Blue Cranberry Applesauce

My love affair with cranberry sauce started in childhood with the jellied version (I still love it) and finally progressed to the real thing. Several years ago I tried my hand at Pear Honey Cranberry Sauce from Allrecipes.com. My mother and I loved it so much that I've made homemade cranberry sauce each year when cranberries come available.

This year I decided to try a combination of two of my very favorites, Cranberry Applesauce on Simply Recipes and Blue Cranberry Sauce from Allrecipes, by using extra cranberries and Ocean Spray Blueberry Cocktail. I love it! It is a tiny bit tart, spicy from the cinnamon, and with a nice tang from the blueberry juice. Plus it looks gorgeous in my Mom's old crystal relish dish.

This made eight cups using my ingredients. I will serve a portion at a luncheon at church tomorrow and the remainder will be used in recipes. It keeps well in the refrigerator and freezes well, so it is great as a do-ahead for Thanksgiving or Christmas; and its vibrant color makes a stunning addition to the holiday table.

Please see the original recipe at Simply Recipes for Elise's version, as well as the excellent recipe for Blue Cranberry Sauce on Allrecipes.com, and give them both a try, after you've tried my version.

Blue Cranberry Applesauce
inspired by Simply Recipes and Allrecipes.com

10 peeled, cored, roughly chopped apples - I used Granny Smith and Honey Crisp
18 oz (1-1/2 bags) Ocean Spray cranberries
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 cups Ocean Spray Blueberry Cocktail Juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon honey

Place all ingredients except vanilla and honey in large (5-quart) pot. Bring to boil, lower heat to simmer and cover. Cook 20-30 minutes, or until apples can easily be mashed.

Remove from heat, add vanilla and honey, and mash apples and cranberries with potato masher to desired consistency.

Serve hot or cold.

Earthquakes In Oklahoma!

On November 5, 2011, 10:52 pm CST, Oklahoma was rocked by a 5.6 magnitude earthquake, the largest ever recorded in the state. I had just gone to bed, and hubby was in his office, when a trembling started and increased to shaking. I jumped out of bed, Buddy the dog got out of his bed and did some woof/snort/barks, and hubby said, "Now that's an earthquake!" I had been wakened at 2:15 am that morning by a 4.7 that felt like someone was stomping around on our deck, but hubby slept through it, so he declared the 5.6 his "first" earthquake.

Earthquakes have become more frequent in Oklahoma during the past few years, and according to the Oklahoma Geological Survey, yesterday's quakes were the result of movement along the Seminole Uplift Structure. The epicenter was located just north of Prague, in Lincoln County, and about 50 miles east of where I live.

All I know is it was somewhat alarming. The house literally shook and creaked, our big light/ceiling fan swayed slightly, and dishes and windows rattled for about 20 seconds. Then the movement tapered off to a rocking sensation. It was weird! So far we haven't found any damage, other than our grandfather clock which stopped because the pendulum was swaying so much, and apparently there has been no major damage or injuries reported in the state.

My favorite comment was by an emergency manager in Lincoln county who commented, "It was a pretty ornery little earthquake."

Personally, I'll take the threat of tornadoes any day over the threat of earthquakes!

9/11/2001 8:46 am

Sour Cherry Pie With Brown Sugar Cinnamon Crumble

This afternoon when I visited LadyJayPee's blog and saw her gorgeous Fresh Sour Cherry Pie with its plump, juicy cherries and flaky crust, my life came to a halt, and I immediately went into the kitchen to make a cherry pie. I have a love affair with cherry pie that dates back to my childhood, and it has been too long since I made myself one.

The recipe I always use for cherry pie is from Betty Crocker's circa 1969 3-ring binder cookbook, because it is the closest in taste to that of the ultimate Pie Queen, my Granny Mitchell. Granny's pies are worthy of another post. This time I wanted to try a streusel topped version. I'm so glad I did. The slightly crisp, buttery, cinnamon-y crumble takes the sweet-tart cherry pie to a higher level. There is cinnamon in the streusel, but I left it out of the filling, as I don't think the cherries need anything to flavor them except sugar and almond extract.

My go-to pie crust is from the same cookbook, and I made the 9-inch single crust recipe with butter-flavor Crisco. Hubby, who declared this pie "excellent" in a forceful tone, said it was the best crust he had ever had. Love that man.

I have discovered that, for me, the keys to a good pie crust are to cut the shortening (you may prefer butter, but shortening yields a flakier, crisper crust, in my opinion) into the flour until it is the size of peas, to add the ice water one tablespoonful at a time, tossing with a fork, to use a very light hand when gathering the dough into a ball, and to handle the dough as little as possible. Flakiness reigns when I follow those steps.

After the pie crust is rolled out and carefully placed in the pie plate, I trim off the uneven edges and leave a 1/2 inch overhang, fold the overhang under and press it lightly till it is fairly smooth all around, then crimp or flute the edges.

Sour Cherry Crumble Pie

9-inch pie crust
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon shortening
1 cup unbleached flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 -3 tablespoons ice cold water

Whisk together dry ingredients. Cut shortening into dry ingredients with pastry cutter until pieces are size of small peas. Sprinkle ice water over flour mixture one tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until mixture is moistened. Gather into ball. Place dough on floured surface and shape into flattened round. Roll into approximately 10 inch circle. I keep my pie plate close and loosely roll dough around my rolling pin, then transfer to pie plate and gently unroll it. Trim overhang to about 1/2 inch beyond edge of plate, tuck under and gently press to form even edge. Crimp with fingertips for fluted edge.

Crumble
1-1/4 cup flour
6 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix first 5 ingredients in bowl. Add melted butter and vanilla; mix with fingertips until easily clumped.
Filling
1-1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 cans sour cherries, drained but reserving 2 tablespoons liquid

Toss filling ingredients including reserved liquid together and scrape into pie crust; sprinkle streusel over filling, covering completely.

Bake at 400 for 15 minutes; reduce to 375 and bake another 45 – 1 hour, covering top with foil when crust begins to brown. Let cool on wire rack. Cool before serving.

Linking to

Layered Peaches and Cream Pie

Continuing my multi-post obsession with peaches, this week I made a layered dessert based on inspiration by my fourth grade teacher's Fresh Peach Pie and the old favorite Four-Layer Dessert.

I found my teacher's recipe while browsing an old church cookbook. I was intrigued by her technique: instead of adding flour, sugar, and spices to the fruit and baking it in the pie crust, she cooked the liquid filling first, added the peaches, placed them in a pre-baked pie crust, and topped it with whipped cream. With this in mind, I made a version of Four Layer Dessert using a cookie crust and substituting a layer of fresh peach filling for the pudding layer. The result was a cool, summery treat reminiscent of peach pie but without a pastry crust . My hubby is not a fan of cooked peaches. This dessert, with juicy bites of peaches, tangy cream cheese, fluffy cream, and a not-too-sweet crumb crust, made him go back for seconds.

Layered Peaches and Cream Pie
Inspired by Mrs. Shimp
Serves 4-6

Crust
12 Keebler Sandies or other shortbread cookies
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons salted butter, melted
2-4 tablespoons peach preserves, melted and reserved until crust is cooled

Filling
3 peaches or nectarines, diced or small slices
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1-1/2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream Cheese Layer
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup Cool Whip

Topping
Cool Whip or real whipped cream and a light sprinkle of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F. Place cookies into bowl of food processor and process until crumbs form. Place in bowl and mix with brown sugar, cinnamon, and salted butter; press mixture into 7-inch X 11-inch baking pan or 9 inch pie plate. Bake 8 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack. When crust has completely cooled, brush melted peach preserves onto crust.

Combine peaches, sugar, and lemon juice in bowl and let macerate for one hour. Meanwhile place cream cheese and powdered sugar in bowl of electric mixer and mix until smooth; add extracts and mix until combined. Add Cool Whip and mix on low speed till incorporated. Spread mixture over crust and refrigerate.

When peaches have finished macerating, drain, reserving juice. Add water to juice if needed to measure 1/2 cup of liquid. Place peach juice with flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in small saucepan over low heat and whisk until smooth and bubbly. Add butter and vanilla, stir; remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes. Add peaches, stirring to combine, and let cool to room temperature. Spread over cream cheese layer in pan. Top with more Cool Whip or freshly whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Refrigerate until serving.

Linking to These Chicks Cooked Link Party



AND

Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday

Peach Crumb Bars

Peach-based recipes are so appropriate for this blog, and this one is a keeper. I've had it in my "Make This!" file for some time, and the time was right. Brown Eyed Baker adapted this recipe from Smitten Kitchen and Allrecipes.com. The only thing I added was vanilla, and I love to enhance peaches with vanilla.

I only had a small taste, since I was giving them away, but it was enough to tell me that these bars are rich and delicious with buttery crumbs above and below the jam-like peach filling, and I will make them again. I think cherry filling will be my next version!

Peach Crumb Bars
from the blog of Brown Eyed Baker
Makes 24 bars

3 cups flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold
1 egg, lightly beaten

5 cups (about 7 peaches) peeled and diced
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare 9×13-inch baking pan with baking spray or shortening.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter with pastry blender; add egg and continue cutting until dough is crumbly. Pat half of dough into prepared pan. Place pan and remainder of dough in refrigerator while preparing filling.

Place peaches in large bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice; add vanilla and mix gently. In separate bowl whisk together flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour over the peaches and mix gently.

Spread peach mixture evenly over crust. Crumble remaining dough over peach layer.

Bake 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

I linked up to Roz's Fresh Food Friday.


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A Well Seasoned Life's Sweet Indulgences Sunday

Rosy Peach Ice Cream

The peach ice cream featured on the blog of Annie's Eats came at just the right time, as I had 17 homegrown peaches ready to use from my dwarf peach tree. The tree is a Belle of Georgia purchased at Home Depot last year.

Here it is in a side-by-side shot to show the size difference of the tree: after I planted it last year is on the right and this year is on the left. It was difficult to get an accurate comparison photo, with cucumber vines all over the trunk, but the growth of that little tree is amazing.

When the peaches reached that gorgeous rosy peach color but still weren't soft, I picked them (fear of birds!) and put them into a paper sack to finish ripening. I left them in the sack a day or two too long, because when I peeled them they were very soft, and the insides were almost red, with crimson juice rolling down my wrists and onto the counter as I peeled them.

When I made Annie's ice cream, I subbed Greek yogurt for the sour cream in her recipe, used half milk and half cream for the full cup of cream, and added the peach schnapps she suggested (good suggestion ). The flavor was fresh-peachy perfect for the hot summer afternoon. Although my guy thought it wasn't sweet enough, it reminded me of my favorite frozen yogurt from Berri Licious, a local organic live culture frozen yogurt parlor.

Rosy Peach Ice Cream
adapted from the original recipe at Annie’s Eats

1-1/3 lbs ripe peaches, peeled, pitted and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon peach schnapps
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cup half and half
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
A few drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice

Combine peaches, water, and peach schnapps in medium nonreactive saucepan. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until peaches are soft and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat, mix in sugar, and set aside to cool to room temperature.

Add peach mixture to food processor with remaining ingredients. If a smooth texture with no chunks of fruit is desired, process until smooth. Chill thoroughly in refrigerator. Once chilled, transfer to ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.

Ice cream was "posed" in a depression era amethyst Newport Hairpin cream soup bowl by Hazel Atlas, circa 1930s.

I linked up to Roz's Fresh Food Friday.