TWD Rewind: Cran-Apple Crisp

This week for TWD we were allowed to pick a past recipe that we would like to make. I immediately started looking at all the fall-ish/holiday recipes that I didn't get a chance to make. There are so many that I want to make but decided to pick a recipe that I didn't have to go to the store to get ingredients for!

I had cranberries in the freezer leftover from the the Cranberry Shortbread Cake and I always have apples on hand, so this crisp was the way to go. The filling is a mixture of apples, fresh cranberries, and craisins. The topping is your basic crisp topping of oats, sugar, and butter. The recipe does call for coconut, but I was out so I didn't use it.

I took this crisp to a friends house and we all loved it. I served it with vanilla ice cream but it would be equally good alone or with fresh whipped cream. Or, if you really want to holiday it up, you could do like I did on a different apple cranberry crisp and use an egg nog sauce on top. YUM!

You can find Dorie's recipe HERE or you could use the one I made 2 years ago HERE. Both are great recipes, so you can't really go wrong! :)

My SMS Pick: Apple Orchard Pecan Crumble

Ever since I joined Sweet Melissa Sundays I have been counting down the days until October 4th, the day where I would be able to pick a recipe for the group. Of course, I didn't really realize at the time that October 4th would fall right in the middle of an international move!

I decided to choose Apple Orchard Pecan Crumble for two reasons. One, I thought it would be a great way to welcome fall (which by the way isn't on its way to Phoenix... it was over 100 the day I made this!). The second reason I picked this recipe is the simplicity of it. The most difficult part was peeling the apples.



The apples are cut and mixed with cinnamon and sugar and then they are dumped into a 2 quart baking pan. The topping is fantastically delicious! A combination of brown sugar, spices, pecans, and butter... YUM!

The crumble before it headed into the oven

Thanks to all the SMSers who baked along with me this week. I am so glad to be a part of this group!

Apple Orchard Pecan Crumble

for the filling:

7 large tart apples, roughly 3 pounds, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch slices

juice of 1 lemon

1 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour

for the pecan crumble:

3/4 cup pecan pieces

3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

pinch freshly grated nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

Position a rack in the bottom third of your oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 10-inch deep-dish baking dish or 2-quart ovenproof casserole. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.In a large bowl, stir together the apples and lemon juice. Sprinkle the sugar, cinnamon, and flour over the apples, and stir to combine. Pour the apples into the baking dish.In a large bowl, stir together the pecans, flour, brown sugar, salt, nutmeg, and allspice. Stir in the melted butter. Spread the crumble over the apples.Place the baking dish on the prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until the juices are bubbling and thick. Remove to a wire rack to cool before serving. Serve warm with whipped cream.

SMS: Bear's Peach Cobbler

This week's Sweet Melissa Sunday recipe choice was Bear's Peach Cobbler. I honestly don't know if I've ever had peach cobbler before. I know, I know. Go ahead and gasp. Nathan did. My friend Monica did. But I really don't think that I have and, if I did, well, it obviously wasn't great because I don't remember it.

But this peach cobbler? YUM YUM YUM! I really enjoyed it. I did make a few changes to the recipe. First, the most obvious change is that I baked it in individual ramekins instead of making one big cobbler. There were two reasons behind this; 1- MUCH quicker baking time, and 2- Nathan and I wouldn't have been able to eat the entire recipe by ourselves fast enough.


The other change I made was to use frozen sliced peaches. Our commissary isn't known for it's produce department and the peaches weren't ripe the day I was going to make this. So frozen was my only choice. They worked wonderfully, except for that I should've added a little more cornstarch to compensate for the extra liquid in the frozen peaches.



Nathan, who has had peach cobbler before, loved this. He said it was a really good cobbler. I, who has never had peach cobbler, loved this. It was incredibly good and I will definately make it again!

Thanks to Andrea of Nummy Kitchen for choosing this wonderful dessert! The recipe can be found at her blog. Also, check out the amazing SMS bakers to see what they cooked up!

Nathan is home!!! Oh, and some food!

Sorry I have been MIA the last few days. Nathan arrived home Saturday morning. I spent Friday night at Monica's house so that the kids could sleep while I headed to the airport. It takes about an hour and a half to get to Frankfurt and Nathan's flight arrived at 5am. I was so excited that I think I only slept about 2 hours on Friday night! It was absolute TORTURE waiting at the airport, but when he finally walked out of customs it was all worth it! The last 2 days have been amazing and it is so nice having him home.

Anya has been attached to his side since he got home. I don't think she has stopped smiling since he walked in the door at Monica's. Eric hasn't wanted to be away from Nathan, either. He went right to him and only wants me when he's hungry! Of course, Nathan is soaking up every second with the kids and he has been on cloud nine since being home.

We have had a lot of good food over the last two days, too! On Saturday we celebrated Nathan's birthday with not one but two cakes! I wanted to try a new cake recipe (Paul Prudhomme's Spiced Pecan cake), but I wanted Nathan to still have his German chocolate cake. So, I made two mini's! YUM, YUM, YUM!!!

Sunday was our Christmas and I made a delicious Christmas dinner. We had ham, mashed potatoes, bacon wrapped asparagus, and pumpkin dinner rolls. For dessert we had an apple-cranberry crisp with eggnog sauce. OH MY WOW! I didn't want to go to the commissary, so I finally made my own eggnog and it was phenomenal! The recipe I used called for orange and lemon zest, so it was more citrus-y than I am used to, but I will definately use the recipe again.

Now for some pictures and the recipes for the eggnog and the crisp. I hope to be able to stop by some blogs and comment soon. Thanks for still checkin' in here!

Seeing Daddy for the first time

Together again

Nathan and Eric on Christmas

Do you know how IMPOSSIBLE it is to get both kids to smile at the same time??? :)

Nathan's birthday cakes

Apple-Cranberry Crisp with Eggnog Sauce

Sauce:

2 containers (3.5-4oz each) refrigerated vanilla pudding

1 cup eggnog

Fruit Mixture:

5 cups sliced peeled apples

2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 TBSP flour

Topping:

2/3 cup flour

1 cup quick oats

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup cold butter, cut into pieces

Place pudding and eggnog in bowl; whisk until smooth. Cover and refrigerate.

Heat oven to 375. In large bowl, combine fruit mixture. Spread evenly into 2 qt baking dish.

In medium bowl, combine topping ingredients until crumbly. Spoon evenly over fruit.

Bake 35-40 minutes or until deep golden brown and bubbly. Serve warm with chilled sauce.

Homemade Eggnog

Recipe from Williams-Sonoma American Christmas

12 large egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg plus more for garnish

Grated zest of 1 orange

Grated zest of 1 lemon

2 cups whole milk

2 cups heavy cream

1/2 - 3/4 cup dark rum, cognac, or bourbon (optional) - I just added a little rum extract

In a large saucepan whisk together egg yolks, sugar, nutmeg, and citrus zests. Stir in the milk and cream. Place over low heat and cook, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, just until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon (160 degrees).

Immediately remove from heat and strain through a sieve into a pitcher. Cover and refrigerate to chill thouroughly, about 1 hour.

Serve alone or topped with whipped cream and nutmeg.