Baked Apple Halves with Maple Cream worth interrupting a well-ordered schedule for

Earlier I mentioned Hubby's mother's great love for and penchant for preparing baked apples. I then presented a roasted pear recipe that reminded me of how her delicious baked apples tasted. That was before I found this Baked Apple Halves with Maple Cream recipe in a recent Prevention magazine.

I have real trouble with receiving a new issue of Prevention in the mail, because I want to try every recipe that appears within its pages. That messes up my little world, because I already have my stack of "to-be-tried" recipes lying neatly atop my microwave. I have them arranged in order and have a grocery list prepared to accompany the recipes. Introducing a new one throws off my schedule of things. (I'm not very spontaneous--remember my Meyers-Briggs personality assessment that I mentioned earlier? Don't mess with my plans without giving me plenty of advance warning; unless you want to tangle with a mountain lion, don't spring something on me. Surprise birthday parties, though thoughtful gestures, are major shocks to my system and take me weeks to recover from.)

However, introducing this Baked Apple Halves with Maple Cream recipe that called out to me when I opened the pages of my new Prevention was well worth throwing myself off-kilter for a few days. What an awesome dish! Best of all, you can bake the apples for this side dish up to a day ahead, cool, and store them in the refrigerator covered. The recipe called for Ida Red apples, but the Jonathan, Jonagold, or Gala variety also will work.

You'll have a tough time deciding whether this is a salad, a veggie, or a dessert. Hubby saved a little of the reserved fruit syrup to put in a smoothie. Ditto for the leftover maple cream--literally a good-to-the-last-drop use of a wonderful recipe.

Baked Apple Halves with Maple Cream

2 large apples, halved lengthwise and cored with a melon baller

4 teaspoons trans-free margarine, cut into small pieces

1/2 cup orange juice

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup fat-free evaporated milk

2 tablespoons sugar-free maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Chill small mixing bowl for preparing evaporated milk. Place apples flesh side up in square baking dish and dot with margarine. Pour orange juice and vinegar over top. Cover with foil and bake 40 to 45 minutes until apples are soft but still hold their shape. Remove apples to large plate and pour juice from dish into small saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce 3 to 4 minutes until thick and syrupy. Reserve 4 tablespoons. Whip evaporated milk and maple syrup together in chilled bowl with electric mixer at high speed 3 to 5 minutes until mixture thickens. Top each baked apple half with 1 1/2 tablespoons of the maple cream and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the reserved fruit syrup. Makes four servings.

Long-ago act of kindness recalled by famous chef's fresh corn recipe

With great interest I've been following beloved TV chef Emeril as he has "gone green" and produced a line of low-fat, health-friendly recipes to add to his cooking repertoire.

The July 2010 issue of Prevention magazine features some in this new collection; it offers six "summer sides" that represent Emeril's transformation to "good-for-you" food.

One of them, Creamy Sweet Corn, caught my eye. Hubby and I enjoyed this tasty side of Emeril's during our recent July Fourth long holiday weekend. I always try to choose for the Fourth recipes that are certain standouts so we can have a holiday meal that we remember all year. My summer recipe album is stuffed with clips that bear notations about my July Fourth menus throughout the years. Of course the most memorable Fourth was the one in which our future son-in-law's parents drove over to our RV parked at the lake and Hubby and I met them for the first time. My recipe for "Lemon Grilled Salmon" is labeled "July 4, 2006; made for Casey's parents’ dinner.” That's certainly a recipe we'll never forget.

At any rate, Creamy Sweet Corn (find this on www.prevention.com) was delightful--made with corn kernels cut fresh from the cob and mixed with red pepper, celery, and onion and a sauce with a fat-free evaporated milk base. Although Emeril in Prevention suggested that it be served warmed, we enjoyed it just as much cold and served as a salad. We definitely were happy that Emeril had "gone green" (the next night we enjoyed--from the same Prevention article--Tossed Greens with Watermelon and Feta Cheese, a truly novel and refreshing mixture of the sweet and salty.)

Part of the reason Creamy Sweet Corn caught my imagination, however, had nothing to do with Emeril and his creations for Prevention. This fresh, inventive recipe reminded me of another corn recipe served at another time and an act of kindness by a dear aunt whose thoughtfulness has been remembered down the years though she's been long gone from this earth.

One summer day early in our marriage Hubby and I stopped by Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Bill's Delta County rural home for a visit near mealtime. Aunt Bonnie had just brought in some fresh ears of corn from her marvelous garden; she prepared for us the Fried Corn recipe below. My hubby extolled this to the sky; he never had dined on something so close to perfection. Aunt Bonnie, in her ever-gracious way, wrote down the recipe for him so I could attempt to recreate it for him at home. Hubby was overwhelmed that Aunt Bonnie would take such account of his interests that she would do this for him--a recent family addition and an in-law at that. A host of summers later my husband still can feel his tastebuds spring alive at the mere thought of this dish.

We're so thankful Aunt Bonnie (one of the Three Red-Haired Miller Girls who are the main characters in my new cookbook, Way Back in the Country Garden) took the time to preserve the recipe so Hubby and I can continue to remember her over-the-top hospitality. Long before the term or the concept of healthy eating ever became a household word, this precious aunt was deliciously cooking "green".

Fried Corn

8 ears fresh corn

1/2 cup milk (we use skim milk)

1/2 teaspoon salt (we use salt substitute)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

4 tablespoons butter

2 eggs (we use egg substitute)

Cut corn from cob and to kernels add milk, salt, and pepper. Melt butter in a heavy skillet. When skillet is hot and butter melted, add corn. Cook until tender. Stir occasionally. Just before corn is ready to take up, add beaten eggs and blend in well.