Deep Fried Apple Rings

I have been dying to make these for a few weeks now, and finally got around to it!  I served them with a pork cutlet and some mashed potatoes, but will definitely be re-purposing them for a dessert treat and another dinner here on the blog!   They were beyond easy to make, and were the only part of dinner that did not make it into the leftovers bowl!

Deep Fried Apple Rings 
Yields 4 servings

Ingredients 
3 Gala apples, cleaned and peeled
1 cup complete pancake mix
3/4 cup warm water
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp all spice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
Oil for deep frying


To Prepare the Apple Rings 
1. Cut your apples into rounds, straight through the stem and core, which we will remove in the next step!
2. Once you have cut all three apples into rounds, cut the cores out.  I found it was easiest to do this by taking a 1 inch round cookie cutter and putting it through the core area.  It only took a minute to get through all of them!
3. Start heating your oil over high heat.
4. Mix the pancake batter, water, and spices together.
5. Dip a few apple rings in the batter until well coated, pick them up with a fork through the middle, let the excess batter drop off, and put in the oil.
6. Brown on one side and then flip and cook until brown on the other.
7. Pull them out of the oil once browned on both sides and place in a bowl or on a plate.  
8. Repeat steps 5 through 7 until all of your apples are cooked.
9. I sprinkled with a little more cinnamon before serving!

Applesauce Cake

I am sorry to inform all of you that I cannot share the recipe for this cake, but that doesn't mean I still cannot share it in some way!  My Aunt Peg was so kind as to give me this recipe, which was passed down through several generations of her family.  Having this recipe is something I consider an honor and a privilege!  I guess the best way to describe it is as a true fruit cake.  Someone who tried it last year described it as "like biting into fall".  It is filled with granny smith apples, golden and dark raisins, dates, walnuts, and lots of spices.  Normally I make two batches...1 at the beginning of November for Thanksgiving, and 1 during Thanksgiving for Christmas.  I wrap them very tightly in saran and foil and let them sit.  They are beyond moist when the time comes to eat them!  Every now and then we will pour apricot brandy over them once a week until it is time to eat them, and they become more of a drunk cake, but we prefer them sans the booze!

Waldorf Salad Croissant Sandwiches

Waldorf Salad found its start at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in NYC.  It was actually created by a maitre d'hotel in 1896.  The original salad contained apples, celery, and mayonnaise.  Later, walnuts were added to the mix, and it is most commonly served on a bed of lettuce.  Here at our house, we prefer our Waldorf Salad as a post-Thanksgiving treat served on croissants!  

I guess I need to preface the history of this recipe with the story of the 53 pound Thanksgiving turkey.  My mom decided to buy a fresh kill, never frozen turkey for the 5 of us and some guests.  Worried that a 25 pounder would not be enough to feed us all, plus have leftovers, she asked the farm to give us the biggest turkey they could find.  53 pounds later, we were all REALLY sick and tired of turkey leftovers!  In an effort to mix things up, she suggested a new spin on Waldorf Salad to put a dent in the leftovers.  It was an immediate success and we still enjoy it, even when we don't have turkey leftovers! 

Waldorf Salad Croissant Sandwiches
Yields 6 sandwiches

To Prepare the Salad
1. Break up 2 cups worth of cold, leftover turkey or chicken into a decent size bowl.  If you don't want to use leftovers, you can substitute this with canned chicken breast (the kind that comes like tuna).  Just be sure that you strain it of as much juice as possible!
2. Chop 2 cups worth of peeled apples.  I like to use a sweet apple such as a gala or honeycrisp.  I would avoid anything in the sour family!  Add these apples to the bowl.

3. Add 1/2 a cup of Craisins, and 1/2 a cup of raisins to the bowl. Sometimes we also add 1/2 a cup of chopped walnuts, but that is usually when I have leftovers from baking!

4. Bring everything together with 3/4 cup of mayo or light mayo.

5. Serve the salad in a croissant, or if you prefer, a super hearty multi-grain wheat bread.  I like to throw a side of baked potato chips on the plate too!