Apples!

When I think of fall, I always think of Apples.  I like to eat apples as a snack and I also like to cook or bake with them.  Today, I went to lunch with a friend at Brown's and picked up a 1/2 peck of apples when I was there.  Brown's is a farm market and cafe in York County, PA.  They grow their own apples and offer pick your own.  Remember, No farms, No food!

Apple at Brown's

When I got home with all the apples, I pulled out a few cook books and went in search of a breakfast recipe using muffins.  I found a simple recipe for apple muffins in the Joy Of Cooking book.  I adjusted the recipe a little, adding vanilla extract, and taking out the nuts.  

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups chopped apples 

5 tablespoons of butter, melted

1/2 chopped nuts, optional 

Start Cooking: 

1.  In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large bowl.  In another bowl mix eggs, sugar, apples, and butter.  Add nuts if you want.  

2.  Pour the two bowls together, and fold until mixed.  

3.  Pour into greased muffin tins, about 12 muffins.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 14-16 minutes.  Let cool a for about 3 minutes in the tins and then cool on cooling rack.  

Tips and Hints:

1.  Serve warm, with butter.  

2.  Keep in the fridge so they last longer.  

Enjoy!  

Homemade Tomato Sauce

Well, it's semi homemade.  I'm all for easy, but yummy, cooking.  I wanted to make my own tomato sauce. I wanted to be able to add my own flavors, and have it just the way I like it.  But I did NOT want to be cooking and stirring all day.  So I came up with an easy, fast recipe for a simple sauce.  I use canned tomatoes that are already peeled, so I don't have to spend the extra time peeling fresh tomatoes.

Ingredients:
1 large can peeled Italian style plum tomatoes
garlic
onion
olive oil
salt and pepper
seasonings

Start Cooking:
1.  Finely chop the garlic and the onion.  I normally use 3/4 of a white onion and 2-3 garlic cloves.  You can adjust to your own taste.   Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom of a sauce pan.  Add the chopped garlic and onion and a little salt.  Cook until translucent, almost browned.

About half way through the cooking process for the onion and garlic. 

2.  Add the entire can of tomatoes, do not drain.  Use a potato masher to mash tomatoes to desired thickness.  You can leave it chunkier or make it smoother.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Add other seasonings to taste.  I normally add basil and oregano, to taste.  

3.  Let cook on low heat for about 30 minutes.  This will thicken the sauce and give it a great flavor.  

Tips and Hints:

1.  I use a hand held chopper to chop the onion and garlic.  It goes a lot faster and I don't cry as much with the onions.  

2.  Once your sauce is done, store in the fridge in containers, freeze it, can it, whatever you want.  

Enjoy!  

Expanding

I would like to expand my blog to other parts of the kitchen, not just recipes.  I love to share recipes, but I would also like to share other things from the kitchen.
My birthday is tomorrow and my grandmother gave me an early birthday present.

Yaya got me these super cute kitty bowls!  I LOVE them!  I got a set of 2 bowls and they are the perfect size for cereal, soup, pasta, ice cream, whatever you like.  and they are really cute!  

What are you favorite kitchen items that are cute but not really practical?  You know we all have them ;)

Strawberries!

Ok, so I know it's waaaaay past strawberry season and this post is really late.  And I also haven't posted in a long time.  I really am trying to be more regular with my blogging.  Momma A always said to  write up a bunch of posts ahead of time and then post them so many times a week; I think I will try this approach, might help me be more consistent with it.
Anyways, back in strawberry season, my mom and I went to Raab Fruit Farms in Dallastown, PA.  You can access their info through this link, or you can also find them on Facebook, but their page is rather new and does not have a lot of info on it.  We did the pick your own strawberries and it was great.  The staff was very friendly and the berries were yummy.  You all know how I love local farms and pick your own.  you can get a lot of product for less money and you are supporting local farming and business.  Remember: "No farms, No food!"

I picked about 8 quarts of berries and there was no way I could eat them all before they went bad, so I made strawberry jam with them.  I learned how to make jam with Essen, "a recreational cooking school based in Lancaster, PA."  Essen offers a wide variety of classes and I always learn a lot of great foodie info while there.  I will share the recipe for strawberry jam that I learned with Essen.  After you make the jam, you can can it, freeze it, or put it in the fridge and eat within a month.

Strawberry Jam


Ingredients:
3 quarts strawberries, hulled and cut in half or quarters, depending on how big the berries are
2 1/4 - 3 cups sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice

Start Cooking:
1.  Combine fruit, sugar, and lemon juice in a large bowl.  Let stand at room temperature for 2 hours, or refrigerate overnight, stirring occasionally.
2. Transfer fruit mixture to a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, skimming the foam and stirring occasionally.  Mash to think puree with back of spoon.  Reduce heat to medium-low and boil gently, until mixture begins to thicken, stirring often, about 30-60 minutes.  Keep skimming foam.

Berries cooking, waiting for the boil.

3.  Once your jam is thickened into jam, can it, freeze it, or refrigerate it.

Tips and Hints:
1.  Watch your jam!!!  I left the jam for about 20 minutes and ended up burning a batch.  Burn jam does not smell to taste good.
2.  Why skim the foam?  It helps keep the jam from getting cloudy.

Enjoy!