A reset on Sweet Potato Fries—with a great outcome!

Thousands of ideas abound on the best recipe for Sweet Potato Fries. In this blog I’ve already tried out one of them. But the quest continued. From our most recent farm-stand visit I had brought home some absolutely lovely, enormous sweet potatoes. Although I they could have ended up in a huge variety of dishes, giving Sweet Potato Fries another stab kept calling to me.

What did the cooking queen, Paula Deen, have to say about the matter? I had never looked up her Baked Sweet Potato Fries recipe before, but you can bet she had some good advice. The photo at left was the result. Two secrets: her House Seasoning mixture, which can be used on many food items, and baking the fries on a parchment-lined cookie sheet to prevent burning. I also experimented with my crinkle-cutter to give a uniform look.

The cut strips of sweet potato are tossed in olive oil; then a tablespoon of the House Seasoning recipe, along with 1/2 teaspoon paprika, is sprinkled over them for tossing again. Into the oven they go for 20 minutes, to be turned after the first 10 minutes. The result was a set of perfectly browned and delightfully seasoned Sweet Potato Fries. I think they were my best yet. I tried a little bit later and left off the parchment paper on the cookie sheet. Bad idea—too-brown and occasionally burnt potatoes resulted. Don’t skip the parchment!

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

olive oil, for tossing

5 sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch-long slices, then 1/4-inch-wide strips, 

using a crinkle-cutter

1 tablespoon House Seasoning (recipe follows)

1/2 teaspoon paprika

House seasoning:

1 cup salt (or salt substitute)

1/4 cup black pepper

1/4 cup garlic powder

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a sheet tray with parchment. In a large bowl toss sweet potatoes with just enough oil to coat. Mix House Seasoning ingredients and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months. Take 1 tablespoon of the House Seasoning and use it to sprinkle onto the potatoes. Add paprika. Toss. Spread sweet potatoes in a single layer on prepared baking sheet. Be sure not to overcrowd potatoes. Bake until sweet potatoes are tender and golden brown, turning occasionally, about 20 minutes (I turned after 10 minutes). Let cool 5 to 10 minutes before you serve. Makes 3 to 5 servings of potatoes. (Source: www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/baked-sweet-potato-fries-recipe)

Cinnamon Stewed Apples—will do these more often!

Want to get your fall groove on? This simple dish will do it for you.

Six apples (the recipe calls for Granny Smith, but I used whatever kind was in our most recent farmer’s market pickup) peeled and chopped with some spices, apple juice, and brown sugar simmered on the stove for 45 minutes. That’s all! The result smelled beautiful, looked great, and was a perfect side dish for whatever else I was serving. It accompanies pork, ham, chicken—or even chicken salad. Sounds like an odd combination, that latter item, but chicken salad is what was for dinner over the weekend. The stewed apples were just terrific with it. My bet is that they’d taste as good straight from the fridge as they do warmed on the stove.

Hubby’s query was, “Why don’t we do these more often?” Good question. The recipe can double easily and will keep in the refrigerator about a week. The sauce may appear thin when you remove the dish from the stovetop, but on standing it thickens nicely.

An apple a day (or a serving of these spicy stewed apples) keeps the what’s-for-dinner doldrums away. At least that’s my take on the old apple saw.

Cinnamon Stewed Apples

6 cups chopped peeled Granny Smith apples (about 2 pounds)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar (can use brown-sugar substitute)

1/4 cup apple juice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients in a large, heavy saucepan. Cover and cook over medium-low heat 45 minutes or until apple is tender. Stir occasionally. Let stand 5 minutes. Makes about 2 cups. (Source: www.myrecipes.com)

Caramel Apple Muffins and promises of fall refresh the heart

What pleasant thoughts get conjured up by a magazine feature entitled “Apple Delights”! Who doesn’t feel hopeful reading about a variety of ways with apples? Fall and the promises it holds suddenly feel a lot closer when a recipe for Caramel Apple Muffins sits on my kitchen counter with ingredients for it gathered.

Muffins from this recipe appeared on the cover of the September issue of Southern Living magazine. Darling little muffins that resemble real caramel apples, with a nut-sprinkled caramel glaze on top and little twig handles for decor, were so appealing, I had to bake them first thing.

A basic muffin batter with 2 cups diced apples fills muffin cups, with a cinnamon topping sprinkled on before all is baked. Once removed from the pan these muffins remain top-side down. You melt the caramels and dip the bottom side of the muffin surface (yes, I did a double-take on that one, too!) and then roll this surface in nuts. I decided to forego inserting sticks or twigs and enjoy these without the dress-up, but the idea is cute indeed.

Not long after those delicious-beyond-words muffins popped out of the oven, our part of the world experienced a refreshing cool spell that put everyone in a better state of mind. Fall and its promises and Caramel Apple Muffins—they make the heart sing.

                                                               Caramel Apple Muffins

1 (8-ounce) container sour cream (I used fat-free)

1 cup sugar (I used sugar substitute)

2 large eggs (I used egg substitute)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt (I used salt substitute)

2 cups peeled and diced Granny Smith apples

1 (14-ounce) package caramels

3 tablespoons whipping cream

1 cup chopped lightly salted roasted pecans (I used walnuts)

wax paper

food-safe twigs or craft sticks

Cinnamon topping:

1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 1/2 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl prepare cinnamon topping by combining brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles coarse meal. Set topping aside. Beat sour cream and next 3 ingredients at a low speed with an electric mixer 30 seconds or until all is blended. Stir together flour and next 3 ingredients. Add to sour-cream mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended. (Do not overmix.) Stir in diced apples. Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 12-cup muffin pan. Fill muffin cups three-fourths full. Sprinkle with cinnamon topping. Bake at 375 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes or until muffins are golden brown and a wooden pick inserted in center emerges clean. Immediately remove from pans to wire racks; cool completely (about 30 minutes). Microwave caramels and cream in a microwave-safe bowl at high 1 to 2 minutes or until mixture is smooth. Stir at 30-second intervals. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until thick enough to coat muffins. Quickly dip bottom three-fourths of each muffin into caramel mixture; roll bottom half of caramel-coated portion of muffin in chopped nuts. Place muffins, caramel sides up, on lightly greased wax paper. (If caramel mixture begins to harden before you’ve dipped all the muffins, microwave mixture a few seconds to siften.) Insert food-safe twigs or craft sticks into caramel-covered portions of muffins. Makes 1 dozen muffins. (Source: Southern Living September 2012)

Pumpkin Pie Chocolate Chip Muffins promise some wonderful feasting on Thanksgiving week

If anything can top a muffin with pumpkin in it, it’s a muffin with pumpkin and chocolate chips in it.

I so wanted something with this flavor combo, I went a-surfin’ it. My Internet search turned up Pumpkin Pie Chocolate Chip Muffins at www.bbonline.com, the website of prized recipes from bed-and-breakfast inns throughout the country. This recipe apparently is legendary at Justin Trails Bed and Breakfast Resort in Sparta, WI. Must be a fab place.

The commentary accompanying the muffin recipe states that this recipe calls for half the usual amount of pumpkin and requires only 1 cup, or 8 ounces, of pumpkin. It says that most pumpkin muffins include an entire 16-ounce can of canned pumpkin, which makes them too heavy. I’ll have to say that these were some of the lightest pumpkin muffins I’ve ever tasted—like biting into air with the occasional chocolate morsel interspersed. The occasional chocolate morsel is what gives them the wow! factor, of course. (I used fresh pumpkin instead of canned but used only 1 cup, or 8 ounces, as the recipe states.)

After a few nibbles to test, Hubby and I (very reluctantly) tucked these away into our Thanksgiving-week freezer supply, as we have been with most baked goods recently. Putting away anything with a chocolate chip inside it is a struggle, but it’s for a good cause—feasting on that week of feasts and thankfulness!

Pumpkin Pie Chocolate Chip Muffins

2 cups brown sugar

1 cup canola oil

4 eggs (or 1 cup egg substitute)

1 cup pumpkin (fresh or canned)

2 cups chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups plain yogurt (I didn't have plain, so I used nonfat vanilla yogurt)

1/2 cup crystallized ginger

2 teaspoons grated orange peel

3 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons soda

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon ginger, ground

1/4 teaspoon cloves

Cream brown sugar and oil. Add eggs and beat. Stir in pumpkin, chocolate chips, yogurt, and crystallized ginger. Measure dry ingredients together and mix. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the liquids; gently stir. Add 1/3 more dry ingredients. Gently stir until blended. Add remaining dry ingredients; stir just until moist. Use an ice-cream scoop to scoop batter into paper-lined, medium-sized muffin tins. Bake at 375 degrees for 17 minutes. Makes 2 1/2 dozen muffins.

A dish you don’t see every day—Stuffed Patty-Pan Squash

Patty-pan squash had always fascinated me. I had seen the little round, scalloped, somewhat flattened veggies on display at farmers markets and was curious about them. What would they taste like? How did one cook them? I heard various versions of how-to’s described but never had tried any out.

Then at the most recent outdoor farm stand we visited, I finally succumbed. Two varieties were present—one, a pale yellow-green and another, deep golden with green flecks. They just looked so . . . well, like fall. I knew that with a little online help, I could turn up some cooking instructions.

Cooks.com helped me out with this recipe that used a filling of chopped onion and celery, tomato soup, and crushed cheese crackers, plus the cooked innards that have been chopped and stirred back in. Hubby and I snack on lots of Ritz Hint-of-Salt crackers, so we always have those around. The key was cooking the patty-pans until they were soft enough to scoop out but not so soft that they cratered and couldn’t hold up to the stuffing process (think the doneness of a green Bell pepper just before the meat mixture goes inside).

The recipe didn’t say to, but to me, almost anything tastes better with a little cheese on top. Some shredded Italian-blend cheese worked just fine dusted atop the baked patty-pans. The two different colors of squash made a unique contrast in the dish. Crumb topping and the cheese made the patty-pans look appealing and taste like one’s own personal squash casserole. Mixing in the touch of tomato soup gave them a good flavor.

I was really pleased with myself for pursuing this original recipe and thought Stuffed Patty-Pan Squash would be a nice addition to a Thanksgiving table (and prompt an exercise of “name-the-vegetable”). It’s definitely a dish you don’t see every day.

 

Stuffed Patty-Pan Squash

6-8 patty pans

2 tablespoons butter

3-4 tablespoons chopped onion

3-4 tablespoons chopped celery

4 tablespoons tomato soup

salt (or salt substitute) to taste

10-12 cheese crackers, crushed (I used Ritz Hint-of-Salt round crackers.)

Wash and trim squash. Drop in boiling water and simmer until squash are about half done. Drain and cool. Spoon out centers. Leave shell of about 1/2-inch in thickness. Do not cut through to bottom. Chop removed centers and set aside. In skillet melt butter; sauté onion and celery until they are soft. Add chopped centers, tomato soup, salt, and pepper. Mix and then add enough crushed cheese crackers to thicken filling (thick enough to stuff). Fill shells with mixture. Sprinkle a handful of crushed cheese crackers over tops. Bake at 350 degrees until squash is done (about 20 to 30 minutes). (I topped the baked patty-pans with about 1 cup Italian-blend shredded cheese.) Makes 6-8 servings.

Like eating candy atop a delicious fall loaf—Praline-Apple Bread

Can you imagine a layer of praline candy that crowns a bread absolutely packed with the goodness of fresh apples? That was the happy outcome of a new find—a recipe for Praline-Apple Bread. I was prowling around the Internet to see what I might still turn up for some more fall apple fixin’s. This 2009 listing on www.myrecipes.com caught my eye. Saturday morning-type fare, it seemed to call to me. Wow, was it a wonderful addition to our weekend!

In following the recipe I made an interesting substitution. The secret to a moist bread was said to lie in the 8-ounce container of sour cream to be added to the mix. I had on hand only about 1/3 of the 1 cup of sour cream necessary. Hubby had some fat-free vanilla yogurt that he uses for his smoothies. His sacrifice of his yogurt (that I added on top of the existing sour cream to make a 1 cup measure) kept him from having to make an emergency dash to the grocery. I normally am not very gutsy when (off-the-cuff) subs are concerned and don’t like to take risks for fear of a bad outcome, but if moistness was the goal, then yogurt seemed that it might add that attribute.

I shouldn’t have worried. This turned out to be a terrific loaf with the smoothest texture and most amazing flavor imaginable. And the butter/brown sugar topping, stirred to a 1-minute boil and then poured over the bread once-removed from the pan, hardened into a glaze that was like biting into a creamy praline. (The recipe said this appeared two Septembers ago in Southern Living.)

We dined happily ever after.

Praline-Apple Bread

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans, divided

1 (8-ounce) container fat-free sour cream

1 cup granulated sugar (or sugar substitute)

2 large eggs (or 1/2 cup egg substitute)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1 1/2 cups finely chopped, peeled Granny Smith apples (about 3/4 pound apples)

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 1/2 cup pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan for 6 to 8 minutes or until pecans are toasted and fragrant. Stir after 4 minutes. Beat sour cream and next 3 ingredients at low speed with an electric mixer for 2 minutes or until blended. Stir together flour and next 3 ingredients. Add to sour-cream mixture. Beat until just blended. Stir in apples and 1/2 cup toasted pecans. Spoon batter into a greased and floured 9-inch-by-5-inch loaf pan. Sprinkle top with remaining 1 cup chopped pecans. Lightly press pecans into top of batter. Bake loaf at 350 degrees for 60-65 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into center emerges clean. (After 50 minutes of cooking shield top of bread with aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning.) When loaf is done and before removing it from its pan, place pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Then remove bread from pan to wire rack. For glaze bring butter and brown sugar to a boil in a 1-quart heavy saucepan over medium heat; stir constantly; boil 1 minute. Remove from heat and spoon over top of bread. Let cool completely, about 1 hour. (To freeze, cool bread completely, wrap in plastic wrap, then in aluminum foil. Freeze up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.) Makes 1 loaf.

Unusual black beans recipe celebrates our jalapeno plants’ surviving the summer

Black beans. Tabasco sauce. Jalapeno pepper. Italian seasoning. Orange juice. These are some of the elements that were called for in my new recipe for Spicy Black Beans. I wondered how this combination would work. (Orange juice in a bean recipe? Didn’t seem right.)

But out in our garden, our lone jalapeno plant is in its post-summer flourish. Ever since the temps have begun to diminish, all the pepper plants (Bell peppers as well) are showing off—as though they’re saying, “Nanny-nanny-boo-boo, you can’t kill us, you ole nasty Summer Heat Wave.” Although a few short weeks ago they looked withered as a limp dish rag, they’ve returned with a fresh wind for fall. Good thing, since the fall pepper crop is where we get our green pepper supply for the next year as we chop and freeze what appears on the plants.

So I wandered out to the pepper rows, plucked a shiny new jalapeno, brought it in, and got to work on Spicy Black Beans, which are featured in the Chickasaw cookbook, “Celebrating a Healthy Harvest.” Besides being an excellent source of fiber, beans also provide iron, zinc, folate, and calcium.

The night before, Hubby had put a package of black beans on to soak, so early the next morning he brought out a ham hock from the freezer and let the beans cook on low for about three hours so he’d have three cups cooked beans ready for me when I started my recipe.

I’m not here to tell you that I now can explain how some of these disparate ingredients blended together for a hugely tasty bean dish; I just know that they did. I served the beans over cooked, whole-grain rice with cheese on top. The aroma of the beans cooking personified a fall day.

We looked on it as a great way to celebrate our pepper plants hanging in there by their toenails until the searing heat passed and a little hint of fall could infiltrate our remaining garden rows.

Spicy Black Beans

1 tablespoon cooking oil

1 large onion, diced

1 red Bell pepper, chopped

1 green Bell pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon cumin (optional)

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (or just oregano)

3 cups cooked black beans (drained)

1 large can diced tomatoes, undrained

1/4 cup orange juice

1 teaspoon Tabasco (or other hot sauce)

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil. Add onions, peppers, garlic, cumin, jalapeno, and Italian seasoning; sauté until vegetables are soft. Add beans and stir until some break apart and become pasty. Stir beans, tomatoes, orange juice, and Tabasco into the vegetables. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Uncover and simmer for 15 minutes while you stir frequently until mixture becomes a thick sauce. Serve over rice or pasta. Makes 4 servings.

Crustless Sweet Potato Pie a lightened-up version of a fall favorite

Sweet potatoes were among the other items we hauled back from the Chickasaw-vendor roadside markets. Hubby fretted that the size of the potatoes, which were on the medium-to-small side and said they wouldn’t be too terrific for baking. I said no problem; I had a recipe that called for mashed ones that were just this size.

A gooey sweet-potato casserole with the nuts-and-marshmallow topping is highly popular this time of year and is a standard Thanksgiving accompaniment; I could tell this recipe (Sweet Potato Pie without the pie crust) was a lightened version of that one. The bottom layer consisted of the mushed-up sweet potatoes, with spices, butter, milk, and brown sugar added. The top layer was like a pecan pie, with nuts sprinkled on and a corn-syrup topping poured around. So it was like digging through a pecan pie layer to get to the potato layer. Sweet! But not overly sweet. I used it as a veggie to go with my main course last night, but it would be just as great saved for dessert with maybe a little fat-free whipped topping dotted on.

And oh, the pleasure of being in the same dwelling while this recipe (from “Celebrating a Healthy Harvest”) is baking! Cinnamon and nutmeg-y smells, combined with slightly cooler temperatures yesterday and the arrival of some new pecan-colored boots I’d ordered through the mail, made fall seem as though it was just around the block. How we’re all ready for it!

Sweet Potato Pecan Pie

3 cups mashed sweet potatoes

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 eggs (or 1/2 cup egg substitute)

2 tablespoons skim milk

2 teaspoons vanilla, divided

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 1/2 cups pecans, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together mashed sweet potatoes, brown sugar, eggs, milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. Pour into a greased 8-inch-by-8-inch square baking pan. Spread mixture evenly. Spread chopped pecans over the sweet-potato mixture. Combine sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, corn syrup, and butter until completely mixed. Pour this mixture over pecans. Distribute evenly. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until the top is puffed up and golden brown. Cool for 30 minutes; serve. Makes 8 servings.

Spicy aromas in every corner while these apple muffins bake

Bring-on-Fall Recipe #3—Easy Apple Cinnamon Muffins. Saturday seemed like another baking-with-apples kind of day. I was ready for that autumnal aroma to fill every corner of the house again; Hubby was ready for a special, Saturday-morning breakfast.

Allrecipes.com helped me out with these quick muffins that spiced up our weekend—and, as we just observed, were the prelude for a few actual rain sprinkles this morning (at least our loved ones in East Texas are getting a good bit of moisture).

Easy Apple Cinnamon Muffins are filled with delicious apple chunks and topped with streusel. The prep on this was quick—even more speedy because Hubby helped with the apple chopping. Nothing like a little cheerful teamwork in the kitchen!

The topping helped hold the baked muffins together well after they were removed from their tins. Best yet, although the recipe said it yielded 6 servings, I somehow managed to get 10 muffins out of the mixture—even with filling the pan to the top of the muffin cups as the recipe called for. Easy Apple Cinnamon Muffins may not have brought on fall’s full effects just yet, but they brought on a joyful day and weekend and more hope for fall's arrival.

Easy Apple Cinnamon Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose four

3/4 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)

1/3 cup skim milk

2 apples—peeled, cored, and chopped (I used Granny Smith)

Topping:

1/2 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup butter, softened and cubed

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease six muffin cups or line them with paper muffin liners. Stir together 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt, baking powder, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Mix in oil, egg, and milk. Fold in apples. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups; fill to the top of the cup. In a small bowl stir together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix together with fork; sprinkle over unbaked muffins. Bake in a preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin emerges clean. Serves 6-10.

Crustless Harvest Pizza gives "pizza night" new, more healthy meaning

This was just the best of the best! With fall days winding down and cranberry Christmas days approaching, recipes with the word harvest in them soon will be relegated to next-year's fall wish list. But on this, the last day of November, I can't think of a better way to give autumn a proper sendoff than to tell you about this Crustless Harvest Pizza. When I first saw the recipe, I wasn't impressed. Hours later, after the dish it produced made a satisfying dinner, I was sorry I hadn't prepared it many, many times previously.

Healthy, colorful yellow squash and zucchini, sliced into 1-inch slices, form the "harvest" of veggies on top. The crust is formed from the solidification of ricotta cheese, egg, and Parmesan cheese surrounding it as the dish bakes. The addition of chopped red and green pepper and green onion, sauteed, made one of the most colorful food items I've ever seen.

Believe it or not, when this emerged from the oven and cooled, it sliced with a pizza cutter into nice little squares that were firm and delightful. It gave the term "pizza night" new meaning, as those who are on restricted eating plans can feel as though they can still enjoy a good pizza slice without harming their health. My recipe source, the Celebrating a Healthy Harvest cookbook, has yielded another winner. In fact, even though the recipe has a fall-sounding name, I can't imagine a dinner quicker and easier to rev one up for a winter evening of decorating the Christmas tree!

Crustless Harvest Pizza

1 medium zucchini, sliced in 1-inch slices

1 yellow squash, sliced in 1-inch slices

1/2 red pepper and 1/2 green pepper, chopped

1/4 cup green onion, chopped

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 1/2 cups low-fat ricotta cheese

1 egg, slightly beaten (I used egg substitute)

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 garlic cloves, diced

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1 teaspoon pepper

3/4 cup mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In small, nonstick skillet saute red and green peppers and green onion until tender. Set aside. Combine ricotta, egg, Parmesan, garlic, salt, and pepper, Spread mixture in a greased 8-by-8-inch baking pan (I used a glass pan). Spread mozzarella over ricotta. Lay squash slices over the top. Spread peppers and green-onion mixture over squash slices. Bake for 20 minutes or until the pizza firms up and is browned. Remove from oven and let pizza sit for 5 minutes before you cut it. Makes 8 squares.

Is your week slightly upside down with busyness? This upside-down apple cake makes a great, quick Thanksgiving-week breakfast

We all know about pineapple upside-down cakes, but here's a new wrinkle—an apple upside-down cake. In my recipes that call for fresh apples was this little gem called Spiced Apple Cake that sounded just perfect for the Thanksgiving season. Although Spiced Apple Cake probably was designed to be a dessert, we ended up dining on it for breakfast for several mornings in the past few days. Looking for a great breakfast item to serve company who still might be in your house for the holidays? You can't beat this one.

One-and-a-half cups of peeled apple slices (any variety) go on the bottom of a nonstick pan that has had butter melted in it and sugar sprinkled over the apples. Then spray the sides with nonfat cooking spray. Trust me—this preparation is sufficient to guarantee that the cake will turn out of its pan without hassle—even in a pan that's not of the nonstick variety (the kind I had on hand to use, by the way). When the dessert emerged from the oven, I approached the removal of it with great trepidation, but I let it cool for about five minutes, ran a spatula around the edges, and used the spatula to dig underneath the cake a little to be sure all was loosened. Holding my breath I turned it over on a cake plate and voila! a perfect unfurling of a perfect cake, with all the apple topping in place!

Family Circle magazine of a few years back gets credit for this delightful recipe, which recommends serving it slightly warm with whipped cream. Fat-free whipped topping for us, of course, although without that on hand, we used Hubby's fat-free vanilla yogurt instead. Divine! Boy, were we sorry when this little upside-down dish was gone—good to the very last crumb.

Spiced Apple Cake

11 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups packed dark-brown sugar (can use brown-sugar substitute)

1 1/2 cups peeled apple slices, any variety

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

2 eggs (or egg substitute)

2/3 cup milk (we use skim milk)

whipped cream, if desired (or fat-free whipped topping)

Place 3 tablespoons of the butter in a 9-inch round nonstick cake pan. Coat sides of pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place pan in oven while heating the oven to 325 degrees. When butter is melted, remove pan from oven. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of the sugar. Carefully fan apple slices, overlapping in pan. Sift flour, baking powder, cloves, allspice, and salt into a medium-sized bowl. Set aside. In a large bowl beat remaining 8 tablespoons butter and remaining 1 cup sugar until sooth. Beat in eggs. Add half the flour mixture, then milk, then remaining flour. Beat until smooth. Pour into pan. Bake cake at 325 degrees for 1 hour or until pick inserted in center comes out clean. Run a think knife around cake; invert onto a plate. Remove pan; replace any apple slices stuck to pan. Serve slightly warm with whipped cream, fat-free topping, or nonfat vanilla yogurt.

Glazed Sweet Potatoes—look no further if you're still digging around for a Thanksgiving sweet-potato recipe

In an earlier blog I mentioned the heretical act of subbing a new green-bean recipe for the time-honored Green Bean Casserole that's typical Thanksgiving fare. I really stepped across the line this year when I also subbed Glazed Sweet Potatoes for the traditional, pecan-topped sweet-potato "candy" that families have used for decades. I love that version—Sweet Potato Casserole that appears in my first cookbook, Way Back in the Country, and that was introduced in our family by my cousin, Jana. But I was itching to try a new sweet-potato recipe this year; we gave a high-five to the outcome.

Glazed Sweet Potatoes is simple enough—prepared with fresh sweet potatoes with a glaze of maple-flavored syrup (we used sugar-free syrup) mixed with brown sugar, butter, and spices. But oh, what a hit! I truly believe it was the star of my "drive-by" Thanksgiving dinner that we pulled together for our family time days ago. I even prepared it twice before Thanksgiving. I had some fresh sweet potatoes left over and decided to create it a second time.

Anyone who wants a sweet-potato dish on the Thanksgiving table but who doesn't want to go to the fuss (although a worthwhile fuss, I might add) of the traditional casserole would be smart to whip this one up quickly. Recipe courtesy Taste of Home magazine. Although he's complimentary of everything, Hubby deep-down likes his sweet potatoes rather basic, so with this dish he was enthralled, to say the least!

Happy Thanksgiving cooking! Today's the marathon day! Enjoy yourselves in your kitchen and relish in the foods of this great holiday.

Glazed Sweet Potatoes

2 pound medium sweet potatoes or 2 cans (18-ounces each) sweet potatoes, drained

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup maple-flavored syrup (I used sugar-free)

1/4 cup packed brown sugar (I used brown-sugar substitute and used only 1/8 cup)

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

If using fresh sweet potatoes, place in a kettle, cover with water, and cook covered for 25-35 minutes or just until tender. Drain; cool slightly. Peel and cut into chunks. Place cooked or canned sweet potatoes in a 2-quart baking dish. In a small saucepan combine butter, syrup, brown sugar, and cinnamon; cook and stir until mixture boils. Pour over potatoes. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes or until mixture is heated through. Makes 8 servings.

Harvest Chili show-stopper on any Thanksgiving table or for family meals on this week of mega-food prep

Also left over from our earlier Oklahoma roadside stand visit: a large butternut squash as well as a pattypan squash. I knew these were just begging for some wonderful recipe to be included in, but I wasn't really familiar with cooking either. I've always been very "garden-variety" (no pun intended) where squash was concerned—yellow squash and zucchini were the extent of my repertoire. (At the roadside stand Hubby scooped these up because he thought these looked interesting.)

My Celebrating a Healthy Harvest handbook fortunately helped me out in a wonderful way. The recipe for Harvest Chili was a lifesaver. But peeling the extra-tough skin on the butternut squash was a challenge. The recipe didn't say to do so, but I heated up a large pot of boiling water and boiled the butternut until it softened up and peeling was easy.

Adding the fresh corn, fresh tomatoes, and green bell pepper made this a healthy as well as colorful combination—perfect for Thanksgiving week, especially since folks are trying to limit their food intake to make room for that extra amount of Thanksgiving Day dining in which they plan to indulge. Harvest Chili was so enjoyable, we dined on it for both lunch and dinner in the same day for many days.

Also, quick and easy describe this prep—a good idea since most of us are busy readying for Thursday's dinner. The ease of preparation of this Harvest Chili can halt the fast-food-to-go line temptation on this week of (food) weeks, so you can serve your family something nourishing while not sacrificing precious time in the kitchen. Or, thinking outside the box, Harvest Chili would be a show-stopper on any Thanksgiving table.

Harvest Chili

2 tablespoons cooking oil

2 pounds butternut squash (or a combination of butternut and pattypan)

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

1 clove garlic (or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder)

2 cups fresh tomatoes (or 1 14-ounce can, undrained)

1 cup water (If you are using canned tomatoes, omit the water.)

1 large green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

3 large ears of corn, cooked and cut from the cob

1 small can green chilies or 1/2 cup fresh, chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Peel and chop squash into 1/2-inch chunks. Heat oil in skillet and add squash, onion, and garlic; cook for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add tomatoes and green pepper; bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover; simmer for 15 minutes. Add corn, chilies, salt, and pepper; simmer covered for 5 minutes or until squash is tender. Uncover and increase heat to high. Cook for 5 minutes or until the liquid is reduced; serve.

Plethora of pumpkin seeds yields a crunchy, spicy mix with a variety of uses

All that wonderful pumpkin puree from our fall pumpkins now sits in neat little containers in my freezer as it waits to be called on for service. (And it will be, as Hubby and I LOVE anything pumpkin.) But what about the plethora of pumpkin seeds that were extracted at the same time the pumpkin pulp was processed?

"Be sure and don't throw them away," Hubby, who finds uses for anything--even the hairy skin on kiwi fruit, which he grinds and installs into smoothies--cautioned.

Right, be good stewards of all God gives us, I knew in my heart to be correct. Waste not, want not, I could hear my mother's voice in my head. But pumpkin seeds? I've never been a big fan of the beyond-bland way they taste when they are oven-roasted.

Then I derived a plan. "You be the super-sleuth," I entreated Hubby. "Why don't you do an Internet search and see if you can find some unusual way to prepare them?" If preserving the pumpkin seeds was vastly important to him, perhaps he could be the one to find a newfangled hint.

Good for Hubby, he did just that. Going online he found this recipe for Spiced Oven-Roasted Pumpkin Seeds, which turned the ordinary into the extraordinary. Just the simple addition of sugar substitute and spices made the pumpkin seeds positively yummy, not to mention what the aroma of this spicy mix being cooked did for the house.

These were great for snacking by themselves, for tossing on breakfast cereal, or, of course, for Hubby's favorite pastime--finding new ingredients to add into his smoothie potpourri.

Spiced Oven-Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

1 cup pumpkin seeds (the amount produced by the average-sized pumpkin)

1 tablespoon melted butter or vegetable oil

1 tablespoon granulated sugar, or more, to taste (or sugar substitute)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon allspice

Rinse seeds well; remove as much of the pumpkin pulp as possible. Some of the small pieces of pumpkin will adhere to the seeds, but they won't hurt the seeds at all and might even add more flavor. Pat dry with paper towels. Don't let them dry completely on the paper towels, because they might stick. Toss seeds with the butter, sugar, and spices. Heat oven to 300 degrees. Spread coated seeds on a shallow baking sheet; you can line a baking sheet with nonstick foil to make cleanup easier. While you are baking them, turn seeds from time to time (about every 15 minutes) for about 45 to 60 minutes, or until nicely browned and crunchy.

Flexing netted a great (substitute) broccoli/carrot/cheese soup recipe

Flexibility—that great byword that characterizes most missionaries and lots of other exemplary folk—is not in my constitution. As I've mentioned before, give me LOTS of warning before you switch gears on me. And when recipes are involved, if I've picked one to feature in my blog, I've picked it—as well as the date and the occasion for which I'll prepare it. It's set in stone!

So I was zooming along gathering ingredients for a broccoli-carrot-cheese soup recipe. The recipe of choice was satisfactory enough and had lain in my "untried" section for several years. I was tearing into the package of fresh broccoli crowns when I saw it printed on the back—the recipe of my dreams for creamy broccoli soup. It contained the broccoli, carrots, and onion that I had on hand already; what's more, it already had all the substitutions made for me—low-sodium chicken broth, skim milk, salt substitute—without my having to desperately hope that my "subs" would work out OK.

Well, this was a no-brainer. My old plans had to go to make room for Creamy Broccoli Soup, whose recipe appeared on the package. Thank you, Kroger, for featuring this healthy version on your brand of broccoli crowns.

The result was the soup of my dreams, plus I just had to toss in a little cheddar cheese to give that creamy sauce a cheese-y taste. See, I can flex and do so on my own! Hubby said it was his favorite broccoli soup ever. We kept dividing the leftovers in half and dividing them again to make it stretch for as long as possible.

And my old recipe? I've tossed it. Nothing like the healthy version that was dropped in my lap, just as I was about to prepare the former one. Must have been meant to be.

Creamy Broccoli Soup

4 cups broccoli florets

2 cups water

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1 cup celery, chopped

1 cup carrots, chopped

1/2 cup yellow onion, chopped

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

6 tablespoons flour

3 cups chicken broth, low-sodium (may substitute vegetable broth)

2 cups skim milk

1 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 1/2 cups low-fat shredded cheese (optional)

In large pot bring water and onion powder to boil and add broccoli, celery, and carrots. Bring to a boil, drain, and set aside. Saute onions in butter until tender. Stir in flour to form a smooth paste Slowly add broth and milk. Stir constantly. Bring to a boil. Let boil for 1 minute; add vegetables and remaining ingredients. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes until tender. Remove from heat. Add 1 1/2 cups low-fat shredded cheddar cheese, if desired. Stir until melted. Can be prepared 4 hours in advance. Makes 4 servings.

Pumpkin recipe yields healthy, delicious surprise

Last night his parents brought our little 8-week-old munchkin over for trick-or-treat. Of course that cute baby had plenty of treats to fill his pumpkin (mainly Halloween books that his mommy could read to him and a crisp $5 bill like his great-grandmother Moore years ago always gave her grandpersons when they were young).

But what about the parents who cheerfully toted him all over town in his pea-in-the-pod costume to see admiring grandparents? Didn't that mom and dad deserve a treat also?

Aha, pumpkin recipe time! An untried-from-last-year treasure called out to me, as did some more fresh pureed pumpkin that awaited in my refrigerator. And since Halloween is the season of surprises, what better recipe to try than one for Pumpkin Surprise Loaf, which I first dined on last year at a church gathering? The person who baked it then dispensed the recipe because of popular acclaim.

The surprise is a delightful center of softened cream cheese, sugar, and egg white (using healthy substitutions, of course) surrounded by a top and bottom layer of pumpkin bread.

So when, amid multiple camera flashes, the proud mom and dad delivered their pea-in-the-pod for our viewing, they found a treat tray waiting for them as well--with slices of Pumpkin Surprise Loaf to sustain them for the remainder of the evening while their little one made his Halloween debut.

The loaf--as well as the munchkin--were big hits.

Pumpkin Surprise Loaf

1 cup mashed, pureed pumpkin (or 1 cup canned pumpkin)

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided (I used sugar substitute)

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar (I used brown-sugar substitute--only 1/4 cup needed)

4 egg whites, divided

1/2 cup fat-free milk

1/4 cup canola oil

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons pumpkin-pie spice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 (8-ounce package) cream cheese, softened (I substituted with Neufchatel)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a nonstick 9-inch-by-5-inch loaf pan; set aside. In a large bowl mix pumpkin, 1 cup sugar, the brown sugar, 3 of the egg whites, milk, and oil. Add flour, baking powder, pie spice, and salt; stir just until moistened. Set aside. With wire whisk beat cream cheese, remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, and the remaining egg white until mixture is well-blemded. Spoon half of the pumpkin batter into prepared pan; spoon cream cheese mixture evenly over batter. Cover with remaining pumpkin batter. Bake 1 hour or 1 hour 5 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in center emerges clean. Run knife or thin spatula around edges of pan to loosen bread; cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove bread from pan to wire rack; cool completely. Makes 1 loaf or 16 servings, 1 slice each.

Pumpkin and bran cereal combine for a muffin that's fall at its finest

As I've mentioned before in this blog and in my new cookbook, Way Back in the Country Garden, I was of all people most blessed to be an officemate with Ann Criswell, the legendary and internationally known food editor of the Houston Chronicle. We had cubicles that were adjacent to each other. Many taste-testings for upcoming food-section featured items transpired in our corner of the office. Despite her reknown, Ann was a compassionate, down-to-earth individual who loved to share her knowledge--and her food--with others.

When our garden produced a surplus of pumpkins, I bemoaned the fact that I knew little to cook with them besides bake pumpkin pie. She unfurled her entire pumpkin recipe file on me. I picked up some terrific and inventive ideas for pumpkin dishes. Most of those ideas still are housed in my fall recipe album; I prepare them again and again once we're sufficiently into autumn and always remember this now-retired friend and mentor.

I love this Pumpkin-Bran Muffin recipe because it yields so many muffins (20 or so) that can be frozen to pop out and warm for breakfast or anytime. The combination of pumpkin, bran cereal, and whole wheat flour ranks it high up there on the health-wise list. See buttermilk on the ingredient list but don't have any in the house (or don't want its fat content?) Many people know the age-old buttermilk substitution: to make one cup buttermilk, put 3 teaspoons white vinegar into a 1-cup measure; fill with skim milk until the milk reaches the 1-cup line. Let stand for 5 minutes, then add to recipe. Much better for you, and the taste is the same. Then you don't have an unused container of buttermilk sitting around in your fridge.

Tomorrow morning: Pumpkin-Bran Muffins with homemade peach preserves put by from our peach orchard this summer. Can't wait to get that delicious start on the weekend.

Pumpkin-Bran Muffins

1/2 cup boiling water

1 scant cup bran cereal (recipe tested with Bran Flakes)

1 cup buttermilk (or substitution mentioned above)

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar or brown-sugar substitute

4 tablespoons cooking oil

2 eggs (or 1/2 cup egg substitute)

1 1/2 cups fresh cooked pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin

3 tablespoons orange juice

2 cups whole-wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt or salt substitute

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon allspice

2 tablespoons unsulfured molasses

1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped nuts

Pour boiling water over bran cereal; mix well and let cool. Stir in buttermilk. Cream brown sugar and oil. Add eggs and beat well. Add pumpkin and orange juice. Mix flour, baking soda, salt, pumpkin-pie spice, and allspice. Stir cooled bran mixtxure into sugar mixture. Add molasses. Add dry ingredients all at once; stir until just moistened. Batter will not be completely smooth. Stir in nuts. Bake or refrigerate, tightly covered, overnight or up to three days. To bake: fill greased muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake in 425 degree oven 15 to 20 minutes, until muffins spring back lightly when touched or toothpick inserted in center emerges clean. Makes 18 to 20 muffins. This makes a fairly dark, moderately sweet muffin; the pumpkin taste does not predominate.

Bring on the Turkey Chili as a repository for wonderful fall tomatoes from the vines

Fall tomato time in the garden; terrific to see things growing again in our garden spot after the late-summer drought and dearth of veggies.

Fall also warrants a steaming, flavorful bowl of chili. A tucked-away recipe on a Sam's Club flyer prompted me on both accounts--to scratch my "itch" for a chili fix and to use up some of the incoming tomatoes from the vines.

This Turkey Chili recipe is a jewel because its cooking time is only 20 minutes, compared to some that cook all day. Frankly I couldn't tell one bit of difference between this speedy one and the kind that calls for such longsuffering in the kitchen. We topped our quick-to-fix Turkey Chili with a tablespoonful of nonfat sour cream and 2-percent milk, cheddar cheese, and chives.

After a dinnertime bowl of this bubbling perfection, I stepped out on the deck and breathed in the fall evening air that had a slight nip to it. Had I been transported to heaven? Surely so.

Turkey Chili

2 pounds ground turkey, browned with 1 large onion, chopped

2 1/2 to 3 cups fresh tomatoes, diced (or 2 14-ounce cans no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained)

2 cans light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 tablespoons cumin

Place a large pot over medium-high heat. Brown turkey meat and chopped onion and drain. Return turkey to pot and stir in all other ingredients. Simmer on medium-low heat for about 20 minutes. Stir often. Makes 4 servings.

Whoever thought of putting peanut butter in a pumpkin soup? But it works marvelously.

Brewing up a pot of pumpkin soup was high on my fall cookery wish-list. But just as I was about to gather the ingredients, in breezed a new pumpkin soup recipe from a most unexpected source.

The monthly newsletter or the organization from which Hubby and I draw our retirement pensions is a delightful read; we always look forward to receiving it for its tips on money-management and grandparenting, its jokes, and its recipes.

This month's newsletter featured Peanut Butter Pumpkin Soup. Besides peanut butter and pumpkin it also called for the addition of sweet potato. What a marvelous combination--some of my favorite ingredients! To get the sweet potato addition I merely popped one extra-large sweet potato in the microwave; when the cooked potato was cool, I scooped out the innards and mashed them to achieve my pureed pumpkin ingredient.

The aroma of this wonderful dish as it bubbled on the stovetop was one of those unforgettable autumn smells that inspires poets to rapturous verse. The delicious, easy-to-make dish was divine with warm crusty bread, cheese, and fruit. And ever-resourceful Hubby even reclaimed the scooped-out sweet potato skins and used them in one of his creative smoothies that consisted of orange juice, orange sections, pineapple juice, peanuts, and sweet-potato skins. Fiber City--think about it!

Peanut Butter Pumpkin Soup

1/2 stick butter

4 cups fresh pumpkin, cooked and run through the food processor to make smooth. Consistency in this soup is important.

2 cups pureed cooked sweet potato

1 cup smooth peanut butter

6 cups low-salt chicken stock

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

snipped fresh chives and low-fat sour cream for garnish

In a large pot over medium heat melt butter. Add pumpkin, sweet potato, and peanut butter. Mix. Add chicken stock, pepper, and salt. Stir until smooth. Reduce heat to low and cook for approximately 20 minutes. This soup can burn easily, so keep an eye on it! Serve warm with chives and sour cream for garnish.

Blissful, cool October days bring on Apple-Raisin Crisp

Day after day, week after week, it sits on the shelf and gathers dust--this labor-saving device that I just had to have. Recently Hubby was my conscience. He observed me as I peeled, cored, and sliced an apple the cumbersome way--with a paring knife--as I practically diced off a finger in the process.

"Why don't you ever use that thingy we paid so much for? It would be a lot easier," he intoned.

The thingy was my apple peeler-corer-slicer by Pampered Chef--a delightful little object that sits on the counter, accepts an apple pushed onto a spear, and then (as the operator twists a handle) peels, cores, and slices the apple all in one sweep. Blame it on my being left-handed or something, but I've never exactly perfected the art of using it. My apples emerge less than desired; I end up having to use a regular knife on them anyway.

But Hubby's words piqued my conscience; I was being wasteful by not giving it another try. Onto the spear went one of the four apples I was saving for a fall dessert. This time, success!

The gadget worked perfectly. In seconds I had a peeled and cored apple sliced into skinny, perfect rounds--ready to be diced for my Apple-Raisin Crisp recipe. Three more apples quickly followed. The apple peels went into a separate bowl to become ingredients for one Hubby's upcoming smoothies. All I had to discard was the very slim core and stem--great stewardship of a fruit God provided. I was so-o-o glad I tried again.

Apple-Raisin Crisp is a recipe I clipped years ago from a Family Circle magazine. Normally I disdain raisins--never my favorite things to eat--but in this dish they cook up soft and inconspicuous and add to the flavor and texture. The crisp topping is to-die-for over the mellow, succulent apple filling. And as a perfect accompaniment for these blissful, cool days of this first week of October, this easy-to-prepare dish, as Hubby says, "just tastes fall."

Apple-Raisin Crisp

Apple Filling:

2/3 cup packed brown sugar (1/3 cup if using brown-sugar substitute)

3 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 1/2 pounds Rome apples, peeled, cored, cubed

1 cup golden raisins

Crisp Topping:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup packed light-brown sugar (1/3 cup if using brown-sugar substitute)

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

powdered sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 7-inch-by-11-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

Filling: in a large bowl toss together sugar, flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon; add cubed apples and raising; toss again. Let stand 10 minutes while preparing topping. Topping: Melt butter. In medium-sized bowl stir together butter, flour, sugar, pecans, oats, cinnamon, and salt until mixture is evenly moistened and forms clumps. Transfer apple-raisin mixture to prepared baking dish. Top with crisp topping. Try not to break up clumps. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes until bubbly and apple pieces are tender. If browning too much, cover loosely with foil during last 5 minutes of baking. Let cool 15 minutes before you serve. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Makes 12 servings.