Category Archives: Appetizers, Snacks, Beverages

Apple Juice, Sauce and Butter

  By skurtz | 10/05/2011 - 8:59 pm | Appetizers, Snacks, Beverages, Cakes, Frostings, Fillings, Cooking, Recipes, Sauces, Marinades
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Apple Juice, Sauce & Butter

Ingredients

  1. 4 lbs Granny Smith apples
  2. 4 lbs Roma apples
  3. 4 cups water
  4. 1 Tbsp cinnamon
  5. 1/2 tsp cloves
  6. 1/4 tsp allspice
  7. 1/4 cup honey

Instructions

    Start with Apple Juice.
  1. Wash and slice apples. Place in pot with water. Heat water to boiling, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
  2. Strain apple solids though colander, retaining liquid.
  3. If you want clearer apple juice, filter liquid through cheese cloth or coffee filter.
    4. Then Apple Sauce
  4. Run the apple solids from above though a food mill. Season with cinnamon, as desired.
    5. Go all the way for Apple Butter
  5. After, pushing apples though food mill, put apple sauce into slow cooker along with spices and sweetener (sugar or splenda work as well as honey). Adjust amounts according to taste.
  6. Cook on low for 6-12 hours, until apple butter reaches desired consistency.
  7. Use hand-held immersion blender to smooth out apple butter.
    8. Can Can
  8. For even more fun, fill pint or half-pint canning jars within 1/4 of top with apple butter. Top with sealing canning lids and process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes.

Pumpkin Spice Latte

  By skurtz | 09/12/2011 - 9:36 pm | Appetizers, Snacks, Beverages, Cooking, Recipes
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Pumpkin Spice Latte

You can spend $4 on one of these at the coffee shop, or $2 on a can of pumpkin puree to make about 20. Your choice.

Ingredients

  1. 2 cups milk
  2. 4 tablespoons pumpkin puree
  3. 3 packets Splenda
  4. 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  5. 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
  6. 2 cups coffee

Instructions

  1. Brew a pot of Joe.
  2. Combine milk, pumpkin puree, splenda and pumpkin pie spice in sauce pan*. Heat, stirring frequently.
  3. When milk starts to steam (little bubbles around edges), remove from heat.
  4. Add vanilla and whisk vigorously or use an immersion blender to froth milk.
  5. Pour into 2 extra large coffee mugs (should be about 1/2 full) and fill the cups the rest of the way with coffee.
  6. *Alternatively, you can heat pumpkin-milk mixture in a large 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup in the microwave for 3 minutes on high power.

Strawberry Fruit Butter

  By skurtz | 08/13/2011 - 9:35 pm | Appetizers, Snacks, Beverages, Cakes, Frostings, Fillings, Cooking, Recipes
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Strawberry Fruit Butter

Strawberries in a jar for a year.

Ingredients

  1. 2 1/2 pounds Strawberries sliced (about 8 cups)
  2. 1 1/2 cups water
  3. 3/4 cup sugar or Splenda
  4. 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon zest
  5. 6 ounce lemon juice (about 4 small lemons

Instructions

  1. Combine strawberries, water, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice in sauce pan.
  2. Bring to boil and reduce heat to steady simmer.
  3. Simmer for about an hour or until mixture thickens. A spoonful on a plate should not run.
  4. Run mixture through a food processor or blender for extra smoothness if desired.
  5. Ladle fruit butter into canning jars to within a 1/2 inch of the rim.
  6. Cool and store in fridge for up to 3 weeks or process in a water bath to store at room temperature for up to a year.

Crockpot Holiday Wassail Punch

  By skurtz | 12/21/2005 - 9:55 pm | Appetizers, Snacks, Beverages, Cooking, Recipes
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Crockpot Holiday Wassail Punch

Fa la la

Ingredients

  1. 1 quart apple juice
  2. 1 quart orange juice
  3. 2 cups cranberry juice
  4. 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  5. 1 can pineapple nectar
  6. 1 cup sugar
  7. 4 cinnamon sticks
  8. 8 whole allspice
  9. 1 navel orange sliced

Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients in listed order to your slow cooker (4 qt. or larger) and cook on low setting for about 4 hours or until heated to desired temperature. You may also cook it on high initially for an hour and reduce the heat to save time. This reheats well for 3 days.

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

  By skurtz | 02/26/2000 - 10:22 pm | Appetizers, Snacks, Beverages, Cooking, Meats, Recipes
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Sweet & Sour Meatballs

Ingredients

    Meatballs
  1. 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
  2. 1/2 cup bread crumbs
  3. 1/2 cup milk
  4. salt
  5. black pepper
    7. Sweet & Sour Sauce
  7. 2 cups brown sugar
  8. 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  9. 1/2 cup vinegar any type
  10. 1/4 cup water
  11. 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  12. 1 tablespoon ketchup

Instructions

    Make the meatballs:
  1. Combine all meatball ingredients; mix thoroughly.
  2. Shape into 2″ balls.
  3. Bake in shallow pan for 20 minutes at 350˚F.
    4. Make the sauce:
  4. While meatballs are baking, combine all sauce ingredients in a sauce pan.
  5. Heat to boiling.
  6. After meatballs have cooked for 20 minutes, pour heated sauce over meatballs.
  7. Bake meatballs with sauce for another 20 minutes at 350˚F.