Kale Frittata

I have been overrun with kale recently in my veggie box from Seasonal Roots. We like kale but we've had a lot of it and I'm always looking for new recipes that use it since we're not really green smoothie lovers. This was a crustless quiche recipe but I made it into a frittata, partly because I'm lazy and didn't want to have to wash a pie plate. This is a good breakfast and would make a great dinner with the addition of some sourdough bread or a crusty baguette.

Kale Frittata
serves 4

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 c kale, chopped
1 large tomato, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 oz breakfast sausage, cooked and crumbled
4 eggs
2 c shredded mozzarella
1/2 c shredded cheddar or more mozzarella
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350*. Cook sausage in a cast iron or oven proof skillet; set aside. Heat oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat; add kale, tomato, and minced garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until kale is wilted and the rest are softened. Stir in sausage. Let mixture cool.

Combine eggs, cheeses, pepper, and garlic powder. Add to skillet, stir so everything is mixed well. Bake 25-30 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before serving.

modified from a Seasonal Roots recipe

Pecan Tassies

This is the Pampered Chef classic recipe. We usually have a pecan pie, among others, for Thanksgiving but there's only a couple of us that eat it. I have also found that it's too sweet; tastes change. These are just the perfect bite or two, the perfect taste of pecan pie.

Pecan Tassies
makes 24

1/2 c butter, softened
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1 c flour
2 Tbsp butter, melted
3/4 c packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 c pecan halves, finely chopped
powdered sugar, optional

Preheat oven to 350*. For the tart shells, beat the butter and cream cheese until well blended. Add the flour, mix until a soft dough forms. Scoop the dough into 1" balls and place  into ungreased cups of a mini-muffin pan. Using a mini-tart shaper (or the back of a spoon), press into the dough with even pressure until the dough rises slightly above the rim of the pan (flour the tart shaper before using).

For the filling, in a small bowl combine the melted butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla. Finely chop the pecans, add to the filling and mix well. Fill each tart shell with filling (do not overfill). Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the tarts are light golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool for 3 minutes. Remove the tarts from the pan to cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.

Instant Pot Creamy Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup

It's been a while since I've tried anything besides hard boiled eggs in my instantpot. A friend posted on facebook that she was making soup today and that inspired me to look at my pinterest board since I knew I had several instantpot soup recipes saved. It was the perfect day for soup - windy, blustery, and cold! Colder than in Maine. Wow, I'm glad I decided to give this a try. It was SO good and once all the veggies are chopped you just throw it all in the pot, let it cook, then add in a creamy sauce you make separately so it was very easy, too.

Creamy Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup
serves 6

5 medium carrots, chopped
5 stalks celery, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 c uncooked wild rice
8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
4 c vegetable or chicken broth
1 tsp salt
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp dried thyme

6 Tbsp butter
1/2 c flour
1 1/2 c milk (I used 1%)

Put all ingredients through the thyme into the instantpot. Cook 45 minutes (manual, high pressure). Release steam using the valve.

When the soup is done, melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour. Let the mixture cook for a minute or two, then whisk in the milk a little at a time until you have a smooth, thickened sauce. Add a pinch of salt.

Mix the creamy sauce into the soup.

NOTES:
- Make sure you use wild rice, not a wild rice mix.
- Poultry seasoning is a mix of thyme, sage, garlic, onion, etc. I didn't have any on hand (and didn't think to get it when I was hunting for wild rice) so I used thyme, sage, garlic and onion powder, rosemary, and marjoram.

If you don't have an instantpot you can make this on the stove. Saute the vegetables in oil until a bit softened. Add the rest of the soup ingredients and simmer until the rice is cooked (1-2 hours). Make the creamy sauce and mix in.

from Pinch of Yum

Spiced Gingerbread Muffins

These were very tasty, just like gingerbread. They're a more dense muffin, kind of like the apple butter muffins. Another quick easy breakfast muffin.

Spiced Gingerbread Muffins
makes 12 muffins

1 small/medium very ripe banana, mashed
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/3 c molasses
1/3 c milk
1/3 c sugar
1/3 c dark brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/4 c flour

Preheat over to 400* and line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners or lightly grease then set aside. In a large mixing bowl use the back of a fork to mash the banana together with the egg until completely combined and only small lumps remain. Use a spatula to stir in the vanilla, spices, and salt. Add the oil, molasses, and milk, stirring until completely combined between each addition. Add the sugars and stir to combine. Add the baking powder and baking soda and stir; fold in the flour until just mixed. Fill the muffin cups about 3/4 full. Bake for 10 minutes at 400*, then turn the temperature down to 375*, turn the pan around and bake for an additional 7-9 minutes until the muffin tops are set and a cake tester inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean.

slightly modified from fork, knife, swoon

Creamy Crockpot White Chicken Chili

I made this the other night and thought it was really good. A change from the usual beef/tomato chili. Leftovers heading to a bowl near me tonight!

Creamy Crockpot White Chicken Chili

1 lb boneless chicken breasts, trimmed excess fat

1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
24 oz. low sodium chicken broth
2-15 oz. cans great Northern beans, drained & rinsed
2-4 oz. cans diced green chilies
1-15 oz. can whole kernel corn, drained
small handful fresh cilantro, chopped
4 oz. reduce fat cream cheese, softened
1/4 c half and half

toppings:
sliced jalapenos
sliced/diced avocado
sour cream
minced cilantro
tortilla strips
shredded Monterey jack or Mexican cheese

Add chicken breasts to bottom of crockpot, top with salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, chili powder, and cayenne pepper. Add diced onion, minced garlic, beans, green chilies, corn, chicken broth, and cilantro. Stir. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.

Remove chicken and shred then return to crockpot. Add cream cheese and half and half, stir, then cover and cook on high for about 15 minutes or until chili is creamy and slightly thickened. Stir well and serve with desired toppings.

Japanese Fried Chicken

Um, this was so good! Not your standard American fried chicken at all! A friend has been watching a lot of PBS recently and saw a cooking show I think called "Milk Street" and was telling me about this recipe, said I had to try it. I checked around the web and found the website, but then went looking at the library and found the cookbook. Really flavorful foods. I copied a few other recipes before I returned the book to the library.

Like anything fried, this takes time and does make a bit of a mess. Plan this for a Saturday when you have a lot of time since you have to marinate the chicken for 30-60 minutes then coat it and let it sit for another 30-60 minutes before you can fry it. The flavors are so good it's totally worth the time it takes to make it.

Japanese Fried Chicken (Karaage)
serves 4

for the chicken:
3-oz. chunk unpeeled fresh ginger, coarsely grated
1/4 c sake
1/4 c tamari
1 Tbsp grated lemon zest
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into thirds
2 c cornstarch
1 Tbsp shichimi togarashi
     (or 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes and 2 1/2 tsp sesame seeds)
1 tsp ground pepper
2 quarts peanut or vegetable oil

for the dipping sauce:
1/4 c tamari
1/4 c unseasoned rice vinegar
1 tsp finely grated peeled fresh ginger
1/4 tsp toasted sesame oil

To make the chicken, gather the ginger in your hands and squeeze as much juice as possible into a large bowl. Add the ginger solids to the bowl and stir in the sake, tamari, and lemon zest. Add the chicken and stir to coat. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to an hour.

Set a wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet. In a large bowl, combine the cornstarch, shichimi togarashi, and pepper. Working 1 piece at a time, remove the chicken from the marinade, letting excess drip off, then dredge in the cornstarch mixture, pressing evenly to adhere on all sides. Transfer to the rack and refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 30 minutes and up to an hour.

In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil to 375*. Add a third of the chicken to the hot oil and fry, stirring to prevent sticking, until the chicken is deep golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a clean wire rack, return the oil to 375* and repeat twice with the remaining chicken.

For the dipping sauce, whisk together all ingredients.

from Christopher Kimball's Milk Street: The New Home Cooking

Roasted Parmesan Herb Sweet Potatoes

I'm in a bit of a catchup mode with posting recipes. I have a bunch of new ones that I've tried and liked enough to keep around and make again, just haven't made the time to get them posted. First is the roasted sweet potatoes we had tonight. I don't know why I never thought to roast sweet potatoes, these were so good. I really liked that they were on the savory side, sometimes sweet potatoes can be too sweet with cinnamon and sugar. These were a great side dish with chicken seasoned with olive oil, salt, pepper, and some thyme.

Roasted Parmesan Herb Sweet Potatoes
serves 4

3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

4 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 tsp thyme

1 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a large baking pan with non-stick cooking spray or wipe with extra virgin olive oil or line with parchment paper. Set aside. In a medium bowl, combine olive oil, Parmesan cheese, thyme, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Add diced sweet potatoes and toss to coat. Spread potatoes in an even layer on prepared pan. Bake 32-35 min, or until lightly browned and crispy. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 min. Sprinkle with extra Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Apple Pie

We have had an overabundance of apples recently. I made apple crisp one day, apple pancakes another but we still had more. Sarah was home this past week for fall break and she really wanted Bob to make her one. Off she went to the store to buy crusts so he could make her a pie. This is the recipe straight off the box of Pillsbury pie crusts. It's good, works every time, and when you buy the store brand they don't always have the recipe on the box as Whitney found out. So really, this is for Whitney (and me) for the next time. Sorry no pictures, the pie was finished this morning at breakfast.

Apple Pie

1 box of pie crusts (or a homemade crust if you're feeling ambitious)
6 c thinly sliced apples (about 6 medium)
3/4 c sugar
2 Tbsp flour
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Heat oven to 425*. Let crusts sit at room temperature while you make the filling. In a large bowl gently mix the rest of the ingredients. Place one pie crust in ungreased 9-inch pie plate and press firmly against the side and bottom. Spoon the filling into the crust and top with the second crust. wrap excess top crust under the bottom and press edges together to seal. Cut slits or shapes in several places in the top crust.

Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until apples are tender and crust is golden brown. Cover edge of crust with strips of foil after first 15-20 minutes of baking to prevent excessive browning. Cool on cooling rack at least 2 hours before serving (if you can actually wait that long).

Invasion of the German Grocery Stores

Two new names in the grocery store business, at least in our area, are German. Aldi has been around for quite a while and I used to shop there quite often when Sarah was taking Irish dance since I used to pass by one on the way to her classes. These days I don't go as often, although I really should at least for German week. Much newer to the scene is Lidl. One opened not too far from us about a year ago and another one, that's a bit closer to us opened while we were on vacation. I stopped over there today since it's right next to the Target I usually go to and I flipped through the Lidl ad and saw a few Halloween/fall items I wanted to get and I figured it would be a good chance to check it out. I had heard good things about Lidl but the first one was across town and I don't usually go in that direction and I had also heard that it was crazy busy. I was hoping that this one was less so, at least at lunchtime on a Friday.

In some ways Aldi and Lidl are very similar but they do have their differences. First Lidl is about three times as big as the typical Aldi. They both carry mostly private label brands but Lidl has more national brands than Aldi usually has. At Aldi national brands are usually only around when they put them on sale; Lidl seemed to have more and they weren't all sale items. I thought it was interesting that they both seem to have the same free standing freezer cases. One big difference between the two German groceries and the typical American grocery store is prices; although I only took a quick look around Lidl this morning the prices in the German stores are quite a bit lower than I usually see. The quality of the produce looked good, there was a large beer and wine selection at Lidl (it's smaller at Aldi), there was a bakery at Lidl. Both stores have a general merchandise section with tools, small outdoor items, kitchen tools/appliances, this and that. It's not stuff I'd expect to find in a grocery store, but again the prices for this things are great.

The Lidl was not crowded this morning at all, maybe because it just opened. I do think I'll go back again, grocery list in hand. I've also been thinking that I wanted to get back to Aldi but I just don't pass one in my usual daily travels. May have to work on that. They both have good prices so it's worth the trip. I know when I shopped at Aldi more often I would still need to hit another grocery store since they didn't have everything I needed. Maybe with Lidl being larger I can do more of my shopping there, we'll see.

In case you were wondering I bought pumpkin spice coffee (12 k-cups/$3.69 was a really good deal, I hope the coffee is) and two packages of Halloween pasta - pumpkins, bats, and spiders. I'll use that to make mac & cheese when Sarah is home for fall break.

Foil Dinners

Ah, camping food! We just got back from a two week vacation to Colorado - the Rocky Mountains, Leadville, and Black Canyon of the Gunnison. It was a wonderful taste of fall and the mountains were spectacular! I love Colorado.

Besides just getting away one of the treats about camping, at least for us, is the food. Since we tent camp we need easy to prepare and stuff that doesn't take up a lot of room in the cooler or grocery bags in the back of the car. That means we eat some of those semi-processed foods that I don't buy at home, things like Hamburger Helper or spaghetti sauce in a jar. We also have some food, like foil dinners, that we only make when we're camping. I suppose we could make them in the grill (we have a charcoal one) or in the firepit (which we did once) but I just don't think about making them if we're not camping. This trip we had the one we always make - hamburgers, sliced potatoes, carrots, and onions but I also found a new foil dinner that we really liked. At home this could easily be a sheet pan dinner, just cut everything up and roast in a 400* oven.

Note: adjust the amount of ingredients to the number of people you have and what you like.


Sausage & Veggie Foil Dinner
serves 2

1/2 smoked sausage, sliced
3 potatoes, thinly sliced
1 red pepper, cut into chunks
1 small red onion (or 1/2 a larger one), thinly sliced

Divide the ingredients between two large pieces of foil. Season with salt and pepper then fold over and seal the packets. Cook over coals for about 30-40 minutes, turning the packets every 10 minutes or so. Be careful of the steam when opening.

Thai Turkey Burgers

Tonight was the earliest that I ate dinner in a long time! I'm used to eating a bit later, either waiting for Bob to get home or just eating closer to 6:30 or 7, not 5:30. But the girls are home for a few weeks and Sarah was hungry early since she was used to eating around 5 at camp. I'm sure there will be snacking later on.

I was looking for some new dinner ideas for the week that were healthier and also for later in the week ones that used veggies that are coming in my veggie box tomorrow. I perused my Pinterest boards and found a couple of good ones for this week. These Thai turkey burgers are quick and easy as well as healthy.

These can be served on buns or bibb lettuce leaves. The original recipe called for a slaw and almond butter sauce which didn't sound appealing to me. I meant to serve on the lettuce leaves but totally forgot.

Thai Turkey Burgers
makes 4 burgers

1 pound ground turkey
1/2 c shredded carrots
1 Tbsp chopped cilantro
1 green onion, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp olive oil

For serving - hamburger buns or bibb lettuce leaves

In a bowl combine all the ingredients except the oil using a wooden spoon or your hands. Form into four patties about palm size. Heat a skillet or grill plan over medium high heat then add the oil. Place the patties in the pan and cook about 4 minutes on each side, until the internal temperature is 165*.

Serve on buns or lettuce, with mayonnaise.

Rigatoni with Roasted Broccoli

This is another quick and easy recipe. I'm doing a bit of cleaning this week and part of that is reading through magazines that I haven't gotten to yet. In this case, it was Women's Day from February. Good news is that I found this great recipe. We all love roasted broccoli and here it's roasted with red onion and garlic. Add some pasta and bacon, what more could you ask for? This could easily be made vegetarian by leaving out the bacon.

Rigatoni with Roasted Broccoli
serves 4

4 cloves garlic, smashed
1 head of broccoli, cut into small florets
1 red onion, cut into 1/2" thick wedges
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 slices bacon
8 oz. rigatoni
1/2 c grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 425*. On a large rimmed baking sheet toss garlic, broccoli, onion, oil, and 1/2 tsp salt and pepper. Roast until golden brown and tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Arrange bacon on a second rimmed baking sheet, cook until crisp, about 12-15 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and break into pieces when cool. Meanwhile, cook pasta per package directions. Reserve 3/4 cup cooking water; drain pasta and return it to the pot. Add 1/2 cup reserved water, sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan, and toss to coat (add more reserved cooking water if pasta seems dry). Add roasted vegetables and bacon to pasta and toss to combine. Top with remaining Parmesan.

Garlic Beef and Broccoli Lo Mein

This claims to be a 20 minute recipe; I think it took me longer but it was still fast and easy to make. This was perfect for a Sunday after church when everyone who was home needed to get out of the house fairly quickly. No time to grill yesterday! This had good flavor, maybe needed more garlic or maybe some Siracha. Still, very good and Bob would have liked it if he had been home.

Garlic Beef and Broccoli Lo Mein
serves 5-6

8 oz lo mein noodles or spaghetti
3 c broccoli florets
1 Tbsp olive oil
8 oz flank steak, sliced against the grain
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium carrot, shredded
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c soy sauce
2 Tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp minced ginger
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp pepper

In a small bowl whisk together the brown sugar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, ginger, red pepper, and pepper.

In a large pot cook the noodles according to package directions. Add the broccoli the last 5 minutes of cooking and cook until tender. Drain the noodles and broccoli and put in a large bowl. While the noodles are cooking add the olive oil to a medium sized skillet. Cook the steak until no longer pink. Add the garlic and carrots and cook for a minute more. Add the steak to the bowl with the noodles and broccoli, give the sauce another stir and pour over the noodles and steak, toss to coat everything.

NOTES: I used angel hair pasta but I think if you're not going to use lo mein spaghetti would be a better choice. The recipe calls for flank steak which would have been delicious but I used pre-sliced stir fry meat. Any sort of meat, thinly sliced is fine.  

slightly modified from The Recipe Critic

Southwestern Salad with Avocado Dressing

I've seen several versions of this salad around, this is just the one I happened to print out and make the other night. It was really good. I also cooked some chicken tenders, sliced those, and added them for some additional protein but it doesn't really need them.

Southwestern Salad
serves 5

dressing
1 avocado, halved
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 c olive oil
1 Tbsp fresh cilantro
1 lime, juiced

salad
1 head lettuce, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped (any color)
1/4 c fresh cilantro
15 oz black beans (1 can)
1/2 red onion, chopped
15 oz corn (1 can)
1/4 c scallions, sliced
1 medium tomato, chopped

Add all dressing ingredients to a blender, blend until smooth. In a large bowl add all salad ingredients and toss to mix. Top with avocado dressing, toss to coat.

from Tasty

Blueberry Salad

I'm not sure where I got this one from, it may be a mix from a couple of recipes I saw online. An easy spring salad that stars one of my favorite fruits.

Blueberry Salad

10 oz spring mix lettuce
1 pint blueberries
1 cucumber, peeled and sliced
6 oz. crumbled feta
4 green onions, sliced
balsamic dressing

toss the first five ingredients together. Add dressing when ready to serve and toss.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

I came across a Tasty post the other day on Facebook of cheap dinners that use one pound of hamburger and thought it would be great for Whitney. Next year she's moving into an apartment off campus and will be cooking, something that she's super excited about doing. We both looked through the recipes Tasty shared and many look really good. I had some butterhead lettuce in the fridge that I wanted to use up and the Asian lettuce wraps were a good use for them. This dish was really tasty, has a few options for serving, and only took about 30 minutes to make. I think we'll be checking out some of the other recipes over the summer so she has a few easy, cheap meals for the fall.

Asian Lettuce Wraps
makes roughly 10 wraps depending on how big the lettuce leaves are

1 1/4 lb lean ground beef
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1-inch piece ginger, chopped or a good squeeze of ginger in a tube
1 8oz can chopped water chestnuts
5 Tbsp hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
Bibb lettuce (or iceberg)
Optional toppings:
shredded carrots
roughly chopped peanuts
toasted sesame seeds
sliced green onion

Heat olive oil in a large skillet then add ground beef. If you're using fattier meat omit the oil. Break up the meat with a spoon, season with salt and pepper, and cook until no longer pink. Set aside on a separate plate. Wipe the hamburger grease out of the skillet and heat a bit more oil then add onion, garlic, and ginger. Cook for 3-4 minutes then add the hamburger and water chestnuts. Stir in the hoisin sauce and soy sauce and cook everything together for a few minutes. To serve, place some meat in the lettuce, top with carrots, peanuts, sesame seeds, green onion, and some extra hoisin sauce.

slightly modified from Apple of My Eye

Chicken Taco Soup

This looked like a super easy recipe, open a bunch of cans, add a few more things, heat and serve. That's exactly what it was and just what Whitney and I needed in Colorado for dinner a couple of nights. It was really tasty, probably a bit on the spicy side for Bob but it worked for us. There's a bunch of optional spices at the end which we didn't add since we were in a Air B-n-B and I'm not really sure you need them. No picture this time, we ate it before I remembered to take one.

Chicken Taco Soup
serves 6-8

1 15oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 15oz can sweet corn, drained (or equal amount of frozen corn)

1 14.5oz can diced fire roasted tomatoes

1 10oz can green enchilada sauce

1 4oz can diced green chilies

1/2 half package of grilled chicken, broken up into bite size pieces

1 14oz can low sodium chicken broth

1 packet taco seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 tsp cumin, optional

1/2 tsp chili powder, optional

1/2 tsp garlic powder, optional

1/2 tsp onion powder, optional

for garnish - sour cream, tortilla strips, avocado

Put both beans, corn, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, chilies, chicken and chicken broth into a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the taco seasoning, other seasonings if desired, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer 20 minutes. If the soup seems too thick add more chicken broth (or water). Serve with garnishes.

slightly modified from 12tomatoes

Apple-Cranberry Slab Pie

Oh, my goodness, this was so good! We went to dinner at a friend's last weekend and we were asked to bring either an appetizer or dessert. I gravitate towards desserts and went looking at my pinterest board. This looked good and since there were going to be eight of us plus a couple of kids I needed something that had at least 10 servings. I didn't get a good picture, I was running late trying to finish the glaze, get it on, plus get changed to go out but at least I got one before we finished it off.

Apple-Cranberry Slab Pie
serves 16

2 1/2 pounds apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced (about 7 cups)
1 c dried cranberries
2/3 c sugar
1/4 c flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 package puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed
1/4 c unsalted butter, cubed
about 3 Tbsp milk
coarse sugar (for sprinkling on top crust)

2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 c unsalted butter, melted
4-5 tsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350° and lightly grease a 15x10 baking sheet. In a large bowl stir together the apples, cranberries, sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, unfold one pastry sheet. Roll the pastry into a 16x11 inch rectangle and transfer to the baking sheet. Spread the filling over the pastry to within an inch of the edge. Evenly dot the filling with the cubed butter.

Unfold the second pastry sheet and roll into a 15x10 inch rectangle. Place this on top of the filling. Brush the edge of the bottom pastry with milk. Fold the bottom pastry over the top and press to seal with a fork.

Using a sharp knife cut slits in the top pastry. Brush with milk and sprinkle with the coarse sugar.

Bake 50-55 minutes until the filling is bubbly and the pastry is puffed and golden. If needed to prevent overbrowning cover the edges of the pastry for the last 10-15 minutes of baking.

While the pie cools, prepare the icing. In a bowl combine the confectioners' sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt; add enough milk to reach a drizzling consistency.

Once the pastry has cooled drizzle the frosting over top, slice, and serve.


from inspired by charm

Maple Scones

Happy New Year! Now that it's almost March. I'm not sure what we've been eating but apparently it's nothing new or good enough to keep. Recently I made two things worth keeping and these scones are one of them. I was looking for something different for breakfast and have a ton of scones pinned over in pinterest. One criteria was that I had to have all the ingredients on hand since I wasn't going to the store before breakfast. While I don't have maple extract on hand, I made these and substituted vanilla. They were excellent! They weren't as crumbly as some scones, they were moist and held together nicely. They'd probably be good even without the glaze.

Maple Scones
makes 6

1 1/2 c flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp sugar
3/4 c heavy cream, plus additional for brushing on scones
1/2 tsp vanilla

for glaze:
1 c powdered sugar
1 Tbsp butter, melted
1 to 3 Tbsp milk
1/4 tsp maple extract
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 425° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, pakig powder, salt, and sugar. Combine heavy cream and vanilla. Drizzle cream mixture over the dry ingredients and stir, using just enough cream so that there is no dry flour on the bottom of the bow. Using your hands finish mixing, pulling the dough together and form into a ball. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a disk about 5 1/2" across and 3/4" thick. Using a knife (or pizza cutter) cut into 6 triangles and transfer to baking sheet. Place about an inch apart. Brush with some cream to help browning. Bake 14-15 minutes until lightly browned. Let cool before glazing

For the glaze - in a small bowl combing the powdered sugar, melted butter, 1 tablespoon milk, the maple extract, and salt. Add more milk by the 1/4 teaspoon until the glaze reaches drizzling consistency and drizzle over the scones*. Allow glaze to set for 5 minutes then enjoy!

*a tip for drizzling the scones - put them on a cooling rack with a piece of wax paper underneath to catch all the drips, makes cleaning up much easier

from Baking Mischief