Warm Cabbage Apple Salad

There's something about cooked cabbage that I just love. A good coleslaw is always appreciated, but if you really want to do me in, give me an egg roll stuffed with shredded cabbage or maybe some hearty borsch. And since I've been craving cabbage lately, I found this apple-cabbage salad to be pure fall perfection.

Pumpkin-Apple Muffins

My dear friend and co-chef Kelly was so kind as to search out some delicious recipes for me to try a couple weeks ago. She sent me several options from main courses to treats. Of all of them, this one stuck out to me the most; right away I knew I wanted to try it.

To my delight these muffins turned out just as I had hoped, better really. Much to my pleasure the enjoyment started with mixing the ingredients. No, I didn't have images in my mind of pumpkin fairies sprouting from the can of pumpkin filling (although that would have made for some great pictures), but the smell of the spices mixed together instantly made me feel fallish. It was intoxicating.

German Apple Pancake

Welcome to Josh, our first guest post!

Josh (and Lindsey) have been our friends and neighbors for years. Lindsey is an excellent cook- her mashed potatoes have no rival- but Josh has also been known to whip up a few amazing dishes from time to time. Here's one that makes my heart flutter with anticipation. He says:

Apple Crisp

Growing up in New York, I had some of the best tasting apples in abundance right in my backyard and on our family farm down the road. We made apple pie, apple crisp, applesauce (pink, if you believe it- my grandma believes in leaving the skins on), apple cider, apple juice, pork with apples, sauerkraut with apples, and apples in between every meal. This led me to become a bit of an apple snob; now that I live on the opposite side of the country, I can only find northwest apples which, please excuse my bias, just don't measure up to our New York varieties. Very few apples beat a good Cortland, Mcoun, or Empire (click here for an overview of New York State varieties). It makes me terribly homesick to think about it.

But even if I can't find my favorite apples, I'm not about to stick my nose up at a good dish of apple crisp. And this crisp is good. There are no weird ingredients (I once found a recipe that required bathing the apples in a wash of vanilla, which is probably amazing, but possibly unnecessary. I'll try it one day) or extra steps (like pre-baking the apples before baking the crisp). It's just plain simple delicious apple crisp.

Apple Crisp
Recipe by Kelly
Pictures by Kelly

4-5 cups apples, peeled and sliced
1/2 stick butter, very soft
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup quick oats OR 1/2 cup old fashioned oats and 1/4 heaping cup quick oats (I chose the latter method)
1/2 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
dash of salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease an 8 x 8 inch baking dish and pour apples into dish.
2. Combine butter, sugar, oats, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Sprinkle over apples. Bake 35 minutes, or until topping is lightly browned and apples have softened. Serve hot or cold.

Apple Pandowdy

Pandowdy, pandwody, pandowdy. Just saying this word brings a smile to my face. But what exactly is it? Think cobbler meets pie; fruit on the bottom with a pastry on top. It's a traditional dish found mostly in New England. A pandowdy is like having the deliciousness of pie, but with only half the work (you only have to roll ONE pie crust that doesn't even have to be circular. Plus you get to cut it to fit the pan). And this pandowdy has a sour cream sauce mixed with in with the apples. Yum.


Here's an interesting tidbit about pandowdy: Nancy Baggett, author of The All-American Dessert Book says "despite the rather plain look of the [pan]dowdy, many culinary historians...believe that the odd name does not refer to the appearance of the dish, but to the fact that it is covered with a 'dow,' a varation on the word 'dough.'" Though if you prefer, you can continue to extol its dowdy virtues.

Apple Pandowdy
Recipe from The All-American Dessert Book
Pictures by Caroline

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar, divided
5 tablespoons all purpose flour, divided
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
9 cups peeled, cored, and thinly sliced tart apples
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/8 teaspoon baking soda

Single crust pastry dough

1. *Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. In a small bowl, stir together the 3/4 cup brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of the flour, the cinnamon, and cloves.
   
2. In a large bowl, stir together the apples and lemon juice. Add the sugar mixture to the apples and stir until the are coated. Spread the aple mixture evenly in the baking dish.
   
3. In the bowl used for the apples, thoroughly stir together the sour cream, remaining two tablespoons sugar, remaining 3 tablespoons flour, and baking soda. Spread the mixture evenly over the apples.
4. Roll out the dough into a large rectangle, big enough to cover the 9 x 13 pan (this is much easier if you roll onto a piece of wax paper, then flip the dough over onto the apple mixture and peel the paper off). Trim the edges of the dough to make it even. Place the dough over the top of the apples. With a sharp knife, cut several steam vents in the top.
   
5. Bake 40-50 minutes, or until the pastry is browned all over and the filling is bubbly. Let cool about 30 minutes.
   

*Directions paraphrased from original

Applesauce Spice Cake

I'm a firm believer that just because it's no longer fall doesn't mean you can't have all the autumnal tastiness you crave. At least I crave it. If I could eat apples, lemons and cranberries (or some delectable item containing said ingredients) every day, I think I could be perfectly satisfied for the rest of my life. I might throw a bit of chocolate in there for good measure, but since Christmas I've been feeling rather over-chocolated (hard to believe, I know). So apples it is.

This cake is perfectly, dare I say it, moist. If still slightly warm, it might seem crumbly, but once given a chance to cool off, it has the ideal cake-consistency. And it's sweet and flavorful, but not overpowering. Yum.

We chose to make a layer cake and use an orange cream frosting (I shudder with delight just thinking of it. That frosting has got to be some of the best I've ever tasted), though I think this cake is quite good enough to be served with a simple dusting of powdered sugar. You decide which you prefer.

Applesauce Spice Cake
Recipe from The All-American Dessert Book by Nancy Baggett
Pictures by Caroline

2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cups sweetened applesauce

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease a 9 x 13 inch pan or two 8 1/2 or 9 inch round cake pans.
2. In a medium sized bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.
   
3. In a separate bowl, combine the butter, sugars, and vanilla. Beat until the mixture is very well blended and lightened, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for about 20 seconds after each addition.
   
4. Add half the flour mixture, beating just until smoothly incorporated. Add half the applesauce and beat for about 30 seconds longer. Beat in the remaining flour mixture until smoothly incorporated; beat in the remaining applesauce just until evenly incorporated.
   
5. Turn out the batter into the pan(s), spreading evenly to the edges. Bake 30-40 minutes for a 9 x 13 inch pan, 20- 30 minutes for round cake pans. Bake until the top of the cake is browned and springs back slightly when pressed, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Transfer the pans to a wire rack and let cool completely. If making a layer cake, hold a rack flat against a pan and invert the layers onto racks. Cool completely, then frost and serve.

Orange Cream Cheese-Butter Frosting
from The All-American Dessert Book

11 ounces cream cheese, slightly softened and cut into chunks
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, slightly softened
3 - 3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
3 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
1 1/4 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice*
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 teaspoons water, if needed

1. In a large bowl with a mixer on low, then medium, beat together the cream cheese, butter, 3 cups powdered sugar, orange zest, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla unti lwell blended and completely free of lumps. If the frosting seems to thin to spread, beat in up to 3/4 cup more powdered sugar. If the frosting is very stiff, add a teaspoon or two of water to think it to a spreadable, but still firm consisteency. Frost the cooled cake immediately.

*Because we're gluttons for orange, we felt the frosting could have used just a bit more orange flavor. Next time I think I'll try half lemon juice, half orange.

Apple-Cranberry Crisp

If it were up to my husband, he would eat apple crisp morning noon and night. As a kid, he loved it for the buttery, oaty, sugary topping, and usually begged his mother for double (or even triple) topping (because everyone knows that any dessert with sugar, butter and oats is simply divine). Now that my husband is no longer 8 years old, his tastes are more refined: he actually enjoys the apple in apple crisp, even without triple topping.

We added cranberries to this apple crisp for the tartness, color and, obviously, the flavor. My husband would probably prefer them left out; Caroline and I are both big fans of leaving them in. Try it and you can be the judge.

Apple-Cranberry Crisp

Recipe by Twolittlechefs

Pictures by Caroline

4-5 tart cooking apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

1 1/2 cups cranberries

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3/4 cup quick oats

1/2 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cloves

pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 2 1/2 quart baking dish (or n 11x 7 inch pan).
2. Soften butter and stir in brown sugar, oats, flour, and spices until mixture is crumbly.
3. Fill a small saucepan with water and add cranberries. Cook 2-4 minutes or until cranberries just begin to split. Immediately remove from heat and drain.
4. In a large bowl, toss apples and cranberries in 2 tablespoons sugar and pour into baking dish. Sprinkle oat mixture over the top. Bake 35 minutes or until fruit is tender and topping is golden.

Caramel Apples

With Halloween approaching, it seemed appropriate to post some caramel apples. Yes, you can just buy a tub of caramel from the store. But this caramel is naturally delicious (and by natural, I mean no corn syrup, no preservatives, no sugar. It's just cream, honey and salt. Simple), and if you have about 40 minutes to spare, you might decide not to go back to the pre-packaged stuff.

If you happen to have a candy thermometer, this will be a lot easier. If you don't, fill a glass with cold water, and periodically drop a small amount of caramel in the glass (you'll need to change the water each time you do). If the caramel turns into a ball when it hits the water, it's ready. If it swirls around in the cup, it's not ready. If it turns into a rock solid mass, you've probably cooked it too long...hurry and eat it before it solidifies!


And finally, I've always loved the combination of caramel and apples, but hated eating them on a stick. There's just no getting around the messiness factor. But slicing the apples and then dunking them in one at a time is not nearly as visually appealing. So my very wise friend Kate suggested dipping the entire apple in the caramel, letting it set a few minutes, and then, once you're ready to eat them, cut one large slice from each side of the apple, leaving the core behind, and you with a perfect coat of caramel. Yum.

Caramel Apples
Recipe from 101cookbooks.com
Pictures by Caroline

6 small apples, unwaxed*
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup honey

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (I actually used aluminum foil). If serving on a stick, push a lollipop or popsicle stick deep into each apple - in through the stem. Fill a large bowl 1/2 full with ice water and set aside.
2. In a medium, thick-bottomed saucepan heat the cream and salt until tiny bubbles start forming where the milk touches the pan - just before a simmer. Stir in the honey. Bring the mixture to a boil. Now reduce the heat to an active simmer and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for about 15-20 minutes minutes or until the mixture reaches about 255-260F degrees (just barely in the hard ball stage).
3. To stop the caramel from cooking, very, very carefully set the bottom of the saucepan in the bowl of cold water you prepared earlier. Stir until caramel begins to thicken up - you want the caramel to be thin enough that it will easily coat your apples, but not so thin that it will run right off. If the caramel thickens too much simply put the pot back over the burner for 10 seconds or so to heat it up a bit.
4. Tilt your sauce pan so all the caramel forms a pool on one side, and use your other hand to dunk and twirl each apple until it is thoroughly coated with caramel.
5. Place each apple on the parchment lined baking sheets and allow the caramel to cool and set.

*If you buy your apples at the grocery store, they will inevitably be waxed, which means the caramel will slip right off when you dip the apples in. If you buy your apples from a farmer's market or pick your own, you can avoid this.

Gingered Pear-Apple Cobbler

Fall might possibly be my favorite food season. Of course I say that nearly every season, but it's really hard to beat any recipe featuring apples.

Unlike the peach cobbler we posted during the summer (which tastes quite a bit better than Kelly's pictures might lead you to believe) this cobbler's topping is a cross between biscuit and pie crust and is placed on top of the fruit rather than below it. The flavors are simple, enhancing rather than disguising the apple, pear, and ginger.

Please don't be intimidated by this recipe because it has several steps. I promise it's really not difficult; you just need a little bit of time to prepare things. And it's oh so worth it.

Gingered Pear-Apple Cobbler
Recipe from The All-American Dessert Book
Pictures by Caroline

Filling
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
2 1/2 teaspoons peeled and finely grated fresh gingerroot
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
6 tablespoons apple juice or water
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 1/2 cups peeled, cored, and sliced apples* (about 3-4 medium sized apples)
6 cups peeled, cored, and coarsely sliced pears** (about 5 medium)
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch pan (If you have a Dutch oven, use it instead of a 9 x 13).
   
2. In a large pot, thoroughly stir together the sugar and cornstarch. Stir in butter, ginger, lemon zest, apple juice and lemon juice until well blended. Heat over medium high heat, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot, just until thickened slightly and translucent.
   
3. Add the apples. Let the mixture return to a boil. Cook, stirring frequently for 3 minutes. Add the pears and the vanilla. Cook, stirring gently, for 2 more minutes. Remove from heat. Pour into 9 x 13 pan.
   

*Choose tart apples such as Granny Smith
**Choose slightly underripe Bosc or Bartlett pears

Dough
1 1/3 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1/2 cup sour cream, plus about 1 1/2 tablespoons for brushing on dough top
2 teaspoons cold water (optional)
1 tablespoon sugar for sprinkling on dough top (optional)

1. In a medium bowl, thoroughly stir together the flour, sugar, salt and baking soda. Using a pastry blender, forks, or your ginertips, cut in the butter until the mixutre has the consistency of coarse meal (if you have a food processor, use that!).
2. Lightly stir the sour cream into the flour mixture, tossing until evenly incorporated. Briefly knead the dough in the bowl until it holds together. If necessary, work in cold water a teaspoon at a time until the dough is moistened but not soggy.
3. Let the dough stand for 5 minutes to reduce stickiness.
4. On a lightly floured surface (or between 2 sheets of parchment paper) Roll or press the dough into a rectangle slightly smaller than the 9 x 13 (or dutch oven). Peel the dough off the floured surface or parchment paper. Place the dough gently over the top of the fruit.
5. Using a greased knife, cut large slashes for steam vents in the dough top.
   
6. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the fough all over with sour cream (we warmed ours slightly in the microwave for ease of brushing). Sprinkle with sugar, if desired.
7. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until the top is well browned and a toothpick inserted in the center of the dough comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack. Let cool at least 30 minutes. Spoon into bowls and serve with ice cream, if desired.
   

Irish Apple Cake

This cake, known also as Kerry Apple Cake, is a traditional Irish dessert. It can be served cold or warm, and is excellent when accompanied by chilled cream, custard (or pudding), or vanilla ice cream. Bear in mind that this cake is not a typical Betty Crocker box cake; it is much less sweet and almost more similar in consistency to a biscuit than to your typical crumb cake. But it's still very tasty and worth trying, if only in honor of St. Patrick's day...a few days late.

Irish Apple Cake
from Irish Food and Cooking
Pictures by Caroline

2 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
3 or 4 cooking apples, peeled and sliced
3/4 cup sugar, divided into 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 375° F and butter a 8 or 9 inch cake pan.
2. Mix the flour, powder, salt and cloves in a bowl. Cut in the butter and mix until the mixture is like fine breadcrumbs.
3. In a separate bowl, gently stir sliced apples and 1/4 cup sugar together.
   
4. Mix the eggs, 1/2 sugar and vanilla.
   
5. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir just until combined. Gradually add the milk (not all at once!), stirring as you go. The batter should be a stiff dough, but you may need to add a bit more milk if it is too difficult to stir.
   
6. Layer apples and batter in pan, beginning and ending with batter (you should have three layers of batter and two layers of apples). Sprinkle top of batter with white sugar.
   
7. Bake 30-40 minutes, or until springy to the tough. Cool on a wire rack.

Holiday Feast

Thanksgiving? Christmas?  Here are a few great recipes to help you make your feast perfect.

Cider-Brined and Glazed Turkey
from www.epicurious.com

Brine
4 quarts apple cider, divided
1 1/2 cups kosher salt
1/4 cup whole allspice
8 bay leaves
4 quarts cold water
1 20-pound turkey (neck and gizzard reserved)

1. Simmer 1 quart apple cider, salt, allspice, and bay leaves in 20-quart pot 5 minutes, stirring often. Cool completely. Add remaining 3 quarts cider and 4 quarts water. Place turkey in brine. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. Drain turkey and rinse. Arrange on several layers of paper towels in roasting pan. Refrigerate uncovered overnight.

Glaze
2 cups apple cider
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1. Boil cider in saucepan until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 15 minutes. Whisk in butter. Cool completely.
2. Set rack at lowest position in oven; preheat to 350°F. Remove paper towels from roasting pan. Pat main and neck cavities of turkey dry; stuff loosely with stuffing. Place turkey in pan, tuck wings under, and tie legs together loosely.
3. Roast turkey 1 hour. Brush with some of glaze. Roast until beginning to brown, about 1 hour. Cover with foil. Roast until thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 175°F, brushing with glaze every 30 minutes and adding up to 1 cup water to pan if drippings begin to burn, about 3 hours longer. Transfer turkey to platter; tent with foil. Let stand 30 minutes.

Green beans, Roasted Fennel and Shallots
from www.epicurious.com
makes 6-8 servings

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 large fresh fennel bulbs, trimmed
3/4 pound shallots, peeled, halved through root ends
5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound slender green beans, trimmed

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Spray rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray.
   
2. Cut fennel bulbs lengthwise in half. Cut halves lengthwise into 1/2-inch-wide wedges, with some core still attached to each.
   
3. Combine fennel and shallots in large bowl and add 3 tablespoons oil; stir to coat and arrange fennel and shallots in single layer on prepared sheet. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast until tender and golden, stirring every 10 minutes, about 35 minutes.
4. Cook the green beans in large saucepan of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Drain. Rinse with cold water and drain again. Pat dry.
   
5. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add roasted vegetables and haricots verts; toss until heated through, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl and serve.

Carmelized Onions
from Kathy Hill
makes 6-8 servings

5-6 medium sized yellow onions
1/4 cup butter
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large saucepan, melt 1/8 cup butter.
   
2. Slice the onions into thin rings and place in pan with butter. Cook for about 30 minutes, or until the onions are tender, adding butter if the onions begin to look dry.
   
3. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
   

Cranberry Sauce
from www.epicurious.com

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
12-oz bag fresh or frozen cranberries (3 cups)
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest

1. Bring water and sugar to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
   
2. Add cranberries and simmer, stirring occasionally, until berries just pop, 15-20 minutes.
3. Stir in zest, then cool.

French Apple Pie
adapted from Betty Crocker Cookbook

Crust: 9-pie pie crust or a pre-made pie crust

Filling
8 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
a pinch of salt

1. Heat oven to 425.
   
2. Mix all ingredients together except apples. Stir in apples.
3. Roll out pastry and place in 8-9 in pie pan.
4. Pour in apples.
   

Topping
1 cup flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup firm butter

1. Mix flour all ingredients together and stir until crumbly.
   
2. Sprinkle over top of apples.
3. Cover during last 10 minutes of baking to prevent excessive browning.
   

Turkey Apple-Cranberry Bake

After all those hours in the kitchen on Thanksgiving Day you need an easy recipe that uses up some of those leftovers- this is that recipe. You don't need to be precise with the amount of turkey or stuffing that you use, just use what you have. This recipe also works well with chicken.

Turkey Apple-Cranberry Bake
Recipe by Kraft Foods
Pictures by Caroline

Recipe:

1 cup stuffing
1 tbsp. butter, melted
1 10 ¾ oz. can Cream of Celery Soup
½ cup milk
2 cups cubed cooked turkey
1 medium apple, diced (about 1 ½ cups)
1 stalk celery, finely chopped (about ½ cup)
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup pecan halves, chopped

Directions:

1. Stir the stuffing and butter in a small bowl and set aside (if you are using left over stuffing that is already moist, you don’t need to add the extra butter unless you want to).
2. Stir the soup, milk, apple, celery, cranberries, and pecans in a 12x8x2 shallow baking dish.
3. Sprinkle the stuffing mixture over the top.
4. Bake at 400° Fahrenheit for 30min or until hot and bubbly.

Note: I had fresh cranberries left over from making cranberry sauce, so I substituted 1 cup of fresh cranberries for the dried cranberries. They were a bit tart, but I liked the taste. If you wanted you could boil them in some sugar water for a few minutes before adding them to the casserole to make them a bit less tart.

Fall Pork Dinner

My husband really likes pork. I really like squash. And we both really like apples with cinnamon and sugar (really, who doesn't?). You won't find a better compromise than this "fall pork dinner." Speaking of which, I should really give this dish a new name. Fall Pork Dinner? Is that the best you can come up with, Betty? It really doesn't do justice to the squash or delightfully cinnamony smells that will fill your kitchen.  But on second thought, I'm going to leave the name as is. We've been making this dinner for years now...and calling it the Fall Pork Dinner. So thus it shall remain.

Anyway. The pork gets a lovely bisquick-saltine treatment. Throw everything together in one dish and you have your meal. Now depending on the thickness of your pork, you may want to cook the squash (covered) for 10-15 minutes before adding the pork (if it's thin). Otherwise you'll end up with rock hard squash and dry-as-bones pork. 10-15 minutes before the pork is done, add the apples. And then have a taste of autumn with every bite.

Fall Pork Dinner 
Recipe adapted from bettycrocker.com
Pictures by Caroline  

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter, cut up
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 small acorn squash, seeded and cut into thin rings
2 small unpeeled red cooking apples, cut into chunks
2/3 c Bisquick 
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 saltine crackers, crushed
2 egg whites (or 1 egg)
1 tablespoon water
5-6 boneless pork loin chops, 1/2 inch thick

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In small bowl, mix brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon until crumbly; set aside.
2. In shallow dish, stir together Bisquick mix, salt, pepper and cracker crumbs. In another shallow dish, mix egg white and water. Dip pork into egg mixture, then coat with Bisquick mixture.
3. Spray 10-inch skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. Cook pork in skillet 6 to 8 minutes, turning once, until coating is brown.
4. Place pork in ungreased 8-inch square or 11x7-inch (2-quart) glass baking dish. Arrange squash and pork. Sprinkle with 1/2 brown sugar mixture. Bake uncovered 25-30 minutes. Add apples and sprinkle with remaining brown sugar. Cook about 15 minutes more or until pork is no longer pink and squash is done through.

Cran-apple Torte

Cranberries have long been one of my food obsessions. I love their tartness and how they pop when they're slightly undercooked. They're delicious! As soon as they're available in stores, you can find half a dozen packages stocked in my freezer.

This is one of my favorite family recipes. My mom used to make it whenever she had friends over for dinner. Now I make it anytime anyone gives me an excuse to make a dessert.

If you, like Caroline's husband, prefer not to eat nuts, you may omit them. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Cran-apple Torte

Recipe by Kelly

Pictures by Caroline

Serves 6-8

Filling:
1 1/4 cups fresh/frozen cranberries
2 apples, unpeeled and diced
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves

Batter:
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Combine filling in a medium sized bowl. Spoon into greased 9 inch pie pan or 8 in round cake pan.
2. Cream together eggs, sugar and butter. Stir in flour. Add vanilla.
3. Spread batter over filling. Bake 325° F for 50-60 minutes or until golden brown.