AN OLD FASHIONED RECIPE FOR COMFORT FOOD ~ APPLESAUCE, HOMEMADE, THE ONLY WAY

In today's world there are more conveinence foods than the average person can count.  Every can, jar, bottle, tube or frozen container is full of preservatives, additives or some form of chemical.  As most of you know I DO NOT do any of the above.  Our entire meals are made from scratch, a fact that according to my oncologist saved my life.  So it's no wonder I love simple, old recipes!  This picture does NOT do this recipe justice!

HOMEMADE APPLESAUCE
10 Honey Crisp apples, washed, peeled, cored and chopped
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
2 lemons, juiced
2 tablespoons butter

• Combine all ingredients in a stock pot*.
• Bring to a slow simmer.
• Simmer 2 hours +/- stirring regularly.
• Simmer until apples are translucent.

I like the applesauce warm, but it's great warm or cold!

*I like to use a large, but shirt stock pot so more of the applesauce touches the pan.

CRAB APPLE BOATS FOR THE BEACH PARTY

It's beach party time at Seaside Simplicity. Time to grab your virtual beach towels and flip flops, and head on over to the beach!  You can follow me over.  This week I'm taking my CRAB APPLE BOATS.

CRAB APPLE BOATS
2 large cucumbers
2 medium apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained really well
4 ounces flaked crab
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vinegar

• Peel cucumbers.  Halve them and spoon out seeds.  Dry the insides.
• In a bowl toss apple pieces with the well drained pineapple and then with the krab.
• In a small bowl whisk together the sour cream, vinegar, salt and pepper.
• Fold into krab mixture.
• Spoon into cucumbers and chill several hours before serving.

HOMEMADE APPLESAUCE

HOME MADE APPLE SAUCE
5 large Apples (I like Pink Lady or Braeburns)
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 can peach nectar (Papaya or pineapple are good too)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

• In a large sauce pan pour nectar over raisins and let sit while you prepare apples.
  
• Wash, core, peel and chop apples.
• Add water to sauce pan and stir in sugar until dissolved.
• Add cinnamon and mix well.
• Add apples and cook over medium heat until until apples are tender and mush easily.
• Mush to desired consistency.
• Remove from heat.
• Cool and chill.
• Can be kept in refrigerator for a week though it never lasts that long around here. When my apples are at the height of the season and falling off the tree I make this in huge batches and put it up in canning jars for the following year.

BAKED PINEAPPLE

I got this recipe from my cousin Jenn years ago and she got it from her hubby's family. My family affectionately calls it PINEAPPLE FLUFF, but BAKED PINEAPPLE is the technical name Jenn gave me.

2 large cans crushed pineapple, drained, but save the juice
2 cups pineapple juice
2 JUMBO eggs, beaten
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup sugar
mini marshmallows
*2 bananas
*2 cups vanilla wafers

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Over a medium heat whisk the sugar into the pineapple juice until dissolved in a medium saucepan.
• Next whisk in the eggs until well blended.
• Gradually add cornstarch and cook until thick. Watch closely, it will burn quickly.
• Spray an 8x8 baking dish with PURE.
• Spread pineapple pieces evenly along the bottom.
• Pour the thickened sauce over the pineapple pieces.
• Bake 20 minutes.
• Top with a layer of marshmallows.
• Return to the oven for a few minutes until marshmallows are golden.
• Serve hot or cold.
• This is great leftover and re-heated.

*Now for my optional additions.
Crush vanilla wafers and place on the bottom of the baking dish.
Slice the bananas and layer on top of vanilla wafers before the pineapple pieces.

CHAMPAGNE STRAWBERRY BANANA SHAKE

1/2 pound fresh strawberries, sliced
2 heaping tablespoons sugar
champagne
1 ripe banana, sliced
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pint vanilla ice cream
1/2 cup milk whole
strawberries, for garnish

• Slice the strawberries into a medium bowl.
• Sprinkle sugar over top.
• Pour vanilla extract and champagne over strawberries.
  
• Set aside for at least 20 minutes and up to 1 hour.
• Drain the strawberries.
• Slice the banana.
  
• In a blender, place the strawberries, banana slices, ice cream, and milk.
  
• Blend until smooth.
  
• Pour into chilled glasses and garnish the rim of each glass with whole strawberries.
• Serve immediately.

Peaches

Wikipedia History of Peaches

Source 1 Source 2

Peaches are believed to be native to China. They are cultivated throughout warm temperate and subtropical regions of the world. In the peach fruit, the stone is covered with a fleshy substance that is juicy, melting, and of fine flavor when matured and mellowed.

The popular division of fruit varieties into clingstones and freestones-referring to the relative tendency of the flesh to cling to the stone-is by no means accurate. These two classes merge in different varieties, and even the same variety may be freestone and clingstone in different seasons. The nearly 300 varieties of peaches grown in America have been classified into five races, each with outstanding characteristics, ripening season, and uses.The nectarine is a variety of peach.

The principal peach-growing state is California. World production totaled about 5.5 million metric tons annually; the United States and Italy were the leading producers.

How to Store:
To ripen peaches, store in a brown bag at room temperature. Ripe peaches can be stored in the crisper bin of your refrigerator for up to five or sixdays.

Nutritional Facts:
· Fat-free
· Saturated fat-free
· Sodium-free
· Cholesterol-free
· High in vitamin A
· A good source of vitamin C

August is National Peach Month. Here’s a round-up of facts about one of the world’s favorite fruits.

• Peach Origins
• Peach Varieties
• Peach Nutrition Facts

History Of The Peach

• The peach originated in China and has been cultivated at least since 1000 B.C.E. It has special significance in Chinese culture: The peach tree is considered to be the tree of life and peaches are symbols of immortality and unity. Peach blossoms are carried by Chinese brides.
• Peaches traveled west via the silk roads to Persia, earning them the botanical name Prunus persica. In Persia, peaches were discovered by Alexander the Great, who mentions half a dozen types, and who introduced them to the Greeks.
• By 322 B.C.E. Greece enjoyed the peach, and by 50 to 20 B.C.E., Romans grew and sold them for the modern equivalent of $4.50. The Romans called the peach a Persian apple, and the name for peach in numerous languages is the name for Persia.* Once the Romans cultivated the fruit, they were able to transport it north and west to other countries of their European empire.
  *Pêche (French), Pfirsich (German), pesca (Italian), melocotón (Spanish), pêssego (Portuguese), fersken (Danish/Norwegian), persika (Swedish), persikka (Finnish), persik (Russian), brzoskwinia (Polish), breskva (Serbo-Croat), piersica (Romanian), praskova (Bulgarian), robakinon (Greek), seftali (Turkish), afarseq (Hebrew), khúkh (Arabic), hulu (Persian), arú (Hindi), tao (Chinese), momo (Japanese), persik (Indonesian).
• Spaniards brought peaches to South America and the French introduced them to Louisiana. The English took them to their Jamestown and Massachusetts colonies. Columbus brought peach trees to America on his second and third voyages.
• To this day China remains the largest world producer of peaches, with Italy second. Italy is the main exporter of peaches in the European Union; the regions of Campania and Emilia Romagna account for more than 50% of Italy’s annual production. California produces more than 50% of the peaches in the United States (and grows 175 different varieties). So many peaches are grown in Georgia that it became known as the Peach State.
• True wild peaches are only found in China. Unlike the cultivated fruit, the wild fruit is small, sour and very fuzzy.

Peach Varieties

• Peach varieties can be either clingstone, where the flesh of the fruit clings to the stone, or freestone, where the stone readily twists away from the fruit. The former type is generally used for canning; the latter is generally found in supermarkets. Clingstone and freestone peaches are available in both white and yellow varieties.
  Giant yellow peaches. Available in season at Melissas.com.
• Asians generally prefer the sweeter and less acidic white varieties of peach. The sweetness is due to the “honey gene,” a dominant gene that is found in all Chinese peach varieties. Europeans and Americans have typically cultivated the yellow-skin, yellow-flesh varieties, which have higher acid.
• The downy skin of the peach is generally flushed with red coloring, in both yellow and white varieties. The most widely-available peaches are round with a pointed end, but they can also be flat and disc-shaped. The donut peach, which is flat with rounded sides that draw in toward an indented center, like a doughnut without a hole, is a descendant of the flat Chinese peach.
  A flat-variety “Saturn” peach, so-called because it resembles the rings of Saturn. Available in season (June-August) at Melissas.com.
• The finest peaches of all are considered to be the pêches de vigne, which are small, red-fleshed fruits grown in vineyards in France and generally found only there. Covered with grayish down, they are not particularly attractive, but the flavor is said to be superb.

Nutrition and Factoids

• Peaches are a good source of vitamins A, B and C. A medium peach contains only 37 calories.
• You can ripen peaches by placing them in a brown paper bag for two to three days. Sliced, fresh peaches should be tossed in lemon or lime juice to prevent browning.
• Nectarines are a variety of peach with a smooth skin, not a cross between a peach and a plum.
  At right: Honey Royale Nectarines, available in season from Melissas.com.
• The juice from peaches makes a wonderful moisturizer, and it can be found in many brands of cosmetics.
• A peach pit contains hydrocyanic acid, which is a poisonous substance.
• Like the plum and the apricot, the peach is a member of the rose family (Rosaceae), distinguished by its velvety skin. It is classified as a drupe, a fruit with a hard stone.

Famous Peach Dishes

• The Bellini: fresh peach purée and spumante, an Italian sparkling wine; Champagne or other sparkling wine can be used. The drink is said to have originated in the 1930s at Harry’s Bar in Venice, a favorite haunt of Ernest Hemingway, and is named for the 15th-century Venetian painter Giovanni Bellini. The peachy color of the cocktail reminded Cipriani of the color of the garments of St. Francis in a famous Bellini painting; Cipriani named the drink in Bellini’s honor.
• Peach Melba: poached peaches, vanilla ice cream and raspberry purée. The dessert
  
  is named after Nellie Melba, the great Australian operatic soprano.

Peaches are a favorite fresh snacking fruit and cereal fruit, and make wonderful pies and jams. Peach ice cream is a summer favorite. Ripe peaches also freeze well for later use.

STRAWBERRY KIWI BUTTERMILK SHORTCAKE

This is even better when you take the time to make fresh whipped cream or homemade vanilla ice cream to go with it.

GLAZE
2 baskets fresh strawberries, sliced
2 kiwis, chopped
1 cup pureed strawberries*
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons KARO light corn syrup
3 tablespoons cornstarch
½ cup water

BUTTERMILK SHORTCAKE
2 cups flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
dash of salt
4 tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup butter, softened, but not melted
¾ cup buttermilk**

• Mix together 1 cup sugar, corn syrup, cornstarch and water in a 2 quart sauce pan, cover and bring to a slow boil. 
• When you reach a boil remove the lid. Add the 1 cup pureed strawberries and boil a few minutes more.  Chill 10-15 minutes.  After the sauce is chilled, pour over the fruit and toss gently.  Return to the refrigerator to continue chilling. 
• Sift the dry ingredients together. Add the milk and butter and mix well into a soft dough. DO NOT over knead - it will become tough. 
• Grease an 8 inch pie pan really well. Gently arrange dough into an even mound and pre-cut into your serving portions before baking. 
• Bake at 400° for 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpick done and golden brown. 
• Slice each shortcake open, dot with a thin layer of honey, arrange on plate and top with a scoop of the  strawberry kiwi glaze and vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

*I use the less than pretty berries for the puree.

**As a substitute, Buttermilk can be made by adding 2 tablespoons of vinegar to regular milk.

Scrumptious Sunday ~ National Apple Month ~ Baked Apples

Scrumptious Sunday hosted by Meredith at Mercedes Rocks

LEMON APPLE CRISP

CRISP
2-3 large Granny Smith apples (4 Cups)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup apple juice

TOPPING
2/3 cup flour
1/2 cup old fashioned oatmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 small box Cook & Serve Lemon Pudding (NOT instant)

Preheat oven to 350°.
In a large mixing bowl combine all CRISP ingredients and mix well. Pour into an un-greased stoneware pan.
In a mixing bowl combine the topping ingredients and mix until crumbly.
Sprinkle topping over apple mixture.
Bake 45-60 minutes or until apples are tender and topping is crisp and golden.
Serve warm with a scoop of French vanilla ice cream.

before & after

I usually change to a serving bowl as the baking bowl gets pretty sticky.

BAKED APPLES
per apple:
1/2 cup sugar
scant tablespoon small bead tapioca
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup apricot pineapple jam
1-2 tablespoons golden raisins

• Wash and core apples (slice off bottom if need be so apple sits flat.
• In a small saucepan combine other ingredients and bring to a boil.
• Pour evenly over apples.
• Bake 45 minutes or until fork tender.
• Cool slightly.
• Best served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.