Cranberries and apples!

I'm feeling thankful for so many things; prayerful for everything else! 

One thankful thing is cran-apple! That's why I was so happy to find my favorite Jonathan apples in the store at the same time there are cranberries! I made the best cranapple sauce and even froze several quarts so I could enjoy it all winter. 

Cranapple sauce! 

Here's how I did it: cook the cranberries as directed on the package except only use 1/2 cup sugar. The Johnathan apples are naturally sweet already; I prefer my sauce sweet-tangy (just like me). 

Freshly washed and cooked. The pop as they boil.

Wash and slice enough apples to fill your pressure cooker 1/3 full. (If you don't have a pressure cooker, it will take more water and more time to boil the apples until they are fully cooked.)

No need to peel since only the fruit pulp comes through the sieve.

Add 1/2 cup water and bring the sealed cooker up to pressure. Turn down the heat and allow it to pressure cook for 5 minutes. The best part about a pressure cooker is that it cooks so quickly, hence retaining the nutritional value of the apples. Next, I cooled the cooker by running cold water over the top. Then I used my old food sieve from Grandma's kitchen (one of my favorite inheritances) to press the apples and make the sauce. I don't have to peel or core apples because I use the sieve. 

Only the skins and seeds remain; all the fruit pulp is extruded.

Next I used my Betty Crocker Cookbook (so I could follow a recipe "exactly") and added spices as if I were making apple pie. Then I stirred in the cooked cranberries and, voilà, cran-apple sauce!

Yes, I know this is the same picture twice, but doesn't it look tasty?

This is delicious and a beautiful shade of red too! Just think of the vitamins and antioxidants in here! It practically makes you healthy just to read about it!

It's the holiday season and this would be an excellent side dish for your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner! Let me know if you try this. Or, invite me over to taste your cooking! 

Peace, blessings, and thankfulness to you!

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR!

We can hardly wait for the first tomatoes and peppers to ripen so we can make salsa! A couple of my friends have requested this recipe, so that must mean it is that time of year NOW!

Dayna and I made salsa today and it is so delicious with a little smokey kick!

We followed the recipe exactly, except she wanted smoked tomato salsa. So we experimented by adding 3 ½ tablespoons of liquid smoke because today was not conducive to staying outside smoking tomatoes and then making salsa. 

We always follow the recipe EXACTLY - NOT!

Using the food processor makes our chopping chore easy.

First onions, then jalapenos to make our eyes water!

 

"Are you finished with those jalapenos yet?"

If you want to make some, here is the original post with the recipe for my salsa. 

Enjoy!

SCOTCH CHOCOLATE CAKE

Most people love chocolate and I am one of those people! This cake is a treat that has been handed down to me from my dear, sweet mother-in-law Kathy Schroeder. She taught me so many good things through her loving example. She was one of those do-as-I-do people that I was blessed to know and love! 

Back to the cake...Joel requested that I take this to the cousin family reunion we recently attended.  So if you would like to try this recipe, here it is!

The well-loved and often-used original recipe card.

I measure out all my ingredients and then mix them in the order listed above. You'll notice I use Saco powdered buttermilk. I keep it on hand in the refrigerator for baking all kinds of things. (Did you read my blog about buttermilk cookies?)

Measure out the ingredients you will need.

Bring the first ingredients to a boil over medium heat.

Place the first four ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add the flour and sugar. I use my small electric mixer at this stage. Stir in the buttermilk and soda, then add the salt, eggs, and vanilla and beat well. Pour into a greased and sugared baking pan. Yes, I said sugared! When I bake cakes and sweet breads I always dust the pans with sugar instead of flour. Guess I have a sweet tooth! 

Grease and sugar the baking pan. Yes, this is the original Ware-Ever No. 918 baking pan I was blessed to inherit.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean.  My pan is 15x11, but you can bake this in a 9x13 pan. Check for doneness as it will probably take a bit longer to bake in a smaller pan. Remove from oven and then prepare this frosting:

Place the margarine, cocoa and milk in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and then the powdered sugar. Mix until no lumps of sugar remain. Pour this mixture over the warm cake. Let it all cool and and then ENJOY sharing with your family and friends!

By the way, I will bake for you on request...if you ask nicely!

SUMMER SAUSAGE

I don’t know how this summer sausage actually got its name.  I do love to eat it for a snack in the summer. It’s a delicious snack served with a smoky cheese and crackers. But I usually bake it in the cooler winter months and freeze it so we can enjoy it when we’re in the mood or need a tasty appetizer to share with company. Fresh from the oven, this sausage is really delicious.  I’m thinking that if these deer keep plumping themselves up on the neighbors’ lovely landscaping, they will make tasty venison. Wonder if that would be good instead of beef in this recipe? ;-)
　
SUMMER SAUSAGE

2 lbs. Ground beef
1/8 tsp. Garlic powder
1/8 tsp. Onion powder
1/8 tsp. Cayenne pepper
1 Tbl. liquid smoke
3 Tbl. Tender Quick salt
1 cup water
1 tsp. pepper corns (I usually substitute 1/2 tsp ground pepper because I don't like to bite a pepper corn)
1 tsp. mustard seeds

Mix well. First I stir all this with a wooden spoon. Then, wearing rubber gloves (for easy clean up), I’ll reach in and mix it some more. This is an especially good way to make sure it’s thoroughly mixed if I’ve multiplied the recipe (like when I make it with 6 pounds of ground beef). Divide the meat and shape into 2-inch rolls (about one pound each). A two-inch round is about the right dimension to cover a Ritz cracker. When I make mine, I form the sausage to fit the width of my pan and baking rack. It's not critical that each sausage is one pound.  But if you make it into three or four inches around it may take longer to bake thoroughly. Wrap in aluminum foil (shiny side in). Refrigerate 24-48 hours. Using a knife, cut ½" slits about every two inches along the bottom of rolls. Place on rack over pan. Bake at 350 for 1 ¼ hours.

Let me know if you enjoy this recipe or if you try it with venison. I don't know if I'd be able to shoot Bambi even if I got a deer tag and it was legal to hunt in my back yard.   As always, I love to share what I make, bake, knit, can, or cook. If I can ship something from Peg's Pantry, I'd be happy to send it your way - if you make me an offer I can't refuse of course! Or you can come get some next time you visit!

Enjoy!!

Surprise Muffins

I had fun making Surprise Muffins for Fellowship Time at church. I've never tried this variation before, but I've followed this Betty Crocker recipe for years but I usually add blueberries and 1/2 tsp. of nutmeg. This week, I followed the recipe and when I filled the muffin cups 1/2 full, dropped a teaspoon of home made jelly in the center, then added batter to fill the cups 2/3 full.  The secret I discovered, is to make sure the batter covers the jelly around all the edges.  I had a couple of muffins where the jelly oozed out because I didn't carefully cover the jelly with batter.  But they were tasty!!  As always, I would be more than happy to ship these to you - for a price! :-)
POPULAR MUFFINS
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup salad oil
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin tin with paper baking cups. Beat egg; stir in milk and oil. Mix in remaining ingredients just until flour is moistened. Batter should be lumpy. Fill muffin cups and bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from pan. Makes 12 - 2 3/4 inch muffins.

Banana Cake

I tried a new recipe for our community dinner at church last night. There were so many bananas left over from the food pantry the week before, that I took some home and froze the bananas. I peeled two bananas and dropped them in a small zip-lock bag so all I had to do was pull out the bag and let it thaw a bit to use in this recipe.  I also didn't have any orange juice, but had oranges so I used fresh squeezed juice in the recipe. It was tasty and the orange peel in the frosting was pretty. FYI, you can try it yourself or I can make this for you upon request! :-)  Also, I doubled the recipe and baked it in a 9x13 pan.
 2 med. ripe bananas mashed 1 cup flour 3/4 cup chopped walnuts (opt.) (I used pecans)2/3 cup sugar 1/4 cup cornstarch 1/3 cup veg. oil 1 egg, slightly beaten 1 Tbsp. orange juice 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. vanilla 1/4 tsp. salt Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into greased and floured 8 x 8 baking pan. Bake for 30 min. until toothpick comes out clean when poked into cake's center. Cool. Icing: 1/3 cup soft butter 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar 1 Tbsp. orange juice 1 Tbsp. grated orange peel (opt.)
BANANA CAKE