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!

FRUITY MUFFINS

These have to be healthy! They are filled with so much yummy goodness! Even though the original recipe says not to freeze them, I always do.  They are delicious once they are re-warmed.

The original recipe also calls for margarine, but I've switched to using butter. Have you noticed how weird margarine is these days? Recipes don't turn out the way I expect when I cook using margarine for some reason. Can you say "hydrogenated"? If you have read any of my posts you know I ALWAYS follow recipes exactly. Not! Tweaking a recipe is a sign of my creativity!

Let me know what you think of these sweet, healthy muffins when you make them! Or...for the right price, I can bake a dozen and send (or deliver) them to you! Enjoy!

Chunky Cranberry Applesauce

One thing I love about this time of year is that we can purchase fresh cranberries! They are so tasty and good for us to eat. I was craving some fresh cranberry applesauce and by the time you finish reading this, maybe you'll be hungry for some too!





Naturally red from the apples and cranberries!

First I wash my apples and cranberries, then core and cut up the apples. I don't peel my apples, because I don't want to waste any of their natural goodness. In a 2-quart sauce pan (or larger), put one bag of cranberries, six apples, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup water, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon of cloves. Stir and bring to a boil. Let it simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. I've found that it takes a varied amount of time to cook depending on the type of apples I use and how strong the simmer is going. But you will know it is cooked, when the apples are soft and mushy. I have a wonderful old sieve that I inherited from my grandmother that I usually use for applesauce. If I knew in which box I packed it, I would put all this in the sieve and make it a smooth sauce. But since I can't locate that (or the keys to our old house) I am eating a chunky sauce. I was surprised that I liked this texture. More surprising is that JoPapa likes this and asked for some at supper. That's a big compliment coming from a 'meat-n-taters' kind of guy!
Let me know what you think of this recipe.  I could can it and ship it, but it's best if you cook this one yourself.  An added benefit, is the lovely smell of apples and cinnamon.  It makes a great air freshener! Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cake

I was searching for something for dinner that was buried deep in my freezer when I stumbled across a package of my frozen pumpkin! Not what I was looking for, but a great idea spark for the cake I'm baking to share at God's Gathering. Last fall, I cooked our Halloween pumpkin. Please note, we hadn't carved that pumpkin, but drew the Jack-o-lantern's face on it so I could spin it around and leave it out through Thanksgiving. Don't you just love to decorate for the seasons? I sure do! Anyway, I peeled, and cooked that pumpkin then froze it in one-cup portions.  I do love to bake treats and hide that vegetable nutrition from carrots, zucchini, or pumpkin inside! So here's another tasty treat you can bake up yourself! Or stop by my house...I bake requests you know! I could ship this to you, but you would have frost it when it arrives. I'm not sure butter cream frosting would survive in a box! Let me know what you think of this spicy, nutty, cranberry, pumpkin cake.

PUMPKIN CAKE　
　
1 2/3 cups flour
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp cloves
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp ground ginger
3 eggs slightly beaten
1 cup canned pumpkin
2/3 cup cooking oil
½ cup chopped nuts
½ cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and cloves. Beat eggs, pumpkin, sugar, and oil. Mix in dry ingredients and beat on medium speed for two minutes. Stir in nuts and cranberries. Spread batter evenly in an ungreased 9x13-baking pan.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack. Spread with cream cheese frosting or butter cream frosting.