Caramel Apples

First, you want to get your apples ready for dipping. Rinse a bunch of granny smith apples. These work best because they are tart and crisp. Make sure the apples are fully dry after rinsing. Remove the stems from the apples (just twist them off). Then, insert the stick where the stem was! You can use little craft sticks, popsicle sticks, or I've even used chopsticks before!

Get a tray or cookie sheet of some sort out and butter it or non-stick spray it well! You don't want the apples to stick.

Now, to make the caramel.

Caramel:

*1 lb. brown sugar--

light or dark brown (I've used both, but now I usually use dark just because the caramel turns out... darker and looks pretty)

*1 cup light corn syrup

*1 cup butter

*14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk

Cook the brown sugar, corn syrup, and butter in a large pot until it boils. Add the can of sweetened condensed milk. Stir constantly and cook until reaches between soft and firm ball stage (between 235 and 250 degrees F on candy thermometer). The longer you cook it, the harder/chewier it will be, so it depends what you want. *DISCLAIMER! NOT ALL CANDY THERMOMETERS ARE ACCURATE....... unfortunately the past two times I've relied soley on a candy thermometer...I have realized that the thermometer isn't working and the caramel is so hard you can't even eat it!

So, my suggestion is.......

Do the cold water test!

Drop a small spoonful of the hot liquid into a cup of cold water. Reach into the cold water and grab out the caramel mixture. If you can't pick it up because it is too runny, you know you aren't there yet. Let it cook longer and try again in a bit. Here is what you are looking for.... Something between Soft and Firm-Ball Stage.

(Here is what the stages should feel like, just so you know when you're getting close)

Soft-Ball Stage 235° F–240° F
"At this temperature, sugar syrup dropped into cold water will form a soft, flexible ball. If you remove the ball from water, it will flatten like a pancake after a few moments in your hand.Fudge, pralines, and fondant are made by cooking ingredients to the soft-ball stage."

Firm-Ball Stage245° F–250°

"Drop a little of this syrup in cold water and it will form a firm ball, one that won’t flatten when you take it out of the water, but remains malleable and will flatten when squeezed. Caramels are cooked to the firm-ball stage."

Alright, once your caramel is the desired consistency, quickly pour it into a deep glass bowl. Now, you are ready to dip!

The sooner you dip the apples, the thinner your layer of caramel is going to be, because it will be more hot and will run off. If you let it set for like... a minute then start dipping, you'll get more caramel on there. It's really up to you. Of course, once it cools off too much, it gets so thick in the bowl that it is hard to dip the apples very well. If this happens, you can stick the bowl into the microwave for a few seconds to thin it out a little bit, then continue dipping.

For the best dipping coverage and smoothness, grab the stick, put the apple into the caramel at an angle, and turn it to cover it with caramel! Once it is fully covered to your liking, hold the stick strait up over the bowl so any excess caramel can drip into the bowl. Then, place the apple on the prepared tray to set.

Once all your apples are covered in caramel, you can coat them in whatever you want! If you want something like nuts directly on the caramel, put the nuts on before the caramel sets. Otherwise, you'll want the caramel to cool before dipping in chocolate.

Here are other options:

Chocolate! I just melt semi-sweet chocolate chips in the microwave, then either drizzle it on the apple, or dip it. Make sure when you are melting your chocolate that you don't do it too fast.... heat it at about 30 second intervals, stirring between each heating. If you just leave it in there long enough to melt it, it will burn.

White Chocolate! I use vanilla flavored Almond Bark. This is located in the baking section of the grocery store, by the other chocolate and stuff. I use this instead of actual white chocolate because it melts well and has a great consistency for dipping.

Nuts - almonds, pecans, peanuts....

Chopped up candy bars such as Snickers,

Cinnamon and sugar (put that on top of the white chocolate while it is still wet..... very good....).

Your options are endless really. Just have fun with it! Like I said, you can either completely dip the caramel apple in chocolate, or just drizzle it on with a spoon.

Cut slices off to serve and

ENJOY!

Ginger "Snaps"

These have the flavor of a ginger snap... minus the snap.... they aren't hard and crunchy like the kind you get at the store. They are chewy... and delicious! We shall call them... Ginger Chewies. These are one of my all time favorite cookies. Thanks to Whitney Muir for giving me the recipe last year! A definite keeper.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 egg

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

*sugar, for rolling cookies in

*I use "sugar in the raw"/turbinado sugar for rolling the cookies in. What the heck is that, you ask???? Well,

"Turbinado sugar, also known as turbinated sugar, is made from sugar cane extract. It is produced by crushing freshly cut sugar cane; the juice obtained is evaporated and then spun in a centrifuge, or turbine (thus the name), which results in the characteristic large, light brown crystals.... A popular brand name for turbinado sugar is Sugar in the Raw."

Thanks Wiki.

Anyway, I like the big sugar crystals. They add a nice texture and taste to the outside of the cookie. I just bought it at a normal grocery store.... like Walmart or something. Give it a try!

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350'

2) Cream shortening and sugar in large bowl.

3) Add molasses and egg; beat well.

4) In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Gradually add this to the shortening mixture; mix well.

5) Shape dough into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

6) Bake 10-12 minutes.

7) Carefully remove from pan and allow to cool on a wire rack.

The cookies will be quite soft when you remove them from the pan, but they "harden" as they cool. If you don't take them off when they are still soft like that, they will be crunchy.... so I guess, if you want them crunchy, you can leave them on. I like them chewy.

Grandma Kirkham's Delicious Cinnamon Rolls

1/2 cup Shortening
2 Eggs
1/2 cup Sugar
1 cup warmed Milk
1/2 tablespoon Salt
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon Dry Yeast
1/2 teaspoon ground Nutmeg
1 teaspoon Vanilla
5 1/2 cups Flour
Other ingredients: Butter, cinnamon, brown sugar, raisins (optional)

Cream shortening, sugar, and salt. Add water and milk. Add yeast and let bubble. In separate bowl, beat together eggs, vanilla, and nutmeg. Add to mixture. Add flour and mix well. Cover and let rise until doubled. Put dough onto well floured surface. (The dough is going to be pretty sticky, so make sure you have plenty of flour down so it doesn't stick). Dust the dough with more flour, then roll out to a rectangle. Spread with melted butter. Put a fairly thick layer of brown sugar and dust the whole thing with cinnamon. Add raisins (optional). Roll up the dough, then slice off the rolls using a piece of string or floss.

This is how you slice with the floss (or string).

Coat the floss in flour if needed. Then slide it under the end of the roll.

(in this demo, I am using a rolled up towel and pink shoe laces.... so you can see better....)

Cross the ends over the top....

Then pull them to the sides until the floss cuts through, making a perfect roll!

Place the rolls on a greased pan.

Let rise.

Bake 10 to 15 minutes at 425 degrees.

Frost the rolls once they are cooled a bit (Frosting recipe below). These cinnamon rolls freeze really well. Just individually wrap them each up tight in plastic wrap and pop them in the freezer. When you're ready to eat one, unwrap it and put it into the microwave until warm and delicious!


Frosting
3 cups Powdered Sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
1 to 2 tablespoons Milk
Mix powdered sugar and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla and 1 tablespoon of milk. Gradually beat in just enough milk to make frosting smooth and spreadable.

Biryani

Are you ready for an adventure??? Biryani is an Indian/Pakistani dish. If you've ever been to an Indian restaurant and like that type of food, you'll like this! It's not your every day chicken dish, but, come on people! Give those taste buds a little something new and exotic!

HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED:


Chicken legs and thighs, on the bone but with the skin off
One large onion, sliced
3 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger
One anaheim chili pepper, sliced
1-2 tomatoes,chopped
1/2 to 1 potato chopped into 1/4 inch cubes (depends how big your potatoes are)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon chili powder
about 1/2 teaspoon salt (you can always add more later...)
6 whole cloves
1 inch of a cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
5 whole pepper corns
1 cup chicken broth
fresh mint leaves
rice

Get your rice cooking first so it will be ready. Here's what you need.

2 cups jasmine or basmati rice

4 cups chicken broth

1 inch cinnamon stick

3 whole cloves

Put those four ingredients in a rice cooker or in a pot and cook until rice is done.

Now, while the rice is cooking......

Put oil in a large saute pan or electric skillet and saute onions and potatoes until onions start to brown a little.
Add the ginger and garlic and saute.
Add the cloves, cumin seeds, cinnamon stick, turmeric powder, chili powder, salt, and whole pepper corns. Mix together.
Add chicken pieces and start to brown those up.

(I didn't let the chicken brown up enough before I added the tomatoes in the above picture....make sure you cook it a bit more first....I learned...)

Then, add tomatoes and 1/2 to 1 cup chicken broth. Start out with less. Add more as needed. If it all dries out too much before the chicken is done cooking, you'll want to add more broth. Let cook at at simmer until chicken is completely cooked and sauce is reduced. Usually, I'll cover it for a little while, then leave the lid off so the sauce can reduce. You don't want it too liquidy. Once the chicken is done, the sauce is reduced, and your rice is cooked, start adding rice in to the rest of your goods. Don't just add it all in.... add it in gradually, mixing as you go, until you appear to have a good sauce to rice ratio. If you add to much rice, you won't get much flavor. And I'm all about flavor! The rice will kind of soak up any remaining liquid and soak up all the flavors. Yummm..... Usually I add it until it looks about right, then put the rest of the rice out on the table as well, so people can add more rice to their own if they want it that way.

Before you serve it, add fresh, chopped mint leaves over the top.

Sometime we've noticed... if it tastes a little bland.... we just have to add more salt!!! It is amazing how a little more salt can just enhance all the flavors that are already there! so, make sure you've got salt out on the table.

And, there you have it. Your first, home cooked Pakistani/Indian dish!

Zuppa Toscana (as had at Olive Garden)

(yeah, I stole the picture from the Olive Garden website.... whats your point?)

Ingredients

1 lb ground Italian sausage -- This is NOT the same as breakfast sausage. Make sure it says ITALIAN sausage. You can usually find it by the other ground meats. We use hot, but you can use mild if you don't like things too hot. If you can't find just a package of ground italian sausage, you can buy the uncooked Italian sausage links, and just remove the casings off the sausage links.

1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes (DON'T add this if you used the HOT sausage... it will be plenty hot already! If you used mild sausage, perhaps start out with a little less pepper flakes at first, if you're not sure how spicey you want it)

1 large diced white onion

3 pieces of bacon

2 Tablespoons finely chopped garlic

3 cans chicken broth

4 cups water

2-3 chicken bouillon cubes (You might want to add the 3rd one if the flavor isn't quite strong enough. It's up to your taste preference)

1 cup heavy cream

1 lb sliced russet OR yukon gold potatoes (I always use more potatoes than this, because the potatoes seem to melt into the soup a bit by the end, and if you don't add extra, you aren't left with many actual potato chunks at the end. Don't slice them TOO thin... this will help also.)

fresh kale, cut in small pieces
(what is kale??? take a look.... its a green leafy vegetable. you can find it at most grocery stores. You don't HAVE to add this if you are anti-green vegetables. But, it is very tasty)

Directions

1 Saute the sausage and crushed red pepper flakes (if using) in pot until mostly done. Drain excess fat, and refrigerate while you prepare the other ingredients.

2 In the same pan, cook up the bacon until crispy. Remove bacon pieces and set aside.

3 Saute onions and garlic in the bacon grease for approximately 15 minutes or until the onions are soft.

3 Add the broth, water and boullion cubes to the onions and garlic. Cook until boiling.

4 Add potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour.

5 Add heavy cream and cook until thouroughly heated.

6 Stir in the sausage, crumbled bacon, and kale (if using).

Enjoy this delicious soup with some crusty bread. It is sooooo good. One of our favorites!

Ginger Peanut Rice Bowl (kinda like at...Rumbi Island Grill)

(Okay, so I stole that picture off of the Rumbi Island Grill website.......)

So, as Steve and I were eating a salad with that ginger salad dressing on it, Steve commented that it reminded him of the flavors in one of those rice bowls at Rumbi Island Grill. So, of course, then I HAD to figure out a way to make that! So... I pretty much just altered some other recipes I had, did a little experimenting, and ended up with what we thought was very good! Give it a try.

For the rice:
1 1/2 cups jasmine rice
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup water
1 can red beans, drained and rinsed

Put the rice, coconut milk, broth, and water in a pot with a lid. As it starts to get to a boil, you're gonna need to stir it because it's going to be a little thick with that coconut milk in it. You don't want it to all goo to the bottom and burn! So, once it is boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer, put the lid on and let the rice cook, stirring occassionally to ensure all is well. Once all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender, add in the beans (make sure they are drained and rinsed first). Mix those in and let them heat through. And there you have it, island coconut red beans and rice.

Other Ingredients:

broccoli or asparagus, cut into bite size pieces

celery, choped

carrots, sliced thin

red bell pepper, choped

zucchini, sliced


Chicken breasts

For the chicken:

You could do this a few different ways.....

1) Marinate some chicken breasts in some left over ginger salad dressing then grill it up or cook on the stove top in a skillet. Then cut it into bite size pieces.

or

2)Cut up some chicken breasts into pieces. Pour some left over ginger salad dressing into a large skillet. Add the chicken pieces, and brown them up and cook them through. Add more of the dressing during the cooking process if needed, enough that all the chicken is coated in a little of it.
or
3)If you don't happen to just have any leftover dressing, you don't need to marinate the chicken or anything. You will put sauce on it in the end anyway. It's up to you. Or you could just marinate it in a little soy sauce and oil or something.

Set the chicken aside, then add all the veggies to the large skillet along with more of the ginger dressing and saute until desired doneness. (You don't really HAVE to add any dressing in the cooking process. As stated before, you will put sauce on it in the end). I suggest putting the carrots and celery in first, cooking those for a little bit, then add the others because they don't seem to take as long. Put the lid on for a little bit if you want them to get steamed a bit.

When you're ready to eat, plate up some of the red beans and rice, put some chicken and veggies on that, and top it all off with some ginger peanut sauce (NOT exactly the same as the ginger dressing......recipe below) and chopped peanuts!

Ginger Peanut Sauce:

This is a slight variation on the ginger dressing recipe. It omits a lot of the oil and uses more peanut butter, resulting in a thicker, more sauce-like consistency.

1 tsp oil (vegetable or canola)

1 to 2 teaspoons chili oil-- (once again... add it to your desired heat)

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar or seasoned rice vinegar (I use the seasoned rice vinegar, because that's what I have)

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons freshly grated ginger (FRESH ginger is so good! don't use the dried stuff!)

3 to 4 Tablespoons of peanut butter

Beat with a wire wisk until smooth (add peanut butter a tablespoon at a time, beating and adding more until reaches desired consistency and taste). Heat in the microwave or in a pot on the stove until heated through. Stir. Put on top of the rice bowls!

Ginger Salad Dressing

OOOOOOHHHHH..... this is so good.......


1/4 cup oil (vegetable or canola)

1 to 2 teaspoons chili oil-- you buy this in the oriental section of the grocery store, usually (probably start out using less if you're not sure how spicy you want it... you can always add more if you taste it and decide you want more. Or if you know you don't like heat, you could just make it without)

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar or seasoned rice vinegar (I use the seasoned rice vinegar, because that's what I have)

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons freshly grated ginger (FRESH ginger is so good! don't use the dried stuff!)

optional: 1/2 to 1 Tablespoon (???maybe more....?..or less....?) of peanut butter (the dressing is good without the peanut butter, too, but I like it with a little peanut butter in it because it adds a bit more body and helps the dressing emulsify better... oh, and it tastes good. I pretty much just add it until it tastes how I want it...)


Mix all those ingredients together well and use for various different things!


Once I used it on top of some salmon.... that was quite tasty. You can put in on top of just a normal salad. Delicious.

If you want to try a SUPER GOOD salad.... try the following:



Ingredients:

Romaine Lettuce

Spinach

Strawberries, sliced (or cut in chunks or whatever)

Green Onions, chopped

Candied Pecans (recipe below)

Pork Loin

When we make this salad, we usually just put out all the different components and let people put together their own salad according to their liking. Then, top it with the ginger dressing. Soooo good. Last time my mom tried hers with some mandarin oranges on it as well. I didn't try it, but I bet that would be good too.


For the pork, just cut the loin into about 1/4 inch medalions, season with a little salt and pepper, then cook those up in a frying pan. Then, you can slice those medalions into smaller strips to put on the salad. Don't overcrowd the medalions in the pan, or they won't get that good color on them. You might need to do a couple batches.


For the pecans you're gonna need:

1 cup Pecan Halves
and

1/2 cup Maple Syrup (whatever you have around that you put on your pancakes and waffles!)


All you do is put a skillet on the stove over medium-low to medium heat and put the pecans in. Pour in the syrup and stir to coat all the nuts. Heat the mixture for several minutes, stirring often. The syrup will bubble and get thicker and thicker. Make sure you don't let it get so hot that it scorches. Keep stirring. You'll notice the syrup getting more and more sticky. Stir! As soon as the mixture is to the point that it's like.... "hard"sticky..... take the nuts out of the pan and put them on a large plate. You'll want to separate them while they are still hot/warm otherwise they will harden and you'll just have one big chunk of candied nuts! Allow them to cool before using them. It might take a couple times to get to where your pecans are the perfect doneness.... my first time I didn't quite cook them long enough, and they were still kind of chewy and not quite.... "crunchy" candied. But, they were still good.