Our Family Secret: The Perfect Apple Crisp

It is Fall.  Which means it is Fall food time.  :-)  We grew up on an apple crisp that will make you swoon.  Once we all became of the age to begin cooking, apple crisp was one of the first recipes we all requested of our mom.  I had no idea how easy it would be!

What You Need
5 cups tart apples (I use green): peel, core and slice them up
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon of cinnamon, mixed with 1 teaspoon of sugar
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
Vanilla ice cream

What To Do
Preheat the oven to 375 and butter a loaf pan.

In large bowl, toss the apple slices with the lemon juice and cinnamon-sugar mixture.

In another bowl, blend the brown sugar, flour, butter and salt together.  Mix it up with pastry blender, 2 knives and then get your hands in there.

Put apple slices in loaf pan.  Press the topping over them.  Bake the apple crisp for 1 hour.  Don't leave the house because it smells too good!

Serve warm with ice cream.  Serve as a leftover cold (if the crisp makes it that far)!

Make Your Own Menu Board

I always need a place to write things down just when I am running out the door.  Usually, I pull a little newspaper corner and jot down the note (so I won't forget later).  But as it turns out this little scrap is usually never to be seen again.  So, I wanted a whiteboard for my kitchen.  But, not one of those academic-y white boards, all sterile and school-like.  Here is a great solution that is pretty and functional!

What You Need
12X12 inch frame (or really any frame for that matter)
Scrapbook Paper (I got 12X12 inch paper too)
Letters for words

What To Do
Put any kinds of words on your scrapbook paper (ie. "Menu," "To-do")
Place paper in frame
Yep, that is all. Oh, and write on the outside with dry-erase marker

Chicken Picasso

I cooked up this meal for my sweet hubby last week.  He said it was a hit!  It makes a lot which was evidenced by our days and days of leftovers.  It is a really colorful dish as well; perfect for a dinner party!

What You Need
4 chicken breasts
2 medium onions
3 bell peppers
2 large garlic cloves
14oz can diced tomatoes 
1 vegetable bouillon cube
Grated cheese (whatever kind you like best!)
1 tbsp Italian herbs
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup cream
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp butter
pinch nutmeg
pepper
salt

What to Do
1. Heat oven to 400*F.

2. Season chicken with salt and pepper.  Heat butter and oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until butter has melted.   Lightly brown chicken on both sides, about 3 to 4 minutes per side.  Transfer chicken to 9 by 12-inch baking dish.

3. Add onion to skillet and cook, stirring, until soft.  Transfer onions to baking dish.  Add bell peppers to skillet and cook, stirring, until soft.  Transfer bell peppers to baking dish.

4. Add garlic to skillet and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add water, diced tomatoes, Italian herbs, bouillon, nutmeg, and half and half.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and stir well.  Simmer sauce over low heat for 5 minutes.  Pour sauce over chicken and vegetables.

5. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and cook for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and uncover.  Top with cheese and bake, uncovered, 15 minutes or until cheese has melted and chicken is cooked through.  Serve over pasta.

Hootenanny: The Baked Pancake

Nothing starts a weekend off right like a hot and homemade breakfast.  I really like pancakes but I really don't like the pancake flipping part.  Turns out, I am incapable of flipping a pancake without major breakage.  Then, I discovered a pancake that requires no flipping.  It just requires an oven.  To be honest, I think it even tastes better (and it's easier too!).

The Hootenanny
What You Need
1 cup Flour
1 cup Milk
6 Eggs
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
Some melted butter: the more butter the merrier :-)

What to Do
Mix together all the ingredients.  Pour batter into greased 9X13 pan.  Then pour 1/2 cube melted butter over the top (don't mix).  Bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees.  Cut into pieces and drizzle with whatever your happy heart desires: syrup, peanut butter, powdered sugar, ect.