Applesauce

It's defiantly fall weather outside and that turns my thought inevitably to comfort foods. And a good applesauce is defiantly up there in my list of comfort foods. Can't be too sweet, should be well spiced, and I just like it better chunky. So instead of trying to hunt for the perfect one, I made my own.

You'll need:
8 pounds apples (I used McIntosh) cored and diced, you can peel if desired
3 inches ginger root, peeled and grated very fine
tablespoon cinnamon
tablespoon nutmeg
2/3 cup honey
2 cups water
1/4 cup lemon juice

Combine everything in a very large stainless steel or enamel pot (don't use aluminum). This all fit (just barely) in my 8qt stock pot. Stir to make sure all of the apples are well coated, cover, and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes, or until the thickness makes you happy. If you don't like a chunky applesauce you can use an immersion blender or food mill to smooth the texture to your liking. I got about 7 pints of sauce from this recipe. If you want to can this, process in a boiling-water bath for 15 minutes.

If Found, Please...

Soo.. This is what my stovetop usually looks like when I'm in full on kitchen diva mode:


Notice the lack of access to the timer and such on the back panel, but do note (and yes, through text and over the internet) the note of pure glee when I point to my stove. I love my stove so much and on days like this, when it is in workhorse mode, I love it even more...

Firery Shrimp Pasta

As I was cleaning my freezer out last week I found one of those shrimp rings that you buy to set out at a party that I'm sure I bought with that very intention but for whatever reason never did. So I put it in my fridge to thaw and figured if I didn't figure out something better to do with it, I would just eat shrimp cocktail for dinner at some point this weekend. Then when I was at work earlier I thought about what I was going to do for dinner and the feta looked really good. From there I thought that those two things would go really well with some pasta and this dish was born out of it.


What You'll Need:
# frozen shrimp, thawed
1/4# feta cheese
handful of cherry tomatoes cut in half or 2 regular tomatoes, diced
2 jalapenos, chopped
1/2 red onion, minced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (I used marash pepper and regular red pepper mixed together)
chopped fresh herbs (I used basil and cilantro)
olive oil
pasta (I just used regular spaghetti)

In a big pot on one burner start your pasta. In a skillet on another burner use a couple of tablespoons of oil and lightly saute the shrimp, the onion, and the jalapenos. After everything is warmed through add the tomatoes, pepper flakes, and herbs. Keep all of that warm in the skillet. Drain the pasta when it is al dente and add to the shrimp mix in the skillet. Top off with the feta cheese (crumbled) and a generous drizzle of good olive oil. Serve with warm bread and enjoy!