Frozen Pizza for Supper

Where has the extra hour gone? Guess we slept it away. We had a few errands to run and a couple of Netflixs (I love The Closer) to catch up on and bam, Sunday has disappeared. I say that as an excuse to say supper tonight was Totino's cheese pizzas. Should I be embarrassed to admit that? Not in the least. Totino's are the only frozen pizzas I eat and they are cheap too. I really don't even dress them up, simply add a few chopped onions and a sprinkle of pepper and call it supper. Ronnie likes to add pickled banana peppers to his at the table.

I did manage to add a fresh apple crisp to the menu. All the beautiful apples in the grocery store called out to me. We like a crisp that doesn't have oatmeal best. Certainly you could sub oats for part of the flour in the recipe and make it a tad healthier to boot. Need I even mention that a scoop of cinnamon or vanilla ice cream on top would be perfect? And/or a drizzle of caramel sauce?

Autumn Apple Crisp

6 medium size apples (I used Galas)

2 Tbsp. lemon juice (bottled is fine)
1 1/2 cup cold water

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter

Combine lemon juice and and water in a mixing bowl. Peel and dice apples into the lemon water mixture. Drain well and place apples in a 9 inch deep dish pie plate that has been sprayed with pan release or buttered.
Combine flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt well in a medium size mixing bowl. Add vanilla and melted butter. Stir until crumbly. Spread topping evenly over apples.
Bake at 375 30-35 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

So, Until Tomorrow................,
S~~~

It's Apple Time

Apples and fall go hand in hand. Apple pie, apple turnovers, fried apple pies, cooked apples with pork tenderloin and of course, apple dumplings. Did you know that there are over 7500 varieties of apples and that apples are grown in all 50 states?

I was caught in traffic on Old Fort mountain last week for 3+ hours (overturned transfer truck) and a gentleman in one of the cars in front of me got out and rummaged through his back seat and came up with beautiful red apple. Wow, did that ever look good! Made me long to be the overly prepared person that keeps a snack in the car, just in case.

Anyway........................, I love cooking with apples. My mother in law used to bake apples by coring them and putting butter, brown sugar and cinnamon in the center. So simple and so good. This is a recipe I found a couple of years ago and almost didn't try because I hate Mountain Dew. I could have missed out on a great simple dessert. Hope you enjoy!

Autumn Apple Dumplings
.
2 large apples, peeled and cored ( I used 3 smaller Galas to equal 16 wedges)

2 (10 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent roll dough

1 cup butter

1 - 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (I only used 1 cup as my apples were sweet)

1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
pinch of salt
12 oz. (1 1/2 cup) Mountain Dew

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9x13 or 9x12 inch baking dish with Pam.
Cut each apple in 8 wedges. Separate crescent rolls in triangles. Roll each apple wedge in a triangle, starting at the smallest end. Pinch edges to seal. Place in a baking dish. Melt butter in a small sauce pan, add sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Stir to dissolve sugar. Pour butter mixture and Mountain Dew over apple dumplings. Bake 35-45 minutes or until golden brown.
**Original recipe calls for Granny Smith Apples**

So, Until Tomorrow...........
S~~~