Lisa's Kitchen Blog

Buying apples by the bag or bushel can mean a good deal at the market, but then what do you do with all those apples? After we each eat a few, we're ready for something different. Making these bars is a great way to use those apples! My mom made these the other night for our Cub Scout Pack's Pinewood Derby, and they were a huge hit. These bars are moist and tasty, and you'll love them!

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
1-1/2 cups diced apple
1-1/2 cups walnuts, finely chopped
Powdered sugar for top of bars

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a large cookie sheet with sides or a jellyroll pan. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar with a wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in the beaten egg and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in the apples and walnuts. Mixture will be very stiff. Spread into prepared pan using a buttered silicone spatula.

Bake 20 - 25 minutes , until the bars are golden brown and spring back when lightly touched. Sift powdered sugar over top of bars after removing from oven. Let bars cool in the pan. Cut in squares. Makes 48 bars.

My mom recently made a big platter of tassies for a family get-together, and they were such a hit, I knew I had to blog them! She made four different flavors: chocolate fudge in a peanut butter cookie shell; and pecan, lemon, and raspberry in pie crust shells.

She has a small tassie-tamping-tool, and was nice enough to get me one, too. It's the perfect size for mini muffin pans. Just put in a piece of dough, press with the tamper, and you get perfectly shaped mini pie shells! These little treats would be perfect for tea parties, birthdays, potlucks, and, of course, school lunches!

Peanut butter-chocolate tassies

1/2 roll refrigerated peanut butter cookie dough (or you could use my peanut butter cookie recipe)
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a mini muffin or mini tart pan with non-stick spray. Place a rounded tablespoon of dough into each cup. Bake for 9 minutes until the edges are lightly browned and the dough is slightly firm, but not set.

Remove from oven. Using a tassie tamper or the back of a 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon, gently press a shallow indentation into each tart shell.

Bake 2 minutes longer, or until edges of tart shells are firm and light brown. Let cool in cups on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Carefully remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

For the filling, combine the chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in a small saucepan. Cook and stir over low heat until the chocolate is melted. Spoon into the cookie shells and cool, allowing to set. Makes 24.

Pecan pie tassies

Crust:

6 oz. cream cheese
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:

1/8 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease or spray 30 mini tart tins or muffin cups.

To make crust, in a medium bowl, cream together cream cheese and 1 cup butter until light and fluffy. Blend in flour, 1/2 cup at a time, forming a smooth dough. Roll into 30 balls and press into each tart or muffin cup so it lines the bottom and sides like a pie crust.

For the filling, cream together 1/4 cup butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla until thoroughly blended. Stir in pecan. Fill each pie crust half full. It will rise as it bakes.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let cool in tins, then use the end of a table or paring knife to flip each tart out of its tin.

Lemon and raspberry tassies

2 cups flour
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. oil
6 Tbsp. ice water
Jar of lemon curd and/or seedless raspberry jam

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.For dough, mix flour, oil, and ice water until flour is no longer dry in the bowl. (This is enough dough for a double pie crust.)

Roll dough into rounded tablespoon-sized balls and place in mini muffin or tart pan cups. Press to cover the bottom and sides. You'll want it to be fairly thin, because the dough does puff up a bit.

Fill crusts with prepared lemon curd or raspberry jam. You could use any flavor of jam, really! Bake for 25 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let cool in tins, and remove with a knife.

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We spent Christmas day at my parents' house, and enjoyed a relaxed, all-day buffet rather than a sit-down meal. We had bunches of cookies and candies, cheese and crackers, relish trays, and salads. It was all good. And in lieu of a turkey or ham, we had a pot of my dad's chili, and a pot of Italian tortellini soup that my mom made. Thankfully it made way more than she thought it would (she doubled this recipe), because that meant we got to take the leftovers home!

1 lb. Italian sausage
1 cup chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups beef broth
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup dry red wine
8 ounces fresh tortellini pasta
1 cup sliced carrots
2 cups stewed tomatoes
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
8 oz. tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups sliced zucchini
2 green bell peppers, seeded and cut into bite-sized pieces
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
Parmesan cheese

Remove sausage from casings, if needed. Cook sausage, drain, and reserve 1 Tbsp. drippings.

In a large pot, sautee onion and garlic in the drippings until tender. Add broth, water, wine, carrots, tomatoes, basil, oregano, tomato sauce, and the sausage. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

Add vegetables, parsley, and tortellini. Simmer another 25 minutes, covered. (If you are using frozen tortellini, simmer 45 minutes.) Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

Pork and apples go together like ...well ... pork and cranberries.This super easy, delicious dish blends all these flavors together beautifully, and it's made in the slow cooker, so that's a bonus! I put this together the other morning, headed to town for the day, and when I got home, the house smelled amazing! The pork was so juicy and tender, and tasted great! 

Lately, our grocery store has been having some super sales on pork loins. I have the butcher cut the loins in half, and I use one right away and freeze the other. I could feed my family of five with one-third of the loin, but we like leftovers, so I use half. Plus, this is the perfect size for my oblong slow cookers.

This dish is so easy that it really doesn't even have a recipe. First, spray the inside of your crock with non-stick spray, or insert a disposable liner. Slice a couple of apples, and place a layer of slices on the bottom of the slow cooker. Sprinkle with apple pie seasoning. Place the pork loin on top of the apples.Slice "pockets" into the meat every inch and a half or so, and slip an apple slice into each pocket. Surround the meat with more apple slices. Open a can of whole cranberries in sauce, stir a little to break up the gel, and pour over the roast. Sprinkle with more apple pie spice.

That's it! A 3- to 4-pound pork loin will take about 6 hours on low, or 5 hours on high. Test for doneness with a meat thermometer. Slice and enjoy!