. Bake at a low temp, 250-300 degrees F till you can pierce the squash skin with a fork.

Apple Pie

Follow your favorite apple pie recipe, but bake it in the tart mold. When cooled you can take it out and put it on a plate for a beautiful presentation. You can also do pumpkin or any other yummy pie in it as well!