Spicy Apple Pie

Ok - so it's not unusually spicy, but my son's step-mom was very reserved with spices in her pies. Nothing wrong with that at all - we just acknowledged the difference and appreciated it as her gift of love. Mine uses a little more spice, after all, it does have to compete with my favorite pumpkin dishes!

Preheat the oven to 375*F.
Mix together dry ingredients and set aside:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp AP flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Roll out 1 pie crust and fit into the pie plate. Par-bake for 7-9 minutes to prevent a soggy bottom. Do not prick the crust!

Peel, core, and uniformly chop 3-6 (depends on size) tart apples. I use Granny Smith, but another favorite, Honeycrisp, is good too.

Toss chopped apples with 1 Tablespoon lemon juice and gently fold in the dry ingredients.

Add the apple mixture to the pie plate, then dot the filling with butter. Gently place the second pie crust over the top, crimping the edges. Cut slits in the top pie crust to let steam vent.

Cover the edges of the pie crust with foil to prevent browning too quickly.
*tip - I put my stoneware plate on the top rack of my stove, then place the pie plate on that to keep my edges from burning before the pie is done.

Baste the top crust with whipped egg whites or butter, then bake for 25 minutes. Pull the aluminum foil off, return to the oven for another 30-35 minutes.

Serve with whipped cream. Immediately. Or good vanilla ice cream. Yeah. Another scoop, please! What's that? Whipped cream on the ice cream? Sure! It's a no-calorie holiday!

Crocky Junk Chicken

Mom used to cook things with "junk" ingredients and she was quite restrictive in who got to know the ingredients - but those recipes were so tasty! So, don't freak out that there's a whole bag of Doritos chips in this, ok? 'Cuz it's really yummy. Really.

3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 28 oz can enchilada sauce
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz can whole kernel corn, drained

1 whole onion, chopped and sauted
2 bell peppers, chopped and sauted with onions
8 oz shredded Mexican blend cheese
1 cup sour cream (more for serving)
1 11 oz bag Nacho Cheese Doritos crushed

1 small can sliced olives
1 small can diced green chilies (I prefer Hatch)
1 chipotle pepper with some adobo sauce from the can
1 small can of diced tomatoes with chilies, drained

I cook the chicken briefly in salted boiling water, just to get things moving along and to have warm food going into a warm pot. I give it a rough chop, put it in the crock pot, cover the chicken with the enchilada sauce and walk away for 5 hours.

Fork-shred the chicken while still in the pot with the sauce. Add beans, corn, cheese, onions, peppers, sour cream, crushed Doritos, olives, green chilies, chipotle, and diced tomatoes. Stir well and check for seasoning. You may need some salt, you might want some taco seasoning.

Note: Some recipes reserve some cheese and chips for the top at this point. I did that once and didn't care for the texture it created. It was hard to cut through the top because the cheese and chips created a tight layer. I just mix mine all in. Your choice.

Continue cooking according to your needs. If you have time, let it go another hour or two on low. If you're ready to dive in, crank the pot to high and give it a half-hour.

Serve with cilantro sour cream (just add chopped fresh cilantro to the cream), chopped tomatoes, extra cheese, salsa, guacamole, and any other condiments you like.

This really develops deeper flavors on the next day, so look forwards to leftovers!

Yummy Pumpkin Cobbler

I've adapted this recipe from a combination of several others that I loved.

Line a 9x13 inch baker with foil or parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350*F.

1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
29 ounce can of pumpkin (not pie mix)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 ounces evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed)

Mix all these ingredients together and pour into baker.

Cut 1/2 cup of butter into 1 box dry yellow cake mix until it resembles coarse peas. Stir in 1/2 cup pecan pieces. Spread evenly over the top of the pumpkin mixture. Bake for 55-60 minutes, serve warm with fresh whipped cream.

Calories? No. This is a vegetable dish. It's got eggs and milk in it, so it's also breakfast.