Fried Apples

Today is Johnny Appleseed's 234th birthday. Celebrate by making these southern delights.

Fried Apples

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 medium tart apples, unpeeled, cored, quartered, and sliced
• 1/2 cup sugar

Instructions:

• Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.
  
• Add apples, cover and cook until apples are juicy 4-6 minutes).
  
• Turn and sprinkle with 1/3 cup sugar.
  
• Reduce to low heat and cover and cook about 5 minutes longer.
  
• Uncover and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until sugar is absorbed and apples are lightly browned on bottom.
  
• Remove from heat and sprinkle with more sugar, depending on tartness of apples.
  
• Enjoy as a ham side dish or over toast or pancakes for breakfast.

Super Simple Kid-Pleasin' Snack

Mini Pizzas!

This is one of my kids’ favorite snacks. We call ‘em mini pizzas because well, they’re mini pizzas. As the title suggests, they are super simple to make.

Ingredients:

• Canned Biscuits (We’ve used every kind from buttermilk to homestyle to layers, and they all work equally well. Although we tend to use buttermilk the most.)
• Pizza Sauce (again, any kind will work. My favorite is Ragu.)
• Pizza toppings (pepperoni, Canadian bacon, crumbled sausage or bacon, etc.)
• Shredded Mozzarella cheese

Preheat your oven to whatever the biscuit directions suggest, usually 375 degrees.

Flatten biscuits into a thin circle or oval, or whatever shape you like. We’ve done letters of the alphabet before. Creative, no?

Next, spread a thin layer of pizza sauce on each biscuit. Or a thick layer, y’know if you’re into lots of sauce on your pizza.

Then add your desired toppings and place on cookie sheet or pizza pan and bake for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with the shredded mozzarella and return to the oven for 3-4 minutes or until cheese melts.

For crispier pizzas, you can place them under the broiler for a minute or so. Not too long though or your cheese will burn. And unless you’re one of my kids, you probably don’t like burnt cheese on your mini pizza.

Serve hot and enjoy!

PS My kids make these almost completely by themselves, all I do is operate the oven and do the hot pan handling.

Freid Peanut Butter Sandwiches

A new favorite snack in our house is the fried peanut butter sandwich. They’re easy to make and delicious and somewhat healthy, if you don’t count all the butter we slather on before we fry ‘em.

All you do is make up a couple of peanut butter sandwiches then slather each side with butter and fry in a hot skillet or griddle until each side is toasted a golden brown. I told ya it was easy.

You can add sliced bananas or even jelly if you’d like. Just be careful not to put so much on that it squishes out the sides while frying.

These are so easy, my kids do most of the work.

Slice up some apples, cut up a few carrots and celery sticks and you could even make a meal out of ‘em. Yum.

Sweet Potato Pumpkin Pie

I’ve never made this pie myself, but my sister’s fiance made it for Thanksgiving dinner last year and it was delicious.

SWEET POTATO PUMPKIN PIE

• 1 15 oz. can Libby’s pumpkin pie filling
• 1 15 oz. can candied yams
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 2 tablespoon melted butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1 refrigerated pie crust
• 3 tablespoon Myer’s Rum

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine pumpkin pie filling, candied yams (undrained), sugar, spice, salt, coconut milk, butter and eggs and process until smooth.

Pour into a 10″ pie crust and bake for 1 1/2 hours

Remove from oven and set aside for at least 20 minutes before serving. Tastes great chilled.

Couch Potato Wedges

This recipe for potato wedges works great as a side dish for grilled steaks or as a party appetizer. Sometimes, I eat them all by themselves, just for the heck of it.

Couch Potato Wedges

4 whole potatoes, washed and quartered
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1 (8-ounce) package (2 cups) cheddar cheese, shredded
8 slices crisply cooked bacon, crumbled

Bake potato wedges at 350F for 40 minutes, remove from oven
Immediately sprinkle with green onions, cheese and bacon. Continue
baking until cheese is melted (1 to 2 minutes).

Makes 16 wedges.

PS. I apologize for the crummy presentation of this here recipe. If you’re looking for recipes accompanied by fantastic photography and humorous dialogue, you should visit my bloggy-idol Ree’s site.

Super Simple Sugar Cookies

This is my favorite sugar cookie recipe ever. It’s super easy and delicious.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup butter (softened)
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions:

• Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla.
• Add dry ingredients. Mix well. Batter should be stiff.
• Using wax paper, Shape dough into long cylinder and Let chill for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350*
• Slice dough into 1/4 in slices.
• Place 2 inches apart on un-greased cookie sheet and sprinkle with sugar, colored sugar. (optional)
• Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden.
• Enjoy!!

*Makes about 2 dozen, depending on the size you make them.