Dutch Apple Pie

Apple picking season is upon us at last! I have enjoyed making many different desserts the past weekend with all of our delicious apples we picked on our outing to Tougas Farm. These apples made the perfect base for some delicious treats. This apple pie recipe I found off of Pinterest was to die for! I can definitely say I found a new favorite recipe.

Start out with 6 medium apples, a variety makes for a more complex taste! I used 7 apples for this recipe since most of our Courtland apples were easily twice the size of normal apples but our Galas were very small! I was able to make 3 mini pies and 1 large pie from this single recipe.

Look at that huge guy at the top! Yum!

 Next, gather the rest of the ingredients and mix as stated in the directions below.

The cider vinegar may seem like a weird addition, but I honestly believe that was the secret ingredient that made this pie so juicy and delicious!!

The crumb topping was absolutely delicious! But unless you like alot of topping, I wouldn't recommend using all of it. There was alot that blew right off the second I moved it around.

These mini apple pies were perfect for Kevin to take to work with him, or for us to split after dinner. And the large pie was just as delicious. I will probably either cook the pie crust a few minutes before adding the apples next time, or just make my own. The store bought crust didn't match the awesomeness of the filling!

A little too much crumb topping, still yummy!

Cut apple pieces smaller for smaller pies! The texture is better that way!

What are some of your favorite fall treats? Are the sweet or savory? Please feel free to send me links of recipes so I can try them soon!

Dutch Apple Pie

Ingredients

One store  bought pie crust

Filling:

1/2 cup Sugar

1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
3 lbs Granny Smith Apples (about 6 medium)
1 tbsp cider vinegar
Struesel:
1 tbsp Butter
1/2 cup Flour
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Uncooked Oats (not instant)
3/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
6 tbsp cold Butter, cut into small pieces 

DIRECTIONS
1. Combine dry struesel ingredients in a large bowl and whisk together.
2. Add cold butter, work with a pastry cutter until dry mixture is fully incorporated and crumble so pieces are no larger than pea sized. You may want to use your hands for this part like I did, it was much easier! Refrigerate until needed.
5. Roll out thawed pie crust and place in pie pan. *Be sure to leave store bough pie crusts out for at least 20 minutes to let them thaw and make it easier to unroll without cracking!
6. Preheat the oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil to catch any spillover during baking and place in bottom third of oven.
8. In a large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, flour and spices and mix well. Core, peel and slice apples into 1/4″ or less slices. Add apples and vinegar to bowl and toss to coat.
11. Put apples in crust and dot top with pieces of butter. Bake for 20 minutes.
13. Remove from oven and top pie with struesel mixture.
14. Reduce temperature to 375 return pie to oven to cook for about 50 minutes more (when crust is golden and filling is bubbling). *If struesel begins to get too brown, cover top loosely with aluminum foil.
15. Let cool for 30 minutes, serve with ice cream or milk!

Apple Picking at Tougas Farm

Hooray!! Fall season is finally upon us! This is the time of year that I get itchy to do all those fun cliche things that come with fall. Pumpkin carving, crockpot meals, bonfires, prepping for Halloween, etc. Heck, I am a typical New England girl after all... 

One of my favorite activities that comes with Fall is apple picking. I have been to a few different orchards in the past, but since I have moved, Kevin and I decided to try out a new one. A coworker of mine has told me nothing but wonderful things about this orchard, so we gave it a try! We dressed in comfy clothes and sneakers, a MUST for apple picking (definitely don't want any rolled ankles...), and headed out the door! 

Tougas Farm is located in Northboro Massachusetts, right off of Rt 290. They are open throughout the summer and fall with different fruits to pick through the seasons.

A sign on one of the buildings indicating when picking seasons are.

I wanted to pick pumpkins as well today, but Kevin said no, and promised me a later visit to pick some up. I sadly agreed and we went on our way to the line to pick out our bag. They take cash or credit and have two different sizes; a 10lb and 20lb bag.

We chose the bigger bag for $36 that held~20lbs of apples. The bag may not look too big when initially holding it, but boy does it hold alot! Kevin sure got a good workout between balancing the apple bag and Brooke's hand! :-)

Such goofballs...Gotta love them!

We picked 3 different kinds this time around, but throughout the season Tougas has over 20 different types of apples to pick from! We chose to stick with McIntosh, Courtland, and Gala apples. The Courtland and Gala are great for baking, and McIntosh are our favorite for munching with my homemade yogurt/peanut butter dip!

After our picking fun we headed back to the car to drop off the apples and strolled back through the farm. There was a store with homemade items such as desserts, jams, and relishes. We chose to each grab a small apple cider and a bag of apple cider donuts. Holy Delicious! We enjoyed our cider and donuts at one of the many picnic tables before strolling around to take some cute pictures! 

Enjoying our Apple Cider and donuts

Our last stop was at the East Coast Kettle Corn stand. I have never had such incredibly tasty kettlecorn other than the stuff I make at home. It has such a wonderful balance of sweet and salty. Yum! Between Brooke and I, I have a feeling this bag wont last us too long.

We had a huge haul this time around! Some of the Courtlands were the size of small cantaloupes!!

Courtland, Kevin's IPhone for size reference!

McIntosh

Gala

Stay tuned for all of the apple recipes I will be posting soon! Poor Kevin will be so sick of peeling and cutting up those apples with me! ;-)

Overall, we had a blast at Tougas Farm! There is so much to do for the whole family! I look forward to coming back for one more round of apple picking and a trip to the pumpkin patch before the season is over! 

Some of the pumpkins in the middle of all the action.

'

Check out the Tougas Farm site for yourself to see what fun you and your family can have!

http://www.tougasfarm.com/index.html

Do you have a favorite apple or pumpkin patch? Leave me a comment below, I would love to try them all out eventually!

Honey Chipotle Chicken

I found this next recipe on Pinterest in an attempt to find an quick and simple chicken recipe. It is now a favorite in my household and has become a staple in my pantry. Thankfully I usually have most of the ingredients on hand except for the chili's. 

This chicken is a little sweet yet still has a nice bite to it from the hot sauce. It was said to have been an inspiration from a trip to Chili's from the previous blogger, but I honestly think this recipe tops those chicken crispers! Try them out and let me know what y'all think!

First start with cutting up some chicken breasts, coat with flour, then egg wash, and finish with panko bread crumbs. I have made this chicken a few times, and once I only had a little bit of panko breadcrumbs so I added 1/2 cup of regular plain breadcrumbs to stretch it and no one knew any different! Cook for 15-18 minutes at 400 degrees. Be sure to flip the chicken halfway through cooking to ensure adequate crispy goodness! :-)

Finished chicken, note the perfect brown color!

Then mix together and bring to a boil all ingredients but the corn starch and water to a pan to create the sauce that will coat the chicken once done cooking. Yes, there will be solid chipotle peppers in the sauce floating around. Don't take them out though! That's were all the flavor comes from! Add the corn starch/water mix once the mix comes to a boil, then reduce heat to low.

The perfected dipping sauce!

Coat the pieces of chicken one at a time to ensure each piece being fully coated. Serve up with your favorite side dishes. We used a can of peas and some leftovers mashed potatoes we had from the previous night. Yummo!

For all of those who don't know what chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce looks like, like me, this is a picture! It's a small can that can be found in the Latino section of most grocery stores. My local Shaw's didn't' have any but the Walmart and Hannaford's close by did, so don't give up hope if you don't' find it right away.

Hard to find but delicious ingredient for the sauce!

Honey Chipotle Chicken

INGREDIENTS

3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to ½ inch thickness and sliced into strips

1 cup flour

2 cups panko bread crumbs

1 teaspoon each salt and pepper

2-3 eggs, lightly whisked

⅓ cup honey

½ cup sugar

2 teaspoons chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce 

1 tablespoon hot sauce (I used Franks, I think it has much more flavor than Tabasco)

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ cup ketchup

1 tablespoon white vinegar

⅓ cup cold water + 2 tablespoons corn starch

optional but recommended: ranch dressing for dipping

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400. Spray cookie sheets with non-stick cooking spray. 

2. Whisk together flour, and salt and pepper in a bowl. Place bread crumbs in a second bowl, and eggs in a third bowl. Dip chicken into flour and turn to coat. Next, dip chicken into egg, turning to coat, and lastly into panko bread crumbs, tossing to coat well. Place coated chicken strips in a single layer on prepared baking sheet. 

3. Bake 8-10 minutes, then flip strips over and bake another 8 minutes. Remove from oven.

4. While the chicken strips are baking, prepare the sauce. Add all ingredients except for water and corn starch to a large sauce pan and bring to a gently boil, whisking throughout. 

5. Whisk together cold water and corn starch until corn starch is dissolved. When sauce reaches a boil, add corn starch-water mixture and stir until sauce thickens. Reduce heat to low.

6. When chicken strips are finished baking, dip chicken strips in sauce, tossing to coat. Serve warm with ranch dressing for dipping if desired.

Chocolaty Perfection Milkshakes

Sometimes you just want something sweet to end the day just right. Well this time around, chocolate milkshakes did the trick!

This is a super simple recipe that is very easy to adjust to taste and double batches. It doesn't need much explanation since it is so simple to make!

The combination of chocolate and vanilla ice cream give a break from the super chocolaty flavor. The banana I added was the perfect addition to make it "healthier" and to stretch the recipe a little further. 

Of course, I had to make the glasses all fancy with a drizzle of the chocolate syrup all around the glass. 

This is the perfect ending to any day, or addition to any sleepover or party! :-)

Chocolaty Perfection Milkshakes

Makes approximately 2 milkshakes ,or 3 in small glasses

Ingredients

1 cup chocolate ice cream

2 cups vanilla ice cream

1/2 cup milk

2 tablespoons chocolate syrup

Optional: chocolate syrup for glasses, whipped cream, sprinkles

Directions:

1.Blend together all ingredients, adjust milk/ice cream ratio as needed to get the perfect consistency.

2. Add chocolate syrup to glasses for "fancy" effect. Pour milkshake into glasses. Top with whipped cream and sprinkles!

Chewy Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Whenever the temperature outside starts to dip, signaling either a change in the seasons or an incoming storm, I get the itch to bake. I'm not sure if its the fact that I can actually be comfortable and not sweat absurd amounts while in the kitchen, or if my inner homemaker starts to peak through. 

Either way, I crank up the oven and try out a new recipe. This weeks winner was a Chewy Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookie recipe I've been dying to try. Something about the combination of chewy and chocolaty is always eye-catching to me. These were even more appealing because I have a soft spot for banana bread, so the combination of bananas and cookies was just too good to pass up.

I definitely recommend following these directions very carefully, because I almost didn't notice that I needed to refrigerate them before baking (shocking I know...) and I nearly ended up with one huge cookie due to settling!

They were absolutely delicious! I would recommend trying a smaller ball of dough when initially refrigerating, or you will end up with HUGE cookies like we did. While delicious, there just weren't as many cookies as I would have liked to have from one batch. Another way would be to separate as shown in the picture below before refrigerating, then cutting those mounds in half before cooking. 

Pre-refrigerated dough ready for the fridge

The other lovely thing about this recipe is it would be super easy to tweak and add almost anything you wanted to the cookie base before baking! Yum!!!

Finished products, DELISH!

Chewy Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 large egg
• 2 small/medium or 1 extra-large ripe bananas (about 1/2 heaping cup mashed banana)
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned whole rolled oats ***not instant or quick-cook because they act more like flour and aren't suitable here
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon, added to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1 1/4 cups semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup of any other add-ins you want, I added Health Bar bits this time around 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine the egg, bananas, sugars, butter, vanilla, in a stand mixer and beat on medium-high speed until well combined. The mixture won't be smooth, fluffy, or 'creamed' like traditional cookie dough and will have small chunks of bananas present and it's on the runnier side.
2. Scrape down the sides of the bowl then add the oats, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and beat on low speed until combined.
3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again and add the chocolate chips and other add-ins you choose, and beat on low speed until just combined.
4. Using a large cookie scoop or a 1/4-cup measure, or your hands (I ended up just using my hands for this part), form approximately 14 equal-sized mounds of dough. 
5. Place mounds on a large plate or tray, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 5 days. This is a wetter, looser dough and isn't suitable for baking until it's been chilled. DO NOT bake with un-chilled dough because cookies will be more prone to spreading while cooking. 
6. Preheat oven to 350F, spray baking sheet with cooking spray. Place dough mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart and bake for about 13 minutes (for very soft cookies, or longer for more well-done cookies), or until edges have set and tops are just set, don't over bake! Cookies firm up as they cool. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for about 10 minutes before serving. Let them cool on the baking sheet and don't use a rack or they will fall apart while cooling.
7. Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 6 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 4 months, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.

Makes about 14 large cookies. Use a smaller scoop for more, smaller cookies. Or separate the refrigerated cookies in half before baking.

Kevin's Steak and Cheese

Today was shopping day in my house, which is one of my favorite days of the week. I know, I know, it sounds pretty crazy right? But I use this to my advantage, it's my "me" time. I find it almost therapeutic in a way, being in my own zone for a good hour or so a week to do my thing. I make my meal plan and grocery list, then head off the to store. 

Now, I'm not sure about you guys, but I am crazy when it comes to walking around a grocery store. Kevin, my boyfriend, hates it because I will walk around the store and backtrack every aisle at least once. I usually pick a few favorites out for the week, then try a few new recipes out.

I wasn't in the mood to cook when I got home today, so I was in luck when Kevin's mother told me a special meat was on sale at the deli this week. That special meat is the expensive London Broil, yeah, that $12.99 a pound deli meat. I recently learned from his mother that this was just about the best meat out there for steak and cheeses. Well it was on sale for $10.99 and I had found a $1 off coupon while walking through the store for that brand of meat, talk about luck!

I realize this may not be the cheapest meal when you factor in the meat, cheese, peppers and onions...but its SO worth it! For Kevin and I, we only needed 1/2 pound of the london broil, one green pepper, one good sized onion, and 4-5 pieces of cheese. I chose a pepper-jack cheese this time around, yum!! In the end, I only spent about $8 on the entire dinner since I only got a half pound of the meat!

I almost forgot to mention, I luck out with this meal, because Kevin actually likes making it....hello relaxation!

First he cut up the onion and pepper and cooked it up in a frying pan.

Then comes the sliced London broil. The thickness is totally dependent on your specific taste, you can either go a little thicker, or shaved like most steak and cheeses.

He lets it cook down a bit to let all the flavors come together. He then places a few pieces of cheese in the cooked meat and pepper/onion mix. This allows the cheese to melt into the mix and get a better cheesier flavor. If your family isn't a huge fan of the cheesiness, you can opt out this part and just skip to the next part. 

For the last step, he opens up the buns and places a piece of cheese into the bun before putting in the meat mix. This once again lets the cheese melt into the meat. Yummy!

Delicious!!!

Kevin's Steak and Cheese
Ingredients (recipe if for 2, can easily double or triple as needed!)

1 large green pepper (or any mix of pepper you'd like)

1 large onion

1/2lb Dietz and Watson London broil

4-5 slices of cheese of choice (I prefer either provolone or pepper-jack

2-4 grinder rolls

Directions

1. Cut up onion and pepper into chunks or slices and cook in a frying pan with a little oil or butter, just enough to "sweat" them out a bit.

2. Once they start to get a little translucent, add the slices of London broil to the mix. 

3. Let this cook for a bit until the meat starts to turn a little brown, cook it as much as you like. If you like no pink, cook it more, if you like more pink, cook it less. 

4. Add 2 pieces of cheese to the mix if so desired. Only cook enough to melt the cheese.

5. Open up the buns and place a piece of cheese on the bottom, then add the meat mixture

6. Enjoy!

Super thick, chocolatey brownies

I had a major sweet tooth earlier this week. Now, anyone who knows me even a little will understand how weird that sounds, because 99% of the time I only crave savory things. So when I say major sweet tooth, I mean major! 

In order to satisfy this craving, I decided to head over to trusty Pinterest for some inspiration. I found this wonderful recipe courtesy of Sweet As A Cookie. When it comes to recipes and homemade cooking, I have the uncanny ability to mess it up in one way or another. So far, I have had only successes with this happening....hopefully I didn't just jinx myself! 

 This time around, I got everything right, except when it came time to add the flour. I added 4 CUPS of flour instead of the intended 1 1/2 cups!!!! As a result, this already labeled "thick" brownie recipe became ultra thick! Once I noticed my mistake, I added a little milk to balance the thickness I created. They were still by all means delicious, and even better served with a cold glass of milk and some ice cream!

Yum! I promise there is a brownie under all that goodness!

 I will include the original recipe from Sweet As A Cookie so everyone can try out the intended way this recipe should be made. Or for those who like things their own way, make them with the 4 cups of flour I used! Let me know what you all think of both recipes!

Double Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

2 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1 1/4 cups cocoa powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tbs. vanilla extract

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups flour (Or 4 cups if you're willing to try them alot thicker!)

2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

*If using the 4 cup recipe, add 1/4 cup milk to balance the thickness

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with shortening; set aside.

In a medium saucepan melt butter over low heat.

Once butter is completely melted add in sugar and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour sugar mixture into a large bowl.

Beat in cocoa, salt, baking powder, vanilla, eggs.

Mix until combined.

Stir in the flour and chocolate chips until well combined.

Spread brownie batter into prepared pan (batter will be very thick).

Bake for approximately 30 minutes.

Cool on a cooling rack and enjoy!