#64: Try 30 New Recipes (12 of 30) - Caramel Apple Pie

For Thanksgiving at the Goertzen's, I was supposed to bring a pie.  Guess what?!!? I don't think I've ever made a pie. 

I realized this a couple of years ago, and that's why I put it on my list (#65- Make a pie from scratch).   I've always been more of a cake/brownie/cheesecake person and I've never hosted a holiday or anything....so I just haven't ever made a pie!

I guess this recipe won't count as "making a pie from scratch" because I used this:

Since it was going to be a Thanksgiving pie, I didn't want to totally screw it up.  I'll have to tackle a homemade crust another day...

One of my favorite pies has always been my mom's Caramel Apple Pie, so I thought I'd try my hand at it.  I think it turned out really good!

 

	___________________________________________ Mom's Caramel Apple Pie
	Ingredients: Filling:
	-6 cups thinly sliced apples (Use 1/2 Granny Smith & 1/2 Jonathon apples)
	-2 T. lime juice
	-3/4 cup sugar
	-1/4 cup flour
	-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
	-1/4 tsp. salt
	-2 T. butter or margarine Topping:
	-1/4 cup butter or margarine
	-1/2 cup packed brown sugar
	-2 T. heavy whipping cream
	-1/2 cup chopped pecans
1	In large bowl, toss apples with lime juice.
2	Combine dry ingredients.
3	Add to apples & toss lightly.
4	Fill 9" pie pastry.
5	Dot with butter.
6	Cover with top crust & cut steam vents in a pattern.
7	Bake at 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes.
8	Make topping:
	- Melt butter in saucepan
	- Stir in brown sugar & cream
	- Bring to a boil, stirring constantly
	- Remove from heat & stir in pecans
	- Pour over pie crust
	- Return to oven for 3-4 minutes or until bubbly ___________________________________________

#68: Learn to Make Homemade Bread from Trevor's Mom

About a month ago, Trevor's parents came to visit us on a Sunday afternoon.  Fred needed to pick up some things here in the "big city".  Dee Ann brought a recipe she was wanting to try and announced that she was going to teach me how to make rolls/bread.  I was excited as I'd been wanting to try my hand at it sometime and there's no better person to learn from than Dee Ann. 

I think Trevor has "mentioned" a few times that I should learn how to make homemade bread.  He had it a lot growing up since Dee Ann is a bread maker extraordinaire.   She used to sell Bosch kitchen appliances and would do bread making demonstrations in people's homes.  Now she works for an Internet company that sells kitchen appliances and helps people figure out how to use their machines correctly. 

And I've used a bread maker before....like once.

So I had a lot to learn and I've always been intimidated with the whole kneading thing. 

But Dee Ann showed me how to use the dough hook on my Bosch mixer that she got us for our wedding and it doesn't seem that complicated!

While we were busy baking in the kitchen, Fred was helping Trevor do this in our living room....

We've had a leak on our first floor and we can't figure why it is happening.  It happens when it rains, but this is our first floor....there's a whole other floor between here and the roof.  It's also happened once when it wasn't raining.  It is right below our guest bathroom upstairs, so that might also be the culprit.  So the guys were investigating it...and they figured out nothing.  And we still have a hole in our ceiling while we wait for it to leak again.  Nice.

Anyway, here are the final products of our baking.  We were so excited to try them that I forgot to get a picture of the rolls until we had already dug into them.  They were SO good right out of the oven.

And here's the recipe....

	___________________________________________ Classic Dinner Rolls
	Ingredients:
	-2 to 2 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
	-1 envelope active dry yeast (2 ¼ tsp)
	-2 T. Sugar
	-1/2 teaspoon salt
	-1/2 cup milk
	-1/4 cup water
	-2 T. Butter
1	Combine liquids and butter in saucepan. Heat so it is hot-to-touch. Pour into mixing bowl.
2	Add sugar & salt.
3	Add 1 cup of flour and mix with a dough hook at #2 speed on mixer.  Add another ½ cup of flour with yeast on top and mix at #2 speed until incorporated. Keep adding a little bit of flour until it forms a ball. Knead for 4 minutes on #3 speed. Let rest in bowl with towel over it for 10 minutes.
4	Shape into 12 rolls and place in 8” cake pan or into a loaf pan.
5	Let rise for 30 minute for rolls. 45 minutes for bread loaf.
6	Bake at 375 degrees for 13-15 minutes for rolls or 30 minutes for bread loaf. ___________________________________________

We'll see how this goes next time I try to make these by myself. Hopefully I can do it!

#64: Try 30 New Recipes (11 of 30) - Ooey Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cake

Trevor's Aunt Debby made this cake a few weeks ago and I LOVED it.  She passed on the recipe and I've been tempted to make it since.  After surveying the ingredients (two sticks of butter!), I decided I should wait and make it when I could take it somewhere and not be faced with a whole pan of gooey goodness staring me in the face every night when I get home from work.  I know my limits.

So when we had a treat day this past Friday at work for Halloween, I knew what I was going to make!  It was as good as I remembered....that Paula Deen sure knows what she's doing.

	___________________________________________ Paula Deen's Ooey Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cake
	Ingredients: Cake:
	-1 (18 1/4 oz.) package yellow cake mix
	-1 egg
	-8 tablespoons butter, melted Filling:
	-1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
	-1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin
	-3 eggs
	-1 tsp. vanilla
	- 8 T. butter, melted
	-1 (16 oz.) box powdered sugar
	-1 tsp. cinnamon
	-1 tsp. nutmeg
1	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2	Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan.
3	To make the filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter, and beat together. Next, add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mix well. Spread pumpkin mixture over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Make sure not to overbake as the center should be a little gooey. ___________________________________________

#64: Try 30 New Recipes (10 of 30) - Luscious Slush Punch

Last Saturday a group of us girls threw a baby shower for our good friend Jenn.  We decided on a brunch and I was assigned to make a punch.  I didn't really have a punch recipe and I thought I should try to find one that was a little fruit-juice like so it would work with breakfast food.  I found the following recipe online.  It turned out well!

	___________________________________________ Luscious Slush Punch
	Ingredients:
	-1 ½ cups white sugar
	-6 cups water
	-2 (3 oz.) packages strawberry-flavored gelatin mix
	-1 (46 fluid oz.) can pineapple juice
	-2/3 cup lemon juice
	-1 quart orange juice
	-2 (2 liter) bottles ginger ale
1	In a large saucepan, combine sugar, water, and strawberry-flavored gelatin. Boil for 3 minutes. Stir in pineapple juice, lemon juice, and orange juice. Divide mixture in half, and freeze in two 1-gallon freezer bags.
2	When ready to serve, place the frozen contents of one container in a punch bowl, and stir in 1 bottle of ginger ale until slushy. ___________________________________________

This recipe takes a little bit of pre-planning since you have to freeze the mixture overnight.  It does make your prep work on the day of the event very easy though!  I found that it worked best to take the freezer bags out of the freezer and place them in the refrigerator two hours before the party and then break them up with a potato masher before mixing with the ginger ale.  I really liked the way the whole punch stays slushy and keeps it cold during the event.

Here's some pictures of the shower...

Jenn with our decorated table.  (Didn't Rachel make the cutest sign??)

Jenn with all of the hosts

We're all excited to get to meet baby Olivia very soon...she's due  to arrive on September 1st!

#64: Try 30 New Recipes (9 of 30) - Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake

A co-worker brought this to work recently and after trying it I had to get the recipe.  So good!  I gave it a try the other night and it turned out great!  Definitely another keeper.

	___________________________________________ Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake
	Ingredients:
	-1 ½ cups crushed Nilla Wafers (about 50)
	-¾ cup chopped pecans, divided
	-¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
	-32 Kraft Caramels
	-3 T. milk
	-4 pkgs. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
	-1 cup sugar
	-1 cup sour cream
	-4 eggs
	-1 pkg. (8 squares) Baker’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate, divided
1	Heat oven to 300°.  Mix wafer crumbs, ½ cup nuts and butter; press onto bottom of 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Microwave caramels and milk in microwaveable bowl on medium (50%) 4-5 min. or until caramels are melted and mixture is well blended, stirring every 2 min.  Pour over crust; spread to within 1 inch of edge.  Cool.
2	Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with mixer until blended.  Add sour cream; mix well.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended.  Melt 7 chocolate squares.  Stir into cream cheese batter; pour over caramel layer.
3	Bake 45-50 min. or until center is almost set.  Refrigerate 4 hours. Sprinkle with remaining nuts just before serving. Melt remaining chocolate square; drizzle over cheesecake. ___________________________________________

#64: Try 30 New Recipes (7 of 30) - Hot Onion Dip & (8 of 30) - Chocolate Oreo Cheesecake

I decided to try TWO new recipes for the Girls' Night we had on Saturday night. I am always a little nervous to try a new recipe for other people, so I figured if I made two, one of them surely would turn out alright! Turns out, they were both great! Both keepers in my book.

A co-worker from when we lived in Little Rock gave me this recipe after she brought it to an event. I remember really liking it even though I'm not a huge fan of onions. She told me it was an easy recipe to memorize since the ingredients are "3, 2, 1, & 1/2". I only had written down the ingredients, so the actual baking wasn't an exact science, so you might want to do a little experimenting. I just kept checking on it until it looked done.

	___________________________________________ Hot Onion Dip
	Ingredients:
	-3 pkgs of Cream Cheese
	-2 cups of Grated Parmesan
	-1 bag (12 oz) of Frozen Onions (thawed)
	-1/2 cup Mayonnaise
1	Heat oven to 350°F.
2	Mix all ingredients together with an electric mixer. (I put the onions in a food processor first so there wouldn't be any chunks of onion.)
3	Spread mixture in a 9x13 pan.
4	Bake 30 to 45 minutes until the top is browned. Serve with potato chips, crackers, or bread. ___________________________________________

My sister-in-law Elaine gave me a subscription to Taste of Home magazine for Christmas. I saw this recipe and just had to try it. Chocolate & cheesecake....has to be good! It was.

	___________________________________________ Chocolate Oreo Cheesecake
	Ingredients:
	-1-1/2 cups Oreo Cookie Crumbs (about 16 cookies)
	-3 tablespoons butter, melted
	-4 (8 oz.) pkgs. Cream Cheese, softened
	-1 cup Sugar
	-1-1/2 cups Semisweet Chocolate Chips, melted and cooled
	-3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
	-4 Eggs, lightly beaten
	-20 Oreo Cookies, coarsely chopped
1	In a small bowl, combine Oreo crumbs and butter. Press onto the bottom of greased 9-in. springform pan. Refrigerate while preparing filling.
2	In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in chocolate and vanilla. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Fold in half of chopped cookies. Pour over crust. Sprinkle with remaining cookies. Place pan on a baking sheet.
3	Bake at 325° for 50-60 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight. ___________________________________________

#64: Try 30 New Recipes (6 of 30) - Turtle Bars

I got this recipe in an e-mail from Pillsbury and just had to try it!  Cookie dough, chocolate, caramel, nuts...what's there to not like?!?  It was delicious.  A little rich, but very good with some ice-cold milk!

	___________________________________________ Ooey-Gooey Turtle Bars
	Ingredients:
	-1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated sugar cookies
	-1 bag (12 oz) Semisweet Chocolate Chips (2 cups)
	-3 cups Chopped Pecans
	-1/2 cup Butter
	-1/2 cup packed Light Brown Sugar
	-1 jar (12.25 oz) Caramel Ice Cream Topping
	-1 cup Graham Cracker Crumbs (16 squares)
1	Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Press cookie dough evenly in bottom of ungreased 13x9-inch pan.
2	Sprinkle 1 cup of the chocolate chips and 1 1/2 cups of the pecans over dough; lightly press into dough. Set aside.
3	In 2-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Stir in brown sugar, caramel topping and graham cracker crumbs. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Pour over crust in pan; spread evenly. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 1/2 cups pecans.
4	Bake 25 to 32 minutes or until edges are deep golden brown and pecans are lightly toasted. Cool on cooling rack 30 minutes; loosen sides from pan, but do not cut. Cool completely, about 3 hours longer. (For firmer bars, let stand an additional 2 hours.) ___________________________________________

#64: Try 30 New Recipes (5 of 30) - Chicken Tortilla Soup

I tried out another new recipe recently and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy and good it was!

_______________________________________ Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

-2.5 lbs. cooked, shredded Chicken Breasts

-3/4 tsp. Olive Oil

-3/4 tsp. Minced Garlic

-1/4 tsp. Ground Cumin

-3 (14.5 oz.) cans Chicken Broth

-1 cup Frozen Corn Kernels

-1 cup Chopped Onion (I was lazy and out of onion so I used          Onion Powder)

-3/4 tsp. Chili Powder

-1 1/2 T. Lemon Juice

-1 1/2 cups Salsa

-Tortilla Chips

-Shredded Cheese

In a large pot over medium heat, saute the chicken in the oil. Add the garlic and cumin and mix well. Add the broth, corn, onion, chili powder, lemon juice and salsa. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips and shredded cheese.  Enjoy! ___________________________________________

I've been on a soup-kick lately since it is so handy to make a big batch on the weekend and then divide it into containers for the work-week.  I also tried another variation of chicken tortilla soup recently.  Check out Karen's Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup.  It was also excellent and so simple - just dump a bunch of cans!

#64: Try 30 New Recipes (4 of 30) - Buffalo Chicken Dip

I actually first made this recipe for a Nebraska football game this fall and I've made it quite a few times since.  I just kept forgetting to take a picture.   I finally remembered to get a shot of the ingredients when I made it for our Super Bowl party this past weekend and I just have to share the recipe with you!   This dip is A-MAZ-ING.  It is so addicting, we have started referring to it as "crack dip" around the Goertzen household.

____________________________________________

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Ingredients:

- Approx. 2.5 lbs of cooked chicken breast (shredded)

- 16 oz. cream cheese

- 1 cup ranch dressing

- 3/4 cup Frank's Buffalo Wing Sauce (only use Frank's!)

- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Combine cream cheese, ranch dressing, and wing sauce in mixer.  Add chicken and stir until chicken is coated.  Spread in 9x13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes until bubbly.  Cover with shredded cheese and bake an additional 10 minutes.  (I have also just thrown this all together in the crock pot after mixing the ingredients all together to keep it warm for parties.)  Serve with tortilla chips.  Enjoy!

____________________________________________

Here's a quick picture of our Super Bowl party...we crammed 19 people into our living room! 

And if you take a picture on my camera at said Super Bowl party without me knowing about it, then you deserve to have it posted on my blog.  You're welcome Paul.

 

#64: Try 30 New Recipes (3 of 30) - Fruit Pizza

  

Our dinner group got together for a brunch a couple of Saturdays ago and I signed up to bring a "fruit" item.  I thought I'd try my hand at a fruit pizza.   I found a recipe online and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was.  And it was VERY easy to make!
_____________________________________________

Fruit Pizza
Ingredients: (Amounts I used for a 13" pizza pan)

1-1/2 rolls of store bought sugar cookie dough

2 - 8 oz. pkgs. of cream cheese

2 cups of powdered sugar

Assorted fruit (I used strawberries, kiwi, and blueberries)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Slice cookie dough into 1/4" circles and arrange on pizza pan.  Flatten the slices together to form a crust.  Bake until firm to touch, about 11-15 minutes.  Cool crust. 

Blend cream cheese and powdered sugar.  Spread the baked cookie with cream cheese mixture and decorate with sliced fruit.
_____________________________________________

Enjoy!  And keep telling yourself that it's healthy since it has fruit on it... :)

#64: Try 30 New Recipes (2 of 30)

Creamy Tomato Penne Pasta

I'd had my eye on this recipe I found on The Pioneer Woman Cooks blog for quite awhile now, so when I had a free night a few weeks ago I decided to try it!  It was really good.  My mind kept playing games on me though since it looked like it would taste cheesy, but it didn't at all.  It had a perfect creamy tomato flavor though.  It reminded me of something you would get at an Italian restaurant.  I'm going to add this to my list of recipes to make again!  Although, I'll have to only make it on nights that I have enough time to go for a jog....1 cup of heavy cream. Yowza!

Here's the ingredients:

• 1 pound shrimp (I used chicken)
• 3/4 pound penne pasta
• 3 T. butter
• 3 T. olive oil
• 1 small onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup white wine (I used chicken broth)
• 1 - 8 oz. can tomato sauce
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 T. chopped fresh parsley
• 1 T. chopped (or chiffonaded) basil

See step-by step instructions here.  Enjoy!

#64: Try 30 New Recipes (1 of 30)

Bourbon Chicken

I came across this recipe online somewhere and I was excited to make it the week before we left for our vacation. Both Trevor and I LOVE Chinese food, but because of our small dining-out budget (thanks to Dave Ramsey) and since a lot of Chinese food can be really unhealthy (remember #59 - Lose 15 pounds!!), we rarely go to Chinese restaurants. I don't really have any good Chinese recipes to make at home and this one looked fairly simple so I thought I'd try it out.

Here's the recipe:

Bourbon Chicken

Ingredients:

2 lbs boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 teaspoon ginger
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup apple juice
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned.
2. Add remaining ingredients, heating over medium heat until well mixed and dissolved.
3. Bring to a hard boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.


I was going to document the whole process like my favorite cooking blogger The Pioneer Woman, but we really need a new camera and some of the pictures didn't turn out so great. It also doesn't help that I was home alone and trying to contort myself into some awkward positions to attempt to take some of the pictures!

Anyhow, here are a few pictures of the process...

The Line-Up: Chicken, Red Pepper Flakes, Ketchup, Cider Vinegar, Apple Juice, Olive Oil, Soy Sauce, Ground Ginger, Brown Sugar, and a Garlic Clove

Now I'm going to have to keep it real here, so brace yourselves cooking pros: I've never used fresh garlic. I know, I know. I wouldn't say I was "scared" of it... I just never really knew what to do with it so I never bothered. Yep, I'd come across the phrase "clove of garlic" and just throw a few shakes of garlic powder into the recipe and call it good. I was determined to learn how to crush garlic during this recipe, so I did what I always do when I need serious answers - I consulted the ultimate authority on everything: Google. So here's what a website told me to do:

Cut off the end of the garlic bunch. Bunch?! Is that what you call it? I'd google it if it wasn't so late.

Peel off the skin.

Pull out one of the garlic cloves. Look at your pasty, white hand and realize that your skin is almost the color of the white piece of garlic.

Wrap the clove in a paper towel.

Now confuse people by pulling a random can of tomato sauce out of your pantry and crush the little thing. Slam it down as many times as it takes to feel pretty flat. I somehow didn't end up with a picture of what the clove looks like after it is crushed. The clove's skin should slide off really easily after you crush it.

You'll then want to cut it into little pieces while also pressing down on it with the side of your knife if it still looks like it needs crushed.

This is how the crushed garlic should look before you add it to the cooked chicken.

Here's how the chicken should look after you have added all ingredients.

Finally, after you have brought the mixture to a boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Trevor enjoyed it! At least he said he really liked it...I just noticed he looks kind of scared in this picture!

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with this recipe. It was really simple and had a great flavor. If you really don't like spicy food, I would cut down on the red pepper flakes, as this dish did have a little kick. It was just right for Trevor and I though. I'll definitely make this again!

To see my full 101 in 1001 list, go here.