spinach strawberry salad

We made the spinach strawberry salad when Kim came down for Father's Day. Yum!

#18 Apple Butter

This is a combination of 2 recipes.

Ingredients:

12-15 large cooking apples, cored and chopped into small bits (~14 cups)
~3 cups apple cider or juice
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves


Directions:

Combine the apples, cider and sugar in a slow cooker. Cover and Cook on low for 10 hours or high for 4 hours. Remove apples/cider mixture into a blender (or food processor) and blend until smooth. Add the spices and return to slow cooker and cook on low for another hour or until the desired consistency (for a thicker butter leave the lid off in this section).

Now it is ready to be canned. I am still working on my expertize in this area so here is a copy of instructions from the recipe I used:

"Here is the canning part: Spoon apple butter into hot, sterilized canning jars (pint or half-pint do nicely). Leave 1/4 inch head-space. Wipe rims and adjust lids. Place in a boiling-water canner for 5 to 10 minutes (5 minutes for half-pints, 10 minutes for full pints from the time the water begins to boil). Carefully take jars from canner and allow them to cool on racks. The result is about 4 pints. So double up on recipe for bigger batches!"
*Remember that for higher elevations you need to have the jars in the water bath for longer.

**It is best to use tart apples, like macintosh. I use the ones from my tree in my backyard. I also broke my blender after the first batch so the second time I used the food processor and it was not nearly as smooth as the blender!! If you need to borrow canning equipmemt or you just want to get together for a Can-a-thon let me know!!!

5 layer cake

Here is a picture of the inside of the 5 layer cake, sorry it took so long to get it posted.

#17 Snicker Doodles

Blend together:

1 cup soft shortening

1-1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

Stir in 2-3/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt.

Chill together and roll into balls. Roll in a mixture of:

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes.

#16 Alfredo Asparagus

I came up with this recipe while attempting to make a pesto dinner. I could not find the basil to make the pesto or a premade substitute so I opted for Alfredo sauce instead.

Ingredients:
1 lb asparagus, chopped into 1-2 inch pieces
1 med. onion, chopped
Butter or olive oil for sauting
1 pkg alfredo mix
shredded mozzarela (optional)
pasta

Directions:

Cook pasta (I used rigatoni).

Saute the onion over med-high heat until it just starts to brown on edges (adding some salt is supposed to help carmelized the onions). Add the asparagus. Cook until the asparagus is tender-crisp. About halfway through I added some pepper and a little more salt.

When there is only a few minutes left make the alfedo sauce. It is really easy. Melt 2 Tbls butter. Add 3/4 cup milk. Bring to a boil and add the alfredo mix. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes (or until it thickens). If you choose you can make your own alfredo sauce from scratch (Betty Crocker has a good one, I like the lower fat version) but I did not want to take the time or cost of the cheese.

Combine the sauce and the pasta. Put in a bowl and then place the Aparagus/Onions on top. Sprinkle with a little mozzarela and serve immediately.

**The next time I make this I will probably add fresh mushrooms.