Greek Pasta Salad

Do you guys have any foods that you only crave at certain times?  I remarked to a friend once that I look forward to summer because that's when everyone makes pasta salad.  He replied that he wasn't aware that pasta salad was seasonal, but for me it definitely is!  It's just too hot outside to eat hot pasta, but I'm always craving pasta of some kind it seems, so pasta salad is the solution.  I whipped up a super savory version this last week, and it was just too easy and delicious not to share, so here's a quick recipe for ya'll.

Adventures in Applesauce

Well, the weathermen were right this time.  They promised snow (and possibly an apocalyptic-esque ice storm overnight), and this is what I get to see out my kitchen window:

In honor of this blustery day, I thought I'd share an adventure with you today; an adventure in cooking!   Let's face it, I'm not the greatest cook, and a lot of what I'm learning while feeding my family is a product of trial and error.  Like the time I tried making applesauce from scratch.

So, I ran across this recipe on Pinterest for yummy fruity applesauce, made from scratch.   They sounded amazing, and being a fan of applesauce, especially on waffles (don't knock it 'til you've tried it.  Seriously!), I thought I'd give it a try.

First step, I queued my best impression of Will Ferrell doing an impression of Harry Caray that I could.  And yes, I do talk to myself when I'm cooking.  Kinda like a crazy person.

"Hey, what's your favorite fruit?   Mine's the apple!  Always has been.  I like it 'cause it's the king of the fruits."

So, I assembled my ingredients.  I was originally going to make strawberry applesauce, but when I went to Wal-Mart, they were out of strawberries (this was obviously waaay before Valentine's Day!).  So, I grabbed some raspberries, and some lovely gala apples, for some sweetness.

I also made myself a nice cup of Chai Tea.  Stash actually makes a good one, it's delicious with a little bit of milk and sugar!

Next, I made sure my girlies were occupied.  iPods and swings were made for occasions like this!

Next, I sliced up my apples, put them in a pot, and added the raspberries and some water.  I didn't measure, but there was probably about two cups of water.  I brought all that to a boil, then turned it down to a simmer and let it cook for about 20 minutes.

By now, the house smells amazing.  The fruit is all cooked and lovely looking, until I see my mistake.  I should have peeled the apples!  I also used a little too much water, in my opinion.  It doesn't seem like a huge deal, but it did take a few tries for me to figure out how to get this pot o' stuff looking like applesauce.

First, I tried using a strainer and a spoon.  Not the best strategy.  All this did was strain all the juice out of the fruit.

 Next in the list of failed attempts was a larger strainer and a potato masher.  Both were unsuccessful.

FINALLY, I figured it out!  If I wanted appleSAUCE, I needed to use something to blend together all the ingredients.  Something like, oh I don't know, a BLENDER? 

This finally did the trick, and I was able to enjoy a lovely bowl, complete with raspberry seeds of course, of my homemade raspberry applesauce.  Yay me.



I just had to ignore the sink full of dirty dishes that I had made!

What's your favorite cooking 'failure/nearly a success' story?  Please comment and share!





Semi-Famous Apple Dumplings

You guys?  You're going to want this recipe.  Just trust me on this one.

They're easy.

There's only six ingredients.

And they're DELICIOUS!  Seriously, these apple dumplings have replaced birthday cake at most of our family celebrations. I mean, I love me some cake, but these are just so much better!

Let's get started.  First, preheat the oven. (You can scroll to the end for the full recipe, if you want to skip all my super awesome pictures....)

Next, assemble your ingredients.  You'll have butter, sugar, cinnamon, an apple, crescent rolls, and a super secret, ESSENTIAL ingredient.  Seriously, you won't want to skip this one.

What is that ingredient, you ask?

Yes, that's right.  That wonderful concoction also known as Mountain Dew.  Now, you probably won't need a bottle this size, I just like to get enough so I can drink whatever's left.  And yes, a sugar coma is my goal.

Next, you'll melt your butter on low heat in a small saucepan.

While that's melting, you'll slice and peel your apple.  You'll want 8 slices.

By now, your butter should be nice and melted.  Add your sugar and cinnamon to the saucepan and stir.

Now, roll up your apples into your crescent rolls and place them in an 8x8 pan.

Now, the really fun part: your dumplings are about to go swimming.  Cover those puppies in your melted butter mixture, and add the Dew.  A lot of it.  Don't be shy.

Now it's time for that amazing chemical reaction known as "baking."  Stick 'em in the oven, turn on your timer, and take fuzzy pictures of your family as they all excitedly wait for these to be ready to eat (that last step  is NOT optional!).

Seriously, these faces tell you how excited they are!

"OMG DUMPLINGS!!!!"

"Only one more year 'til I can eat them too!"

... okay, maybe not that face....

When the time is up, get them out of the oven, wait a few minutes for them to cool (or seconds, if you're impatient like me), and serve them up!

*initiate worst Schwarzenegger impression:*  "Make them.  Make them noooow!"

(Edit: there will be a lot of ooey gooey buttery saucey goodness on the bottom of the pan.  Be sure to spoon that over the dumplings when you serve them for full deliciousness!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amazing Crack-a-lackin' Best Ever Apple Dumplings (makes 8):

1 Large Granny Smith apple, peeled and cored
1 can refrigerated crescent rolls
1/4 cup (1 stick) butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 small can (7.5 oz) Mountain Dew


*Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
*Begin melting butter on low heat in a small saucepan.
*Peel and core your apple, cut into 8 slices.  Roll each slice into crescent roll dough, starting at the large end, pinch to seal, and place in 8x8 pan.
*Add sugar and cinnamon to the melted butter in the saucepan.  Pour over the dumplings.
*Pour the ENTIRE can of Mountain Dew over dumplings.
*Bake, uncovered, for 35-45 minutes, until golden brown and bubbly.

Mango Clementine Green Tea

 You guys, I love free stuff.  I especially love free stuff that involves hot beverages in winter.  So, when my dad dropped off a box of this awesome tea, I was pretty excited to try it.

That, my friends, is St. Dalfour Organic Golden Mango Green Tea (available here if you'd like to get your hands on some too).  It's pretty awesome just on its own, but I wanted to fancy it up just a little more.   So, I assembled my ingredients:

We've got: six Cutie clementines, the tea (I used 5 bags for this), honey, and a cup for hot tea, a pitcher for iced tea, and a teapot full of water.

First, you want to boil your water.

While that sucker's heating up, you want to slice your clementines.  I sliced them pretty thick, about 3 slices per orange, and discarded the ends.

Then, I put two slices into my mug for the hot tea, along with one teabag.  I put the rest of the orange slices and four tea bags into the pitcher.

I then added the boiling water to the mug and pitcher, filling the pitcher about 2/3 full.  I let the mug for the hot tea brew about one and a half minutes, and the pitcher of tea brewed for around 4 minutes.  Little tip for the day: when your tea is done brewing, don't squeeze the teabag when you take it out.  That's how you can avoid that bitter taste some teas can get.

Now, you add the honey. I pretty much eyeballed the amount I put in, but I'd estimate about 1 Tablespoon for the hot tea, and 1/8 of a cup for the iced.

 I filled up the pitcher of iced tea up to the top with ice, stuck it in the fridge, then sat back and enjoyed my mug of fruity yummyness.  And, for the next couple days, I was able to enjoy the yummy iced tea whenever I  felt like it.  Just remember to stir up the pitcher first, to mix the clementine flavor throughout the whole thing!

Overall, I'm giving this drink four out of four sporks!  It was delicious!

What's your favorite cold weather drink?