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!

Pumpkin Coconut Cream Soup with Cinnamon Croutons

After perusing my new favorite grocery store (The Golden Mango), I found quartered pumpkins for cooking in the refrigerated produce section.  I obviously could not turn this offer down (especially when 3 pounds worth was only $2.00)!!!  With Vegetarian Week quickly looming on the blog, I opted for it, and figured I would find something to do with it.  I didn't want to go the obvious route of pie or bread, and finally remembered that there is such a thing as pumpkin soup!  I wanted to find a balance between sweet and savory though, especially since my dad and sister can be a little picky sometimes!  They really ended up enjoying it, and we are now looking forward to making it the week after Thanksgiving to have with leftover turkey sandwiches!  I also almost forgot to mention that this actually ended up being a vegan recipe!

Pumpkin Coconut Cream Soup with Cinnamon Croutons
Yields 6 servings


To Prepare the Soup 
1. Puree 3 pounds of pumpkin.  If you are going to puree them from scratch, you will need to cut the pumpkin into manageable pieces, and remove all of the seeds and goopy stringy bits!  Leave the skin on though, as it peels off much more easily after it is baked.  Bake the pumpkin in a casserole dish at 350 degrees for an hour and a half!  When the pumpkin is done cooking, cool it, peel it, and puree it either in a food processor or in a food mill.  If you do not want to go through this process, use 3 pounds of pumpkin from the grocery store!  Just be sure it is pumpkin puree and not the pie filling though!

2. Start boiling the pumpkin puree in a large pot.
3. Add in a can of cream of coconut (Approximately 16 ounces).  If you do not like coconut, you could use regular milk that is sweetened with a little brown sugar, or you could use vanilla or almond soy milk to keep this recipe vegan!
4. Add in a can of vegetable broth (Approximately 16 ounces).
5. Add in 1 heaping teaspoon of curry powder.
6. Add in 1/2 a teaspoon of ground nutmeg.
7. Add in 1/2 a teaspoon of cinnamon.
8. Add in 1/2 a teaspoon of ground ginger.
9. Let all of this simmer over medium heat.

To Prepare the Croutons 
1. Slice 6 slices of wheat bread into thirds.  Be sure to use a vegan friendly bread if you are keeping this recipe vegan!
2. Place them on a baking sheet.
3. Sprinkle them with cinnamon and sea salt.

4. Bake at 350 degrees in the oven for approximately 10 minutes, or until they are golden brown and crunchy!