Autumn Fruit Salad

This delicious Autumn Fruit Salad is similar to a yogurt parfait. Sweet, crunchy, and perfect as a side dish this fall season.  Both kids and adults love it.  So get your favorite knife and get ready to chop because you’ll be asked to bring this to family gatherings all year long!

Ingredients

8 small apples

4 green pears

1/2 bag of seedless red grapes (cut in half)

2 lemons or 2 tbsp lemon juice

6 oz maple greek yogurt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extravt

1 cup of whipped cream

1 cup chopped wlanuts

1/4 cup brown sugar

Autumn Fruit Salad

Directions

1. Rinse fruit thoroughly

2. Cut apples and pears into small pieces and discard the cores.

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3. Sprinkle lemon juice over the cut apples and pears.  Stir and mix well.

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4. Cut grapes in half and add to the apples and pears.

5. In a separate bowl, mix together; maple yogurt, vanilla extract, whipped cream, cinnamon and brown sugar.

6. Chop the walnuts or purchase pre-chopped walnuts.  You may add the walnuts straight to the fruit or add it to the dressing.

7. Pour 1/2 the dressing to the fruit and stir. Add in more dressing as needed.

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8. Serve and ENJOY.  (Keep in the refrigerator if serving later.  It will last a 3 to 5 days in the refrigerator.)

 

Thanks for reading.  Hope you find time to try out this delicious recipe!

Katie

 

Pumpkin Pecan Muffins

Fall is here and these muffins welcome the season with wonderful pumpkin and pecan flavors!  A simple yet flavorful muffin to satisfy your taste buds.  I mixed the pumpkin flavors from my pumpkin pie scones recipe with the awesome pecan topping from my sweet potato casserole dish.  These are oh so delicious and so satisfying with each bite.

Ingredients

Dry

2 ½ cups flour

2 cups sugar

½ tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp pumpkin spice

 

 

Wet

3 eggs

1 and 1/2  cups pumpkin puree

1 tsp vanilla extract

Pecan Mixture

1 cup flour

8 tbsp butter melted

3/4 cup pecans chopped

1 cup brown sugar

Pumpkin Pecan Muffins

Directions

  1. Preheat Oven to 375 degrees
  2. Prep a regular muffin tin (24 count) with foil cups or butter the muffin tin.  Or use 2 mini muffin tins 24 count each (for a total of 48).
  3. Sift all the dry ingredients into a large bowl.  Use a whisk to make sure it is mixed well.   IMG_3653
  4. Whisk together the wet ingredients.  IMG_3654
  5. Combine the wet and dry ingredients until well blended.  
  6. To make the pecan mixture, melt the butter in a small pot on the stove.  Sprinkle in flour, brown sugar and chopped pecans.  Mix well, until flour is not longer visible.  
  7. Carefully fold in 3/4 of the pecan mixture until evenly blended.  
  8. Using two regular spoons, scoop and scrape muffin ingredients into the muffin tins evenly.  IMG_3742
  9. Sprinkle the rest of the pecan mixture over the tops of each muffin.  IMG_3741
  10. Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes if using regular muffin tin.  Bake for 12 to 18 minutes if using mini muffin tins.  IMG_3665
  11. When muffins are ready (when the toothpick or knife comes out clean from center of a muffin) remove from oven and let cool.
  12. Plate them and enjoy!

 

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy them!

Katie

Turkey Cranberry Pinwheels

As we enter into October I have started to long for fall foods.  And not just your traditional pumpkin flavors but those amazing Thanksgiving flavors of turkey and cranberry.  It is such a lovely combo that I just had to make these delicious pinwheels. Trust me you’ll love them!

 

Ingredients

6 oz whipped cream cheese

½ cup of avocado cilantro dressing

2 lbs of Turkey meat

1 container of sprouts or spinach

10 large flour tortillas, spinach tortillas or flat bread

1 cup of dried cranberries

ClingWrap

 

Directions

  1. Mix together the whipped cream cheese and dressing until well blended.  
  2. Layout the tortilla and spread the cream cheese dressing leaving ½ inch clear from the edge.  IMG_3673
  3. Sprinkle the dried cranberries evenly across the cream cheese dressing.    IMG_3674
  4. Lay the sliced turkey meat across the tortilla leaving a one inch area open (this is so the turkey isn’t wasted and sticks out the end when wrapping).  You can do one layer or more.    IMG_3505
  5. Spread your choice of sprouts or spinach over the sliced meat.   IMG_3501
  6. Carefully roll your tortilla tightly starting at the opposite end of the one inch opened area.  IMG_3679
  7. Wrap the rolled tortilla tightly in cling wrap and place in the frig for about one hour before slicing and serving.  IMG_3502

 

 

 

A nice, healthy snack or lunch item to satisfy the taste buds.

 

Add your favorite dressing to the cream cheese to make it your own.  I’ll be trying honey mustard dressing next.  

 

You can also leave it as a wrap and enjoy.  I highly recommend adding pecans or walnuts to give it some crunch and extra flavor.  Thanks for reading and that it was everything you were hoping for! 🙂  You can check out my sweet potato casserole dish that would pair well with this recipe.

Katie

 

Mama’s Sweet Potato Casserole

There is nothing like moms cooking.  This dish is a Thanksgiving family tradition.  My mom always brought the sweet potato casserole to our large family gathering among other dishes.  This sweet and crunchy recipe pairs well with turkey or ham and of course some cranberry sauce.  With the small addition of marshmallows on top, I’d say its perfection.

 

Ingredients

Sweet Potato Mix

3 to 4 cups of sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed

1 cup sugar

8 tbsp butter (room temp)

½ cup evaporated milk

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

Topping

4 tbsp butter melted

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup flour

1 cup chopped pecans

Mama's Sweet Potato Casserole

Directions

  1. Rinse/wash sweet potatoes before placing in a large pot on the stove.  Bring sweet potatoes to a boil and turn to medium/low heat.  Leave them to cook for at least an hour (until your fork and easily penetrate the sweet potato. (I use 4 to 5 medium sized sweet potatoes)   
  2. Drain the hot water.  Using a cutting board, place each sweet potato on it to peel.  Use the fork to hold the sweet potato still while you slice and peel each sweet potato.  Place sweet potatoes in large mixing bowl.  
  3. Add in the butter and sugar.  Using a masher, mash the sweet potatoes until ingredients is well blended.  
  4. Add in the evaporated milk, nutmeg and cinnamon and mix again.  
  5. Spray your baking dish (9x13in) with butter.  Add in the sweet potato mix.  Smooth it out and place to the side.  IMG_3492
  6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  7. To make the topping, melt butter in a small pot on the stove.  Once melted, add in the pecans, brown sugar and flour.  Mix well with a small spoon.  
  8. Sprinkle the topping onto the sweet potatoes.   IMG_3498
  9. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
  10. When time is up, take the casserole out of the oven and sprinkle marshmallows on top.    
  11. Change the oven settings to broil and place casserole back in the oven for 5 minutes (watch carefully so that you don’t burn the marshmallows).  
  12. Remove when completed and let cool before serving.  IMG_3528

Hope you enjoy!

Thanks mom for sharing your delicious sweet potato casserole dish.  It brings back many fun childhood family memories. And tasty ones 🙂

Katie

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What’s your favorite dish that your mom always made?

Chocolate Pound Cake with Orange Glaze

With just a few tweaks I made my grandmothers chocolate pound cake with a bit of a Florida twist.  Florida oranges with a delicious chocolate cake, so good.  You just can’t go wrong with a chocolate cake and orange glaze.  It’s sweet yet tangy all in one bite.  Another refreshing recipe just for you.   I’m so grateful for a grandmother who shares her recipes, and this is one for the books.  The recipe book that is.

Ingredients

Pound Cake:   

3 sticks of unsalted butter (room temp)

3 cups sugar     

5 eggs                   

3 cups of all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder   

1/2 tsp salt   

4 tbsp. cocoa powder      

1 cup of gran. sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Orange Glaze:

1 tbsp. fresh orange juice

1 tsp. orange extract

1 – 2 cups of confectioners sugar

Candied Orange Peel

1 Orange

1 cup of water

1 cup whole milk

 

 

Chocolate Pound Cake with Orange Glaze

Instructions

1. Cream the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl.

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2. Add in eggs one at a time and beat well after each egg.

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3. Sift the rest of the dry ingredients into a large bowl.

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4. Scoop and dump in sifted dry ingredients (a cup at a time) and pour in milk (1/4 cup at a time) by alternating them.  Blend well after each addition.

5. Add vanilla extract and beat well.

6. Grease tube pan or bundt pan with butter (or shortening) and if you’d like, dust it with cocoa powder (or flour).

7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

8. Add in the blended ingredients using a spatula and bake for 70 to 75 minutes.

9. While the cake is baking, peel the skin off of an orange.  Slice the peel into thin strips.

10. Heat 1 cup of water in a pot on the stove.  Add in sliced orange peel and simmer for about 15 minutes.

11. Add in a little more than 3/4 cup of sugar and stir.  Continue to let simmer on medium low heat until the sugar dissolves. Stir occasionally so that it stays a simple syrup instead of caramel.

12. Drain the orange peels using a metal strainer and spread the peels out onto parchment paper on a pan.

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13. Sprinkle the orange peels with the remainder of the sugar.

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14. When the cake is finished baking, let it stand and cool before removing it from the pan.

15. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.  Place orange peels in the oven for one hour.  The candied orange slices should be hard and dry when finished baking (set them aside for later).

16. Whip together the orange extract, orange juice and confectioners sugar until you get a nice smooth glaze that is easy to pour but thick enough to not run off the cake.

17. Cut off the end/bottom of the pound cake so that it sits perfectly on the cake stand or large dish and let it finish cooling.  Then carefully drizzle the glaze over the top of the cake.

18. Sprinkle candied orange peel over the top of the cake.

19. Slice, serve and enjoy!

 

 

Hope you enjoy a Florida twist on an Alabama favorite family recipe.  What is your all time favorite recipe from grandma?

Katie

Thanks for sharing your delicious chocolate pound cake recipe Bigmama!  I love that family recipes can be passed down from generation to generation.

Chocolate Pound Cake with Orange Glaze

Chocolate Pound Cake with Orange Glaze

Chocolate Pound Cake with Orange Glaze