Mock Apple Pie

 Have you ever baked a delicious apple pie without using apples? Well here is your chance..and you might just fool someone to think they are eating an apple pie. I did!

Ingredients for the filling:

• 2 cups water
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 30 buttery crackers, I used Ritz
• 3/4  teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

1. Combine water, sugar, cream of tartar and bring to boil. Add whole crackers, no need to stir. Simmer for 5 minutes.
2. Pour mixture into unbaked pie shell and sprinkle with lemon juice and cinnamon.

Topping:

• 25 buttery crackers, finely crushed..one 225g box of crackers will do for the filling and topping, you will have some crackers leftover.
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

1. Combine first two topping ingredients, add melted butter and using your fingers or pastry blender mix until crumbly.
2. Sprinkle over filling.
3. Bake at 400º for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350º and bake for another 15 minutes.
4. Serve warm, plain or with ice cream. You will think you are eating apple pie! 

Unbaked Chocolate haystacks

My mom called these "Unbaked Cookies" and I'm sure most of you have

a similar recipe tucked away somewhere.

For those who've lost theirs or are interested in a slightly different version, here is mine.

They are easy to make so enlist the help of the little ones.

As you can see, they are a hit with my grandchildren.

• 
  

3 cups oatmeal

1 cup coconut

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup butter or margarine

2 cups sugar

5 tablespoons cocoa

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Cover a large baking sheet with waxed or parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Mix oatmeal and coconut in a large bowl and set aside.
3. Mix sugar and cocoa together in medium sized saucepan.
4. Add milk and butter.
5. Bring to a boil stirring constantly.
6. When mixture has boiled, remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
7. Immediately pour over oatmeal and coconut and mix well .
8. Working quickly, drop by teaspoonfuls on to prepared baking sheet.
9. Refrigerate until firm and then place in cookie tins.
10. Keep in a cool place. Makes about 2 -2 1/2 doz. cookies.

Bread for the Journey

How do you read your Bible?
Reading the Bible is a very personal thing.
We all have our own way of reading it, the version we prefer,
and the time of day we sit back to read His word
and listen to what God is saying.

When I was a young Christian,
there were times that the Bible just did not make any sense to me.
I felt like it was written in a way that I just could not understand.
Have you ever felt that?

I would strongly encourage you to find a Bible
with a text or translation that makes the most sense to you.
It may be a modern day version like
"The Message", "New International Version" ,
or the poetry of the traditional version of the Old King James .
Look here to find out what version is best for you to understand.
Instead of just reading the Bible on line it is best
to have a Bible you can hold in your hands to read,
write notes, underline, mark it up so it becomes the road map of your life.

My favorite version is the Bible
that my parents gave to me when I was 14.
"The Living Bible"
It is true that any version of the Bible is the living word of God.
A love letter to you,
a guide to daily living
a word of encouragement and hope.
Don't be afraid to mark up the Bible and highlight
the verses that are meaningful to you.

When our children went into grade 7,
they received a new student Bible.
We had our family and friends mark up the pages and highlight verses,
write in the side margins of why this verse was important to them.
That way when they started to read the Bible for them selves,
these verses would jump out at them and give a chance to read
the words that are meaningful to the people in their life,
and perhaps make it meaningful to them as well.
It also encouraged them to mark up this sacred book
and make it more personal for themselves.

My prayer for you this morning is that you have a stirring with in you
to read God's word, mark up the book and make it personal,
so that you too would learn for yourself that

God loves you with an undying love, which he proved giving us
His son Jesus Christ.

Mennonite (?) Egg Rolls - Gluten Free

I haven't had a Chinese egg roll in a very long time and hardly remember how they taste - I just remember that I liked them !

I looked at some regular recipes and came up with my own gluten-free version.

We enjoyed them this evening with Anneliese's 'Chicken Chow Mein' - substituting white rice noodles for the wheat ones .

So here is my recipe -- a bit of work to prepare but I thought it worth it.

Egg Roll Filling

• 10 oz of Mennonite Farmer sausage crumbled (this is the Mennonite part- smile) or use ground pork
• 1/2 cup of shredded cabbage
• 1/2 cup of chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup of chopped green pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 2 tbsp gf soya sauce
• 1 tbsp molasses
• salt, pepper (as desired)
• oil

1. panfry the sausage or pork in a little oil .. until it is no longer pink
2. add the vegetables and stirring... cook for several minutes
3. mix the cornstarch, soya sauce and molasses and pour over the meat/veggie mixture
4. cook for a couple more minutes
5. remove from heat and cool

Wrappers

• 1/2 cup white corn flour
• 1/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1/2 cup tapioca starch
• 1/2 cup potato starch
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup ice water

1. mix dry ingredients together
2. whisk egg into ice water
3. pour liquids over flour mix and stir, then knead into a smooth ball
4. cover dough with plastic wrap or in a ziplock bag and let it rest for 1/2 - 1 hour
5. roll dough out fairly thin , and cut into 3 x 4 inch pieces.
6. add filling making a ridge along the center of each dough piece and fold dough over to make a roll
7. heat oil and deep fry the rolls until they are golden .
8. Serve them hot with sweet and sour sauce

Sweet and Sour Sauce

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tbsp real lemon juice
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 2 tbsp soya sauce
• 2 tbsp cornstarch

1. mix all ingredients in a small sauce pan and cook until mixture bubbles and thickens.

(I warmed these rolls in the microwave the next day and they were great! )

Baked Fanned Potatoes

 Baked potatoes can be served many ways, sometimes it's fun to do them up a little differently. I liked the way these looked, and they were so pretty on the plate.

You will need:

• 2 Russet potatoes, I used large
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 3 teaspoons dried herbs of your choice, I used parsley
• 2 slices bacon, cooked and chopped
• 1/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Scrub potatoes and dry on paper towel.
2. Cut the potatoes into thin slices but don't cut all the way through. Lay a mixing spoon along side your potato, as you cut, the knife will stop at the spoon handle and will prevent from cutting all the way through the potato.
3. Place potatoes in a greased baking dish and fan them by slightly pulling the slices apart with your fingers.
4. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with melted butter.
5. Sprinkle your favorite herb on each potato.
6. Bake at 425º for 50 minutes or until tender.
7. Remove from oven, sprinkle with cheeses and bacon and bake for another 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned and the cheese has melted.
8. I used quite large potatoes so this served 4 good appetites. 

Buttermilk Bran Muffins

With the addition of cottage Cheese...these muffins have hidden protein tucked alongside fiber for healthy lunch box ideas.

Since discovering buttermilk powder, I am always testing and tweaking old recipes to include buttermilk powder to replace liquid buttermilk. 

This one is a keeper.

• 1 1/3 cup boiling water
• 1 1/2 cups all-bran cereal
•  1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup oatmeal
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda'
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup buttermilk powder
• 1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup raisins or chopped dates
• 1/2 cup 2% cottage cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Line 1 - 12 cup muffin tin with large paper liners and spray the tin and liners with cooking spray.  They will not stick to the liners this way even when warm.
3. Pour boiling water over the all-bran in a medium bowl.  Allow to sit while measuring the remaining ingredients.
4. Put the flour, oatmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, buttermilk powder and walnuts and dates or raisins in a medium bowl and stir well.  If you use dates, use your fingers to break apart the chopped dates and rub with flour to keep separated.
5. Stir together the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. 
6. Fold the bran-ceral mixture and dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir just until combined.  You don't want to overstir...use a quick and gentle fold to keep the rising mixture from deflating.
7. Use a large icecream scoop if possible to divide between the muffin cups.  They will be full.
8. Bake 25 minutes.

Quick Black Forest Torte

I first heard of this black forest cake 'short-cut' a few years back from my sister-in-law. She insisted it was moist and delicious...and so simple to prepare. When I needed a birthday cake in short order recently...this recipe came to mind. It went over well!

Ingredients:

• 4 cups mini-marshmallows
• 1 chocolate cake mix
• 1 can cherry pie filling
• 1 large container of Cool Whip (or 2 cups whipping cream)

Method:

1. Pour four cups of mini-marshmallows into a greased 9x13 inch cake pan.
2. Prepare chocolate cake mix according to directions on package. Pour over marshmallows.
3. Spoon cherry pie filling evenly over cake.
4. Bake at 350°F for about 50 minutes...or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
5. Cool.
6. Top with whipped topping. (If using whipping cream, whip 2 cups of cream with 3 Tablespoons sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla until almost ready to form peaks.)
7. Serves 15.

And don't forget...the cherry on top!