CARAMEL APPLE DIP

I love the taste of caramel apples, but they are always hard to eat, messy, and time consuming to make. For all the caramel apple flavor without all the mess, give me caramel apple dip. Don't be surprised to find me taking a spoonful without an apple. This dip is delicious and easy to make. I adapted it from Betty Crocker's recipe:  http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/caramel-apple-dip/ecce8896-a912-477b-a406-ba17f9e32a08 I was skeptical of not stirring, but it turned out wonderfully. Everyone that tried it commented on how good it is. I have used Betty Crocker's cookbook for many years. It helped me develope my own style of cooking through trusted advice from my almost worn-out cookbook.

Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches

When I was a young girl, sometimes we would go to town.  We would all pile into the car, unbuckled, and Dad would drive us to the Powerhouse Restaurant where we would get giant tenderloins, a pound of fries and/or a pound of onion rings.  All 6 of us would eat in the car.  It was such a treat.  I have heard that the giant tenderloins are a hoosier thing, kind of like the word cattywampus.  If you haven't tried them, I think you really should.  Now, with 7 in our current, at-home family, going out for the giant tenderloins is not an option, so I learned to make them at home.  I like to deck them out by "running them through the garden," as my dad would say.  Bread and butter pickles, tomato, lettuce, onion and mayonaise make it so much healthier.  My husband prefers them with just onion and mustard.  The kids usually eat them plain.  I get a whole porkloin, trim the fat, cut it about an 1 thick, then pound it between 2 pieces of waxed paper until very thin.  This makes them much more affordable for a large family.  Count on plenty of time to make these or have plenty of help.  They are not fast to make, although they cook quickly. I got this recipe from Allrecipes. It was so good all I had to do was double it. I serve these on sliced bread usually. Once again, it's a money thing. Buns are much more expensive, particularly ones that a large enough for these giants.


Traditional Indiana Breaded Tenderloin Sandwich

RED CINNAMON APPLE RINGS

     Thanks to the University of Illinois, I got an idea about what to do with all the apples on our trees this year.  Last year we made cider. It was very good, but my friend that let us use her cider press didn't mention having it out this year. I searched the internet for ideas and came upon this site:

Preserving Apples

     At the very bottom was the recipe for candied apples. My husband loves these things, but they are very pricey in the store. I chose to put mine up in quart jars which resulted in two quarts of Red Cinnamon Apple Rings, one for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas,plus enough to eat for a couple of days. My organic apples didn't make nice slices like the store bought, but the flavor was the same.

Red Cinnamon Apple Rings

Great side dish with Braised Greens, Roast Vegetables, Roast Turkey or other poultry. These apple rings can be canned for long-term preservation or stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

5 pounds firm cooking apples
(Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Jonathan, Gala, Jonagold, etc.)
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
Red food coloring (optional)
4 cinnamon sticks
Ascorbic acid powder, vitamin C tablets, or lemon juice*

Wash and core apples; do not peel. Slice apples into 1/2 inch thick rings. To prevent browning, drop apple rings into a bowl of cold water (about 2 quarts) containing 1/2 teaspoon ascorbic acid powder (1500 mg), or use equivalent in finely crushed vitamin C tablets or 1/2 cup lemon juice. Keep apples covered with ascorbic acid water until ready to use. Combine sugar, 2 cups water and cinnamon sticks in a large saucepan. Add a few drops of red food coloring, if desired. Bring syrup to a boil and boil for five minutes. Remove from heat. Drain apples, add to syrup. Return syrup and apples to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand until cool. Remove apple rings from syrup. Loosely pack apple rings into canning jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Return syrup to heat and bring to a boil. Remove cinnamon sticks. Ladle hot syrup over apple rings leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two-piece lids. Process pint size jars 15 minutes, or quarts 20 minutes in a boiling water bath canner. Yield about six pints or three quarts.

*May substitute 1/2 cup fresh or bottled lemon juice.

Source: So Easy to Preserve, Fourth Edition, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

There was a sale on ham and cheese at the Amish store (http://www.midwestliving.com/travel/indiana/fountain-acres-foods/) in my dad's hometown. They had ham albeit irregular, sliced for $1.29/pound and some of the cheese were under $3/pound.That made it a perfect time to try this chicken cordon bleu. I used a colby and swiss swirl cheese. I made my own bread crumbs from some rye and oatmeal bread. Panko bread crumbs do sound interesting though. http://www.foodterms.com/encyclopedia/panko/index.html
For other people living life without air conditioning, you will understand that I didn't want to turn on the oven, so we tried something different with this recipe. We put it on the grill. My husband was very sceptical about putting breading on the grill. He did the cooking. He didn't touch them for the first 15 minutes or so, because he was afraid they would fall apart. He turned them very carefully when he did turn them. They stayed together. We now have another grilling favorite. The garlic flavor in the breading was a wonderful addition to normal grilling. This recipe is a keeper!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/chicken-cordon-bleu-recipe2.html

I am trying these tonight. Zucchini is truly a blessing!
http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/zucchini-parmesan-crisps.html
And
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Zucchini-Brownies/Detail.aspx?evt19=1
Here are the results: Forget about the zucchini parmesan crisps, but we could live on zucchini brownies.
If I want to have crisp zucchini, I think I will go back to frying. The crisp did not turn out crisp on the bottom. My oldest daughter said the brownies were some of the best brownies she had ever had. I have struggled to find a brownie recipe that I like better than the box mixes. The box mixes always come out moist. This recipe finally did it. It was a deliciously moist brownie!

Consider the leaf TURNED.: Homemade Adobo and Sazon Seasonings

Consider the leaf TURNED.: Homemade Adobo and Sazon Seasonings

Chocolate Pudding Pie

     Tonight, I finished up a quick pie while I was boiling some maple syrup.  I made enough dough for 4 pies, but only took the time to finish one. The rest I put in wax paper in the refrigerator to deal with tomorrow.  I have to say, I finally read the tips in my Pillbury cookbook.  I made the best crust I've ever made.  The secret ( promise not to tell)  was chilling the shortening.  It made a much flakier crust.  The recipe is:

4 cups flour ( I used my mixture of white whole wheat pastry flour and all-purpose flour.)
2 tsp. salt
1 1/3 cups shortening
Enough ice cold water to make it dough

Mix the flour and salt.  Cut in shortening.  Add ice water, 1 tbsp. at a time tossing with a fork until your dough is moist enough to stay together, but not too moist and sticky.  Divide into 4 equal parts.  Roll out big enough to fit your pan.  Bake at 450 F for 9 mins.

     I used a bulk pudding mix I found at Fountain City Acres, the local Amish store, to make the filling.  It wasn't as chocolatey as the packaged and its color wasn't nearly as dark.  With the prepackaged, the layers are more distinct.  The first layer is just the pudding.  The second layer is a mixture of pudding and Cool Whip.  The third layer is just Cool Whip.  My family loves this pie!  They make short work of it.  It's a quick dessert   that almost everyone enjoys.