Crock pot apple butter

• 5 1/2 lbs apples, peeled, cored, and finely chopped (or, leave the peel on if you're going to be using a blender at the end, not a whisk, to smooth it out. I used a food processor grater to finely chop them)
• 2-4 cups sugar
• 2 -3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Combine apples, sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt in the slow cooker. Mix.
2. Place in crock pot, cover and cook on high for 1 hour. Stir every so often to mix in the sugar and spices.
3. Decrease heat to low; cover and cook on low for 9-11 hours or until thickened and dark brown. Stir occasionally.
4. Uncover and cook on low for 1 hour longer.
5. Whisk until smooth, or use an immersion blender if you left the peels on.
6. Spoon into freezer containers, leaving 1/2-inch head space.
7. Cover and freeze.

RESULTS:

This is from http://www.food.com/recipe/crock-pot-apple-butter-93886. I changed the original recipe a lot based on the comments, and I agree with them that the taste of the apples should determine how much sugar you use. I used milder apples, and I probably put in about 3 cups of sugar. I might add more before I put it into jars, I haven't decided yet. (I'm making a second batch with some other apples, and I'm going to combine the two and see what I think then.) Some people processed their jars in a boiling water canner, but I'm not willing to do that without an expert telling me exactly how long it should be processed.  The big oops that I did was to add some allspice, thinking that would be awesome. It's not bad, but I wish I hadn't added it. You can always add more spices after it's finished it you want.

Baked Oatmeal

Kathleen found this recipe on the Fooducate Blog.

Dry ingredients:

• 2 cups old fashion oats
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Wet ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups sliced fruit
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup maple syrup, honey, brown sugar, or sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray nonstick spray on a 8×8 baking dish (or equivalent). Mix dry ingredients and then mix in wet ingredients. Spoon into pan and cover with foil. Bake for 20 minutes, remove foil, and bake for another 25 minutes until golden brown.

Enjoy hot, cold, or room temperature. If well covered, this will keep in the fridge for one week.

RESULTS: This was a really nice Sunday breakfast, and the leftovers will make a great second breakfast for the rest of the week (infinitely better than the dried-out muffins that show up at work). I used a couple of the amazing apples Tiff gave me from her dad's orchard. I cooked it exactly to the instructions, and I think I could have left it in there a little longer after taking the foil off to get a nice golden crust (my oven seems to run a little cool, though). I drizzled just a little syrup over the top of my piece, because that's how I roll, but it really didn't need the extra sweetness. When Kathleen made it, she thought it was a a bit dry, but she used dried blueberries and coconut as the fruit, which I think would suck up a fair amount of moisture. So maybe if you want to use dried fruit, either let them soak for a while to plump up or add more liquid.

Roasted tomato soup with broiled cheddar

From Smitten Kitchen. If you saw this recipe before now, could there have been any doubt that I'd make it?

Serves 4 (though closer to 6 if served in mugs)

Soup

• 3 pounds plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 large or 4 small cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves or 1/4 teaspoon dried
• 1/4 teaspoon (or more to taste) dried crushed red pepper
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

Lid

• 4 1-inch slices from a large loaf of rye bread, whole wheat sourdough or bread of your choice (or 16 1-inch slices from a baguette), toasted until hard and lightly buttered on one side
• 1 tablespoon grated raw onion
• 1 cup coarsely grated cheddar (or more to taste)

Make soup: Preheat oven to 400°F. Wrap garlic cloves in a tight foil packet. Place tomatoes, cut side up, on large baking sheet. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper (I used 1 full teaspoon of Kosher salt). Drizzle tomatoes with olive oil. Add foil packet of garlic to tray. Roast until tomatoes are brown and tender (garlic will be very tender), about 1 hour. Cool slightly.

Unwrap garlic packet and peel cloves. Transfer cloves, tomatoes and any accumulated juices to a blender or food processor and pulse machine on and off until tomatoes are a chunky puree. Transfer tomatoes to medium pot and add thyme, crushed red pepper and stock and bring to a boil Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 25 minutes. Remove from heat and adjust seasonings to taste.

Create cheddar lid: Preheat oven to 350. Arrange four ovenproof soup bowls, crocks or large mugs on a large, foil-lined baking sheet. Stir grated onion into the warm soup. (I love this last-minute suggestion of onion.) Float toast slice(s) in each bowl, buttered side up and divide grated cheese generously over top. (If you’re using a wide bowl, you might find that you want more cheese to create a thick, broiled lid.) Bake soups on tray for 15 to 20 minutes, until cheese on top is bubbling and brown at the edges. If you’d like it even more bronzed on top, preheat your broiler and finish soups for a minute or two under it. Serve immediately.

Do ahead: Soup can be prepared one day ahead, and kept covered in the fridge. Rewarm before serving, or before finishing with cheddar crouton.

RESULTS: Um, amazing. Even Chris, who is not a soup guy, offered his highest praise: "This is pretty good, sweetheart." I left out the grated onions and subbed onion powder. Cheese: sharp cheddar. Bread: Ry sourdough. The toms took a lot longer to roast, possibly because I doubled the recipe so there was more moisture in the oven. Anyway, it might not happen in exactly 1 hour so leave yourself time. Also, don't go overboard with salting the toms before roasting, especially if you're using a full-sodium broth. I think I used too much (although that might be why Chris liked it). Bethie asked if it would be good with meat, and Chris had actually said it would be perfect if there was some bacon in it. So again, adjust salt accordingly (but don't leave it off altogether on the toms pre-roasting, I think you need some to help with the roasting process). Also, ground beef or shredded chicken might work well.

My one complaint, and it's not really a complaint and more of a caution: I doubled the recipe thinking I'd get a lot of leftovers to freeze in our new chest freezer and use when things are more hectic this winter. I did get extras, but I think I only got about 6 servings from doubling the recipe.

Multi-tasking

Things I made while working from home today (and yes, smarty pants, I did actually get work done. A lot of it!):

• slow cooker white chili
• 2+ quarts applesauce
• 1 roasted butternut squash
• 1 roasted acorn squash
• roasted beets
• pasta with sauteed mushrooms, thyme, and oregano in a white wine, butter, and smoked paprika sauce (after Chris got his serving, I added sage and some of the roasted acorn squash to that)

Things I learned:

•  it is in fact not easier to peel beets after they've been cooked. Well, maybe if you do it right it is. Somehow I didn't do it right
• it is possible to over-roast squash, but as it's going to become a soup this weekend I hope it'll be ok.
• A little sage goes a long way

Coconut and Lime Lassi

I am a fool.

No, no, no, you say. You're not a fool, why would you say such things about yourself.

But nay, let me assure you that I am a fool. Why, you ask? Well, it's perfectly simple. I love lassis. Whenever I go to an Indian restaurant, someone invariably orders a lassi and offers everyone else a sip, and it's wonderful. I never order one for myself because they're about $4 for a tiny glass and I'm too thrifty to pay that for a non-alcoholic drink. So I just watch the lucky joe who's freer with his cash than I am sit back and sip his lassi in perfect contentment.

So that makes you cheap, you say, but not a fool. [At which point, I correct you and say that I'm "thrifty," not "cheap."] It makes me a fool because do you know what a lassi is? It's basically diluted yogurt with sugar or salt. THAT'S IT. I could have been making lassis for DECADES. What a fool I've been!! I thought there was something tricky in it, like rice milk, something that I'd have to actually remember to get from the store and never would remember until I got home, slapping myself on the forehead.

Recipes seem to vary to taste based on how much water to yogurt, and then how much sugar/salt to the base. I saw one that was basically 1 cup of yogurt to 1 cup of water/ice cubes (to your liking), and then 2 tablespoons sugar in that with a pinch of salt, all blended together in a blender. But I think it really depends on your personal preference. Taste as you go. I guess a traditional lassi is actually salty, not sweet, but I may have to work up to that one. I had some coconut milk to use up, and it was hot today so I felt like something with a little more zing in it. I'm putting the recipe here, but I really just eyeballed it.

Coconut and Lime Lassi

Makes 2 drinks

1/2 cup coconut milk
1 1/2 cups yogurt
2 tablespoons sugar, plus more to taste
Juice from 1 lime
Thinly sliced lime circles for garnish, optional

Put coconut milk, yogurt, sugar, and lime juice in a blender. Blend until even and frothy, about 30 seconds. Add more sugar until it’s sweet enough to your liking. Pour into a pitcher or glasses, and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

UPDATE: Peach & coconut is also a great combo.

Drrrrooooooooooolllll...

No-bake chocolate cake

This is on the to-do list. I seem to be accumulating more things on the to-do list than I am actually to-doing. Part of the reason, I think, is that while I've been having an awful lot of appetite for breakfast (and second breakfast, and elevensies), I generally haven't had so much appetite for post-noon meals. Also, I don't think my midwife would approve of me eating this cake for elevensies, as would inevitably happen if I were to make it. So I'll file it away for some lucky future dinner party when I have the pretense of cooking for others to warrant making something that will, of course, need to be eaten the next morning asap before it goes bad. Of course.

Notes to self: berries or bananas on the bottom?

UPDATE 9/6

Results:
This was actually really disappointing. It didn't set very firmly, even after an overnight stint in the fridge. There was way too much salt in it, and it was really nothing more than the inside of a truffle, but a serving was so huge that you got tired of the chocolate (I know, crazy talk!). Anyway. Skip.

Italian bread

From Food.com

• 5 1/2-6 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 5 teaspoons active dry yeast ( 2 packages )
• 1 tablespoon butter or 1 tablespoon margarine, softened
• 1 3/4 cups very warm water ( 120 -130 F)
• cornmeal
• peanut oil or light olive oil
• 1 egg whites
• 1 tablespoon cold water

Directions

• In large bowl thoroughly mix 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, salt and undissolved yeast.
• Add butter.
• Gradually add warm water to dry ingredients and beat 2 minutes with mixer at medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally.
• Add 3/4 cup flour.
• Beat at high speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.
• Stir in enough additional flour to make a stiff dough.
• Turn dough onto a lightly floured board and knead until smooth and elastic (about 8-10 minutes).
• Cover dough with plastic wrap and then a towel and let it rest for 20 minutes.

To make loaves:
Divide dough in half.
Roll each half into a 15x10 inch rectangle.
Starting at wide side, roll up tightly; pinch seam to seal.
Taper ends by rolling gently back and forth.

To make rolls:
Divide dough into 6 equal pieces.
Roll each piece into a rectangle 8x5 inches.
Starting with wide side, roll up tightly; pinch seam to seal.
Taper ends.

• Place the shaped dough seam side down on greased baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal.
• Brush dough with oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate 2-24 hours.
• When ready to bake, remove from refrigerator and uncover carefully. Let dough stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.
• Make 3 or 4 diagonal slits in dough with a sharp knife or razor blade.
• Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes for rolls, 20 minutes for loaves.
• Remove from oven and brush with egg white beaten with cold water.
• Return to oven; bake 5-10 minutes longer, or until golden.

 **Optional: add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon (adjust amounts to your preferences) of dried oregano OR basil OR rosemary to the dry ingredients. May also add 1 bulb (head) of roasted garlic cloves to the dry ingredients.

Results
I'm not posting this because I thought it was an awesome recipe, and it's not really what I think of when I think of Italian bread (although Betsy might disagree). Italian bread to me is crusty and flaky. This was more like a sweet French bread. Anyway, I'm posting it because 1) Chris liked it and I don't want to lose the recipe, B) it was pretty fast. I didn't put the dough in the fridge, so it was ready to go in the oven after about an 1.5 hr of rising, and finally) I think it has potential. We were talking and it would be a really great breakfast roll with cinnamon or honey butter, or (as I had for my breakfast this morning) with PB&J. I don't think it worked as a dinner roll, but that doesn't mean it might not work for other purposes, with some tweaking.