Old fashioned Dutch Apple Pie

My family is Swiss Decent...which by all rights should make me a great cook! 

Well, I am a good cook, by I wouldn't say that I'm great. 

My ancestors did know how to make a mean Apple Pie though!

 Old Fashioned Dutch Apple Pie

*Please note that I make my own pie crust. None of that Pillsbury stuff.

Pie Crust:

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 c oil (vegetable or canola)

2 T cold water

Hand Mix slowly(with a fork) the flour, salt, and oil until half mixed, then add water to finish mixing. Form into a ball and place on large piece of wax paper.  Place a second sheet of wax paper on top and roll dough until large enough for pie pan. Peel of top later. 

Pick up bottom layer and invert and place into pan. Paper should peel off fairly easily.

Form edge with thumb and first two fingers of other hand to make crinkle.

Apple Pie:

3 cups chopped apples

1/2 c sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Peel and chop apples into dice size pieces. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over top of apples. Let sit for 15 minutes.

Pour sugared apples into unbaked pie crust. in small bowl combine:

1/3 cup softened butter

3/4 c flour

1/2 cup sugar

Cut butter into flour and sugar to make a crumb mixture. Spread on top of apples. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake for 10 minutes at 450° then 30 minutes at 350°. Makes one pie.

Pumpkin Spice Caramel Cookies

I made these delectable cookies yesterday to bring to a family party. They were gone in less than an hour....seriously!

Ingredient list:

1 cup softened butter

2 cups sugar

2/3 c pure pumpkin

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp ginger

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt 

1 bag of Kraft Caramels (unwrapped)

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup sugar

Icing

1/3 cup brown sugar dissolved in 1/4 c water

1/4 tsp cinnamon flavoring

1-1/2 cup of powdered sugar ( enough to make a thick consistency)

Pretzels

To begin:

Mix well 2 cups sugar and butter. Add vanilla extract and pumpkin. 

Sift together flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, soda, powder, and salt. Add to pumpkin mixture and stir until flour is no longer visible. Refrigerate for 30 min.

Preheat oven to 350°. Roll dough into golf ball size balls. Place thumb into center to make a hole for the caramel to be placed into. Cover the caramel and roll ball in 2 tsp cinnamon mixed with 1/2 sugar. Place on cookie sheet three inches apart. Bake for 14 minutes.

Cool completely on cookie sheet (very important) until cool. When almost cool, drizzle icing on top of cookie. I crushed pretzels and sprinkled those on top of wet icing for texture. 

This will make about 30 cookies.

McClure Apple Orchard, Peru, Indiana-review

I found this place on a search for something a little different. The website for this place looked so inviting, we just had to make a stop here. (although we did have a little trouble finding it) The thing that interested me the most was the fact that they had Apple Dumplings!

 Yes, it was cold and snowy, but that's when we like to venture out. The house behind us actually belongs to the owners parents. We thought it made a nice place for a picture.

McClures does have their own orchard and press, something that we tend to lean more to, verses someplace that just has wine shipped in. McClures' specialty is not wine though, it's hard cider.
Now I am not a beer drinker, in fact, I really don't care for the taste, but my hubby does. He did the tasting today.

Me, I was just here for the Apple Dumpling! Wow was it delicious!
Better than my Granny used to make! (sorry grandma) The thing that really set off the dumpling was the cinnamon ice cream. I have never had this before, but it's amazing! Yep, that's caramel sauce on top!

 McClures also has a quaint little store which has the most interesting things.
My favorite was the sign you will see below...

Although this is not really a full meal restaurant, McClure's Apple Orchard gets a 5 out of 5 dinner stars***** just for the fabulous Apple Dumpling!

Spiced Nuts recipe

Spiced Nuts recipe

I enjoy cooking and trying new recipes when I have the time to do so. This one was actually on the Allspice container from McCormick. You know how you walk through the Mall and you can smell the spiced nuts...ya, it's kinda like that!

Spiced Nuts

In a bowl, beat one egg white until very foamy. 

Add 1/3 c brown sugar,

 2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp seasoned salt

Mix well. Add 3 cups of nuts 

( I like the cashews and walnuts the best)

Coat nuts with sugar spice mixture until well coated.

 

 

 

 Spread out on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 250° for 1 hour.

When slightly cooled, break apart pieces.

 

 Warning! These are very addicting!

Colts Grille, Indianapolis, Indiana- review

On this taste adventure, my hubby and I traveled to our State Capitol in Indianapolis. My hubby is a big Colts fan and they actually have a restaurant down there named after the team.

Of course when we walk in , there are numerous TV's mounted every where as not to miss a second of the game. My husband and I were seated at a nice window table, and we start off with drinks. I myself am not a big drinker at all, but do enjoy an occasional fruit cocktail like this one. My darling husband usually has one beer.

I was so thrilled to see that this popular place actually buys it's ketchup locally. In fact, this bottle of "Colts" ketchup came right from Red Gold made in Geneva, Indiana, not 5 minutes from us.

On to dinner... This place is known for it's grill, so my husband orders a hamburger, that in all fairness was probably about a half pounder! He loved it!

Me...I ventured out a bit ( still love my chicken) and order a balsamic chicken with maple sauce and sweet potato fries.

This dish was very appealing when served with loads of colorful vege's. I LOVED the fries! Sweet potato fries are the bomb and could serve as entree and dessert all in one! Now, the first bite I took of the chicken was good. The breading with the maple syrup was an excellent combo, but once I hit the chicken, not so much. ( This is the part that gets the bad review, sorry) The chicken tasted like it had been boiled...three days ago, refrigerated, breaded, fried, then served. Needless to say, I ate my fries.

So...the Colts Grille got a 3 out of 5 dinner stars *** for this meal. ( did I mention my hubby loved his? I should have ordered the same)

Pumpkin Spice Chai Tea

For those of you who know me well, know that I am a big fan of Chai tea...

Now I am very picky about what brand I like. Oregan Chai is about the only chai I will drink.

However.....

Tazo makes this pumpkin Spice Chai latte that is wonderful!!! 

Since I am lactose intolerant, I mix this with Light Vanilla Soy milk ( Silk only) No GMO's.

Top with pumpkin pie or allspice.

Yummy!!!!

Tabor Hill winery and restaurant, Buchanan, Michigan- review

We love traveling to distant places on our "Day Dates". We usually don't travel farther than a half day's travel as we usually drive home that night. 

This happened to be one of those times where we decided to make it a weekend out of it. ( again, we rarely do this) We traveled up North to the dirt roads of the beautiful state of Michigan to visit some wineries up there. 

We had only planned on visiting the ones on our "list" but saw a sign for Tabor Hill. This looks interesting honey...let's stop.

One thing that impressed me right away was the warm greeting that we received once we entered. It was just a little before 11:00, so we began to look around. They had the most interesting candy display, all made right there.

The wine racks where not lacking in variety and quantity as Tabor Hill has it's own winery on site complete with it's own vineyard.

 On to lunch. Walking into the restaurant here is warm and inviting, with a beautifully decorated room complete with fire place.

My husband is not as daring as I and ordered a roast beef sandwich. Little did he know it would be a mouthful of flavor! The Parmesan cheese fries were amazing!

 

 I ventured more on the wild side and ordered a shrimp dish. Let me tell you, there have been few time that I have tasted anything this flavorful in my entire life. There were three different varieties of shrimp, all with their own unique taste. Every bite was "Wow" and I don't give that wow out lightly!

Tabor Hill gets 5 out of 5 Dinner stars for this fabulous meal. Service was excellent! Food was superb! I'm ready to go back!!!

Club Soda review- Fort Wayne, Indiana

My husband's birthday was yesterday, so we decided to walk a little on the wild side and venture to Club Soda. I have been to this old Textile building numerous times while on my photo sessions, usually with Seniors. I love the old vintage feel of the building itself as it provides a wonderfully antique background.

Upon entering from the back of the building, we were asked where we would most like to sit. We requested the patio outdoors and were seated in the furthest corner table next to the nicely landscaped iron fence.

We were first offered water and a modest menu consisting of just two pages. The other two menus consisted of an extensive wine list and martini menu.

 

For starters, I ordered a chocolate kiss martini and my husband ordered a draft beer. Both were very good, although I am not a drinker and had to add ice to mine to dilute it a bit.

For an appetizer, we started with the shrimp cocktail. We were served  generous sized shrimp which we shared. The shrimp were firm in texture and had to be eaten with a fork and knife. Wonderful!

Next came the house salad which was colorfully made and tasted even better with an Italian oil dressing, feta cheese, peppers, topped with croutons.

On to the entree...

We decided to stay low key on our dinner as every on the menu is $23 or more. I ordered the stuffed chicken breast with spinach and ham smothered in a wonderful garlic cheese sauce with a side of white cheddar cheese mashed potatoes.

The overall taste was fabulous, but I felt that the chicken was cooked a bit too long, was dry, and I had to work a little too hard to eat it. 

Roger ordered an old stand by of Walleye ( which has been served here for 14 years). His fish was coated in a corn flake batter with pepper and cheese. He opted for the baked potato, staying on the safer side. His fish was very light and had a wonderful flavor. (I thought it could have used a bit more salt in the batter though.)

The ambiance overall of the club is quite relaxed, but everyone is dressed in business attire or evening wear. Just a heads up...people are allowed to smoke outdoors on the patio.

  So overall, I give Club Soda a 4 out of 5 dinner star **** rating.