APPLE & BANANA MUFFINS

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
2/3 cup shortening
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup buttermilk - can make by adding 1/4 tsp. vinegar to regular milk
1 cup ripe bananas, mashed
2 apples, peeled, cored and shredded

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease and flour 24 muffin cups, or use paper liners.  Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and buttermilk.  Beat in the flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated.  Fold in the mashed bananas and shredded apples.  Fill each muffin cup half full.

Bake in over for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
 Yield: 24 cupcakes.

Rhubarb Custard Pie

4 cups chopped rhubarb -- 1/4 to 1/2 inch size pieces

2 Tbs. Melted Butter
1 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Flour
3 Eggs

Mix 4 above ingredients.  Put rhubarb into bottom pie crust.  Pour mixture evenly over rhubarb.  Add top crust.
Bake @ 450F for 10 minutes, then @ 375F for 30-35 minutes or until top is golden brown.
Serve chilled.

Note:  Robin's pie crust is great for this recipe.

CARAMEL - Apples/Candy/Turles/Pretzels

In a large pot combine 2 cups sugar and 1 1/4 cups light corn syrup (if you like a darker caramel, use brown sugar instead of white). Stir and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 1 cup heavy cream and bring back to a boil, stirring constantly. Add another 1 cup of cream, bring to a boil then add 1 more cup of cream (3 cups in all). Continue to cook, stirring constantly until caramel reaches the 'soft-ball' stage (235-240 degrees on a candy thermometer) or when mixture can be molded with fingers into a soft ball when dropped into a bowl of ice cold water. This whole process takes about 30-45 minutes.

If making caramel candy, pour the mixture into a lightly buttered 9x13 pan and allow to cool. When cool cut into desired size pieces and wrap. Candy keeps well in the refrigerator or freezer.

For caramel apples: Prepare apples before making the caramel by inserting a stick into the top of the apple (I use Granny Smith), then dip in boiling water for 15-20 seconds to remove wax that has been added by grocery stores. If you get your apples from an orchard you do not have to do this step. Place apples on paper towels and allow to dry before dipping. Once the caramel is ready, transfer it to a 1 1/2 quart crock pot or a fondue pot set on low - this makes for easier dipping. Allow the caramel to cool for about 5 minutes. Dip apples.

If making White Chocolate over Caramel apples, dip the apples and allow the to set (in the refrigerator is best), then dip in melted white chocolate. Immediately sprinkle with a brown sugar/cinnamon mixture.

For most other apples, add toppings (toffee pieces, M&M's, nuts, etc.) right after dipping in caramel and before it sets. Once cool, drizzle milk or dark chocolate over the whole apple.

This recipe makes 12-15 apples, depending on size. If you are only making a few apples, you can dip those, then drop 1/2 cup of the remaining caramel on an 8x8 inch sheet of parchment. Once cool stack the sheets, put in a gallon zip bag and store in fridge. You can then make more apples by placing a caramel circle over an apple and using your hands, gentle press it evenly around a prepared apple. Add toppings as above.

Turtles - Place 3-4 pecans for each turtle on parchment paper. Drop a teaspoon of caramel over the pecans. Do this for all the turtles you are making, then go back and drop another teaspoon or tablespoon (depending on how big you want the candy) over the whole piece. Once cool dip in milk or dark chocolate.

Pretzels - Dip large pretzel rods into caramel, place on parchment paper and allow to cool. Then, dip in white or dark chocolate. You can also add chopped nuts at this time, if desired. Once chocolate is set, drizzle different colors of melted chocolate (red, green, white for Christmas, etc.) over the pretzels.

White Bean Chicken Chili

This was surprisingly good!

1 T. Oil
1 Onion chopped (or onion powder)
3 Cloves Garlic
2 t. Cumin
1 t. Oregano
1 t. Cayenne (optional if you like it spicy, I didn't put it in)

-Combine in large saucepan and cook 3 minutes.
-Add the following and simmer 15 minutes.

2 Cans Chicken Broth
3 Cups Cooked Chicken
3 15oz Cans White Beans

-Top with cheese and serve

Crepe Recipe

3/4 cup flour

1/3 cup water

1/3 cup milk

2 eggs

2 Tbsp. sugar

4 tsp. cooking oil (I use Canola)

Whisk all ingredients together until smooth. Heat a small frying pan on the stove. When it's warm, remove it from the heat and spray it with non-stick cooking spray (or maybe not if it's non-stick). Put enough crepe batter in to line the bottom of the pan (the recipe I use says 2 Tbsp but I think I typically use a bit more than that). Tilt the pan around until you have a fairly even coating. Return the pan to the stove and allow it to cook until the edges of the crepe are turning light brown (they'll most likely be curling away from the pan as well and there may be 'bubbles' forming in the crepe). Invert the pan over a plate or paper towel. The crepe should peel off fairly easily. However, I sometimes have problems with sticking so a lot of times I'll just use a spatula to scoop it out of the pan.

My favorite topping for crepes is Nutella with strawberries and/or bananas. Another good combo is brown sugar and lemon. Or if you want to be more healthy, you can just put a fruit mix together. Jeff likes to add maple syrup to every combo. Pretty much anything works.

Homemade Refried Beans

1 Onion
3 C. Pinto Beans (Rinsed)
2 T. Minced Garlic
3 t. Salt
1 3/4 t. Black Pepper
1/8 t. Cumin
9 C. Water
1/2 Diced Jalapeno or Diced Chilis (Optional)

Combine and cook in crock pot for 6-8 hours, then mash.

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

Crust:

1 yellow cake mix

1 egg

1 stick of butter, melted

*Mix with a fork and press in bottom of 9x13 pan

Top:

1 pound powdered sugar (4 cups)

1 package cream cheese, softened (8oz)

1 stick of butter, very soft or melted

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 can pumpkin (15 oz)

1 tsp cinnamon

nutmeg (optional)

*Mix and pour over base

Bake at 350 for 40-45 min or until set. The center should still be gooey. Cool and top with powdered sugar.