German Raw Apple Cake

German Raw Apple Cake - from Holtzinger Fruit

2 1/4 cups flour
2 large eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sour milk (1 tsp vinegar + 1 cup milk)
2 cups peeled & thinly sliced apples

Topping:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, eggs, brown sugar, white sugar, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, shortening and sour milk. Mix until well blended. Fold in apples.
Pour the batter into a greased 12x9 cake pan.
To prepare the topping, combine all ingredients and mix to blend. Sprinkle over the cake batter.
Bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Makes 12 servings.

We got this recipe out of a 2008 Costco cookbook, called In the Kitchen The Costco Way. It has a very coffee cake-like taste and texture. Very good! We'll be making this one more often and adding it to our favorite recipes list.

Bob subbed wheat flour for the white and didn't add the nuts to the topping. We topped with Cool Whip Free.

Scarecrow Crunch

Found this fun recipe here. I think this would be a fun treat to share!

Scarecrow Crunch

4 cups crunchy oatmeal cereal squares

4 cups tiny twist pretzels

1 (22-oz) bag autumn mix honey candy

2 cups peanut butter candy in crunchy shell

2 (6-oz) boxes carmel popcorn with nuts

1 (6.6-oz) bag chocolate graham baked snacks

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Serve as desired.

Pears in Pastry Shells with Carmel Sauce

{image and recipe from www.potsandpins.com}

These are sooo good! Go here for the yummy recipe.

I could not find pastry shells so I used phyllo shells - I also used a sugar-free carmel sauce. YUM!

Oreo Balls

I cannot remember where I found this one, but when I do - I'll add the link to this post.

Oreo Balls

8 oz cream cheese

1 pkg Oreos, crumbled

chocolate candy coating

Crush Oreos with food processor (I used my blender). In med. bowl mix with cream cheese. Roll into balls and lay on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Freeze for 15-20 minutes. Melt chocolate (can thin with a little shortening if too thick). Set out another piece of wax paper, dip balls in chocolate. Let dry.

These are very very yummy. I served these at Mylie's 1st birthday party, but made them look like little cupcakes. I used a candy mold that looks like a mini Reeses peanut butter cup and filled it just less than half way with melted chocolate almond bark. Then I made the Oreo balls, and instead of candy coating them, I pushed them down into the candy mold just until the chocolate came up to the top of the mold. Then I put them in the freezer for a few (or 5) minutes until hardened. They popped out of the molds pretty easily. Once they were all ready, I melted some PINK candy melts and dipped the top part of the Oreo balls in - to coat the top like frosting. I sprinkled some medium clear-ish sugar sprinkles on top while still wet. I've also seen a mini red hot or M&M put on top like a cherry.

Almond Chicken and Rice

adapted from Fall 09 Kraft Food & Family magazine

Almond Chicken & Rice

4 small boneless skinless chicken halves (or 1 lb)

1/4 cup Kraft Roasted Red Pepper Italian with Parmesan dressing & marinade

1 1/4 cups fat-free reduced sodium chicken broth

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

2 cups cut carrots

1 cup instant brown rice, cooked according to package directions

1/4 cup sliced almonds, divided

Cook chicken in 2 Tbsp. dressing in large nonstick skillet on medium heat 4 minutes on each side or until evenly browned.

Stir in broth, garlic powder and remaining dressing; bring to a boil. Cover; simmer 5 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove chicken; cover to keep warm.

Add carrots to skillet; cook, uncovered, 3 minutes or until soft. Stir in rice and 3 Tbsp. nuts. Serve chicken over rice; top with remaining nuts.

(The original recipe called for Kraft Tuscan House Italian dressing and marinade, but I couldn't find it. The one I used was way yummy and Braden even asked for 2nds on the chicken which he NEVER does. The original recipe also called for broccoli and white rice.)

Easy Hot Fudge Sauce

I found this recipe at one of my favorite recipe sites - allrecipes.com I love this site because you can easily change the size of the recipe with their handy serving calculator. I also love that there are such great reviews under each recipe where people will say if they changed anything about the recipe or not. For this recipe, every review said that it was perfect as-is.

Hot Fudge Sauce

Priscilla Weaver

1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk

4 1-oz squares semi-sweet chocolate

2 Tbsp. butter (no substitutes)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

In a heavy saucepan, combine the milk, chocolate, and butter. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until chocolate is melted. Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Let sit until thickened a bit. Pour over ice cream!

Cherry Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Cherry BBQ sauce

I found this recipe here by Nan Slaughter and it is AMAZINGLY yummy! Very different from the normal pork sandwiches with regular BBQ sauce.

Cherry Bomb Pork Sandwiches with Cherry BBQ Sauce

To Make Pork Roast:

1 3 to 4 lb. pork roast (Boston Butt or Pork Shoulder)

1 package (6 oz.) Dried Cherries

1 yellow onion, sliced

2 Wild Cherry Juice Drink Boxes (6.75 oz.) (No sugar added, 100% juice blend)

8 Sandwich buns

To Make BBQ Sauce:

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup fresh cherries, pitted

1/4 cup molasses

1/4 cup ketchup

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

freshly ground pepper to taste

Put pork roast in a large crock pot; cover with cherry juice. Add onions and dried cherries. Put on lid and cook on high for 5 hours. After 5 hours, drain juices from crock. Using forks, shred the roast. Make BBQ sauce.
In a medium-size pan on medium-high heat, add all of the BBQ sauce ingredients. Stir well. Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. Using an immersion blender, blend up the sauce, or carefully pour the sauce into a regular blender and puree. Pour the pureed sauce over the shredded pork, stir with a fork until all is mixed. Replace lid and continue cooking for an additional hour. Place pork on sandwich buns and stand back because they'll come a runnin! Total cooking time: 6 hours. Serves 8.