Apple Butter

For our wedding, I decided to make homemade apple butter for all of our guests.  Call me crazy, because I am, but I had so much fun making this! This post makes it looks easy, but this requires a lot of blood, sweat, & tears! I'm serious!

Although this was my first time canning anything, I didn't find it very difficult. It reminded me of my grandmother.  Anyone who knew her would attest to what a great cook she was.  She loved to can tomatoes, green beans, etc.  Not a tomato was wasted. She had a HUGE garden and would work all day out in the hot sun re-tying tomato stakes, watering, & all the things a master gardener does.  I admired her hard work in the garden.  In the summer, her kitchen would be full of canning baths for all sorts of her vegetables from her garden. My only regret is not asking her "How to Can" before she passed.  So it was up to me and Google.

The first thing I did was order canning jars, oh about 130 of them, from a website so that they would be here in time for me to have ready for the wedding.  This was before I realized that they sold Ball jars at Walmart!

Ingredients:

3 Bags of Apples (Any kind)

3c sugar

4Tbsp. Cinnamon

Canning jars & lids

Caning equipment (jar tongs, bubble remover, basket, jar funnel)
Crock Pot 

1. First, peel, core, and dice all of the apples.  You do not want any seeds, peels, or the hard part of the apple, located in the center.

2.  Pour these in the crock pot.

3. Add the sugar and cinnamon.

4. Cook on high for 2 hours, then on low for 20-24 hours.  Continuously stirring.  The apples will release lots of water so at first it will seem like you are making apple soup.

5. The key to making sure the apple butter is done is to take a spoon full and place on a dish. If the water separates, KEEP COOKING! I found that 1 crock pot full would make about 6-7 8ox. jars.

Canning:
 1. First you need a huge pot full of boiling water. The jars need to be sanitized in the boiling water for 10 minutes. Place the jars in your basket and set down into the water. The lids also need to be sanitized but place them in a small pot and make sure the water is almost boiling but not boiling (boiling can mess up the seal of the lid).

2. Make sure apple butter is hot and add it to the jars when they are done being sanitized. Place the lids on the jars but don't screw them too tight. Place them back into your basket and set back into the boiling water for 12-15 minutes.

3. Remove the basket full of jars and set in the sink to cool off.  You will start to hear the seals pop when the jars start to cool down.  This will let you know that they have properly sealed.  When they cool down, make sure the the middle of the lid is "sunken down" which means it is sealed. If the jars are not sealed, you will need to do the boiling bath again.

4. Screw the rings of the lids on tighter when they are cool enough!

5. Make labels & voila! 

Pumpkin Mousse & Homeade Whipped Cream

 As you know, I LOVE to bake. Recently, for the Halloween Bash we had at our house in October, I made this Pumpkin Mousse and everyone has been asking for the recipe. This is a great item to add to the Thanksgiving table!

Well here it is and when I say this is scrumptious... I mean it!


Ingredients:
5 large egg yolks
3 1/2c heavy whipping cream
1c sugar
15oz. canned pumpkin
2 tea vanilla extract
1 1/2 tea. ground cinnamon
1/2 tea. ground ginger
1/4 tea. ground nutmeg
1/4 tea. salt
2 Tbsp. dark rum
1 tea. powered unflavored gelatin
1 bag of Hershey chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Fill a large bowl halfway with ice eater and set aside. (I usually pick the largest mixing bowl in the set that way the medium bowl will fit inside)


2. Whisk the yolks, 3/4c plus 2 Tbsp. sugar, & 3/4c heavy whipping cream together in a medium saucepan.  Heat on medium heat while stirring continuously with a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon.  You want to heat until it thickens & coats the spatula- about 10 minutes.


3. Transfer this to a medium bowl and place in the ice bath.


4.  Fold pumpkin, vanilla, spices, & salt to the bowl in the ice bath.  


5.  In a very small bowl, add just the rum. Heat in the microwave for 12 seconds.  Pour in the gelatin and stir until it is dissolved.  Gently whisk this into the pumpkin mixture.


6.  Beat 1/2c heavy cream to stiff peaks and fold it into the pumpkin mixture. 

  

7. Place this in a shallow dish and cover. Chill until cold and thick enough to fall from a spoon in heavy dollops- about 8 hours or overnight.

This is what mine looked like after removing from the fridge.

 8. Beat the remaining cream and sugar to stiff peaks- this may take a while (I'd recommend a Kitchen Aid stand up mixer, my dad purchased  for me several years ago and I literally use it for everything!)

9.  Get a container of some sort- I used a tiramisu dish, but you can use anything. You want it to be clear glass so the layers are visible. 

10. Divide the pumpkin in half. Place half of the pumpkin mixture in the bottom of the bowl. Then add half of the whipped cream. The third layer is chocolate chips.  Repeat this and add lots of chocolate chips to the top.


11. Cover and chill until time to dig in!

Friday Night- Southern Style

Living in the South has many advantages: the culture, the slang, 4 seasons, hospitality, along with many others, but the most important one of all is the FOOD! Who doesn't like biscuits & gravy with a side of homemade preserves as a starter? Or better yet, mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese? YUM-O. 

Those of you that know me, can attest to my love for mashed potatoes & macaroni and cheese.  If they are on the menu, I will always order them, so I would consider myself as a connoisseur of those two foods. Growing up, I developed a passion for cooking & baking; mostly for my father. You might ask why, but he was the best taste-tester because to him, everything was delicious.  He never complained nor made a sour face even though it was obvious the food was inedible.  My father and I were talking this week about how I used to have sleepovers just so we could have a "bake-off".  Of course everyone was a winner in his eyes.  He was telling me a story about one night the bake-off included tacos.  The meat was cooked, water and seasoning mix was added, but there was one problem... no one ever told me that the grease had to be drained.  So according to my father, there was 4 inches of grease in the taco meat.  Just one of the many memories made in the kitchen. Nothing in the kitchen was "off limits" to me.  It was my playground & I enjoyed just investigating and experimenting.  Sometimes I would just mix flour and water and make sculptures, baby food, bird treats; you cannot begin to imagine all of the things I made with flour and water.  My love for the kitchen has continued to grow and there is nothing I would rather be doing than cooking.

Us eating at Magnolia's

 Growing up we vacationed to Hilton Head Island and later Charleston, SC.  One of my inspiration's for the recipe that I am about to post comes from "Magnolia's."  This true southern quaint restaurant in downtown Charleston isn't much of a eye catcher from the street but their dishes will have you drooling for more.  This summer, I had the opportunity of taking my husband to the finest city in the South.  Of course he fell in love just as I had many years before.  I took him to Magnolia's one night and we both ordered the pork chop... we actually came back the next night and ordered the exact same thing it was so good.  It has taken me several months to finalize this recipe but I hope you enjoy it as much as we have!

Southern Fried Pork Chop with Creamy Macaroni & Cheese


Ingredients

package of pork chops (I like the thinner cuts better)
2c. bread crumbs
1c. parmesean grated cheese
2c. flour
3 eggs
2 tea. kosher salt

6c. cooked macaroni noodles
6c. sharp cheddar cheese (shredded)
1c. milk
1c. sour cream
3 eggs
1/2 stick butter
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1Tbsp. dry mustard
salt & pepper

Mac & Cheese
1. Add the cooked macaroni shells, butter, and cheese in a saucepan.  Cook until the cheese is melted. (This will end up looking like a huge cheese ball but don't be scared).

2. Add this along with the other ingredients: milk, sour cream, eggs, soup, dry mustard, & salt/pepper in a crock pot.
3. Cook on low for 4-6 hours or high for 2-3 hours but you have to continually still it so that it doesn't stick to the crock pot. 

Pork Chops
1. You will need 3 separate bowls for breading the chops.  In the first bowl, wisk the eggs. In the second bowl, add the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, & kosher salt.  In the third bowl, put the flour.

 2. Put the bowls in order: flour, egg, bread crumbs.
3. Dip the pork chops in the flour, then the eggs (making sure that you let all of the excess egg fall off), then cover on both sides with the bread crumbs mixture. Do this to all of them.
4. Place the chop's in a skillet with oil (I like to use peanut oil) and fry on each side until they are golden brown. Approx 3-4 minutes on each side.

5. After you sear them, place them on a baking sheet and cook for 8-10 minutes. They should be white on the inside, not pink, but don't over cook them.

6. Enjoy