Grape and Pear Pie

I did this for a chili/bake off at church. I just found the recipe in Better Homes & Gardens. I was very impressed with this recipe and would totally make it again.

Ingredients

1 recipe for double-crust pie
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup packed brown sugar
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp finely shredded orange peel
5 cups whole seedless red or black grapes
2 medium red pears, cored and sliced (2 cups)
1 egg white

Preheat oven to 375. Prepare pie crust. For filling, in large bowl stir together brown sugar, flour, melted butter, and orange peel. Add grapes and pears; toss. Prepare bottom layer of crust. Pour filling into pie. Roll remaining dough over filling. In small bowl, combine egg white with 1 tbsp water. Brush top of pie with egg white mixture. Cover edge of pie with foil. Bake 35 minutes; remove foil. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until top of pastry is golden and steam is escaping from slits in top crust. Remove from oven. Cool 6 hours. Store, loosely covered, in fridge up to 24 hours.

The only additions I would add is to make sure your grapes aren't too big. Mine were huge. It was good, but they were a mouthful. Second, make sure you have enough pears. They're so good. And don't scrimp on the orange peel either. It adds a great flavor. I'll add the recipe for pie crust as well. (I'll add some simple construction instructions for the pie crust part as well, as I left it out in this recipe.) You can always buy it too. Mine was homemade.

Waffled Pizza Dippers

This was fun. I did it more for a child-food experiment. Joseph ate them pretty easily, although he didn't really dip them, which for me is the whole point. Anyway, it was a success and they were pretty good.

Ingredients
7 oz. (1 ¾ cups) shredded mozzarella cheese
¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese (1 oz.)
½ tsp dried basil leaves
½ tsp dried oregano leaves
2 cans crescent dinner rolls
1 jar pizza sauce
32 small slices pepperoni

Heat waffle maker on medium-high setting. In medium bowl, mix both cheese, basil and oregano; set aside. In 1 ½ quart saucepan, heat pizza sauce over low heat, stirring occasionally, until hot. Place in small serving bowl. Unroll both cans of dough onto work surface. Separate each crosswise, making 4 rectangles; firmly press perforations to seal. Place 1 dough rectangle on bottom surface of heated waffle maker, being careful not to open up perforations. Quickly sprinkle 1 cup cheese mixture evenly on top of dough. Place 16 slices of pepperoni evenly over cheese mixture. Top with another dough rectangle; close waffle maker. Bake 2 to 3 minutes or until sandwich is golden brown. With pancake turner, remove from waffle maker; cool before cutting. Serve with warm sauce.

I didn't get the amount of cheese or pepperoni listed in the recipe, but used it all more or less. It definitely needs the sauce. At least for me, being used to pizza. Joseph ate it without, which I didn't find as good. But for a version of pizza, it is very easy to eat hands on and I'm sure kids would enjoy the fun waffle-ness of it. And for "homemade pizza" it is pretty easy. I'm sure you could easily alter the ingredients a touch to add other toppings, like canadian bacon, mushrooms or olives.

Orange Cream Floats

I didn't like this the first time I had it, but the second time I really liked it. The third, even more. I like that it's a dessert, but it's more bitter than sweet. It's the orange juice concentrate, I think. Anyhow, I enjoy its difference. It's refreshing. (Although I had some issues with my ice cream, so for all I know, I just didn't add enough and it was supposed to taste differently. Either way I'm sure it's a delicious recipe!)

Ingredients

2 pints (4 cups) vanilla ice cream, softened (I tried measuring out the ice cream from a big tub. Would've been easier to buy it by the pint. I don't know if I used enough ice cream.)
1 can (6 oz.) frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
¾ cup water
½ tsp vanilla
Red and yellow food coloring, if desired
1 bottle (2 liters) ginger ale

In large bowl, mix ice cream, orange juice concentrate, water, vanilla and food color until almost smooth. For each serving, scoop heaping ½ cup ice cream mixture into 16 oz. glass. Pour about 1 cup ginger ale over top of each. You can make the ice cream mixture before serving and store it in the freezer.

My first attempt was really sloshy. The ice cream was basically melted and so it looked like a big orange juice with foam. Then I froze the mixture and scooped it straight out of the fridge and added the ginger ale. That was when I liked it better.

Tortellini in Brodo

Or as Emeril taught me, Tortellini in Soup. So super yummy! I loved this recipe!

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 ½ onions, chopped
¾ cup chopped celery
¾ cup chopped carrots
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
8 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
9 oz. fresh cheese filled tortellini
2 tbsp minced parsley
Salt, to taste if necessary
½ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
Heat a large saucepan over high heat. Add the olive oil and, when hot, add the onion, celery, and carrots. Saute until soft, about four minutes. Add the garlic, italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper and saute for 2 more minutes. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the tortellini and cook for 5 minutes (or longer if pasta directs). The pasta should be al dente. Stir in the parsley, taste, and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Remove from heat and ladle into soup bowls. Garnish each bowl with 1 tbsp cheese. Serve.

The big odd looking white sections (not the noodles) are the Parmesan cheese. Then there are also a few non-organic items in there (two orange, one white). They're plastic ice cubes. They cool the food down without watering it down. I forgot about the picture before I put them in.

Homemade Pancakes

This is my mom's wonderful recipe. I adore her homemade pancakes. This said, I altered the recipe (sly grin) with a few of my own special changes. The pancakes were still good. Not as great as hers, but considering the changes, I think they came out great. The flavor wasn't the same, which was the main difference, but it was still good.  I'll give you the original recipe first, then my changes.

Ingredients
3 eggs
3 cups milk
3 cups flour
½ cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/3 tbsp baking powder
3 tbsp butter, melted

Combine eggs and milk. Add dry ingredients, mix well. Add butter and mix. Bake on griddle sprayed with Pam.

Now, the root of my changes was in the sugar. I did some research on brown vs. white sugar out of curiosity. What I was able to find said that white sugar is just brown sugar that's been processed more. I believe the most raw and natural form is the dark sugar. It has a few different names. You can find them on Wikipedia pretty easily. Anyway, I was curious about substitution. I read one source which said you could substitute 1 for 1, making sure to pack the brown sugar. Someone else said it would alter the moisture because brown sugar naturally has more moisture. So I started out with 1 for 1, then ended up adding more flour. If I could do it again, I would limit the milk and go about it that way, instead of adding more flour in the end. This was the way it turned out for me:

Ingredients
3 eggs
3 cups milk
*4 cups flour
*½ cup brown sugar packed
1 tsp salt
1 1/3 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp flax seed
3 tbsp butter, melted

Yup, I added flax seed. You might even be able to get away with 2 tbsp without altering the flavor. Anyway, this is the edited, hopefully slightly healthier version. If doing it again, like I said, I would start with 2 cups milk and slowly add until it was the right texture. Easier than adding flour after. But I would still use 3 eggs. I don't Mom, what do you think?

Anyway, the original recipe is great, the altered one was pretty darn good as well.

Bacon tip

This isn't anything revolutionary, but something I just realized recently was pretty handy and figure others out there might not've had the revelation yet either. We enjoy bacon with breakfast type meals, but I hate popping bacon grease, and the constant attention that bacon needs on the stove top. I also don't like using up all my Pam doing it in the microwave Dad style. Anyway, I noticed that bacon always has baking directions. On some packages it is even the recommended cooking method. Anyway, I've started baking my bacon in the oven and it has a few perks. No popping grease for one. It also leaves you completely freed to make whatever else you wanted with your meal and the bacon is completely independent to cook without worry. It's really nice.

This is my method. Then if you need the drippings for anything, you can pour them out. (I of course had more than 4 strips on here originally.) Putting them on the drying rack keeps them from getting stuck to the pan and breaking in pieces when you remove them.

White fish filets

This was originally a filet de Sol recipe. However, it works with any white fish: Sol, tilapia, cod, or catfish. I'm sure there are others. And no, I don't know why they're called white fish. Anyway, this was the first fish I really started enjoying. And I love it! I have since altered the recipe a tad. This is by far a family favorite. Awesome, awesome, awesome.

Ingredients
4-6 filets (approx.)
½ cup flour
1 tbsp Alpine Touch (an all-purpose seasoner like Lawry's. It has onion, garlic, salt and pepper.)
2 tbsp flax seed
2 tbsp wheat germ
1 tsp paprika
1 tbsp oil

Combine dry ingredients. Warm oil in saucepan. Dip sol in mixture and fry in oil (I use olive oil or vegetable oil) until browned on each side. It doesn't take very long. It should flake easily with a fork.

I was really pleased with this recipe. This is the first time I've measured the ingredients. Usually I just dump them together and make it. But I've wanted to measure it out so I can share it. The wheat germ is expenable, but I would definitely have the flax seed, as it has a stronger flavor and adds to the taste of the fish. This is another recipe that's easy to edit to your individual tastes. You could easily add other seasonings that are a family favorite. Or you can substitute the Alpine Touch with other all-purpose seasoners, like Lawry's or a Lemon Pepper Seasoning. It's easy to get creative if you want to. And Joseph just loves this recipe and can eat a good size filet all on his own. I think it's the most fish friendly recipe I've ever had if you don't want to feed your kids fish sticks. :)