Recipe | Candied Walnuts

A perfect accompaniment to your Thanksgiving Table, a hostess gift, or any fall salad. While there are a lot of different methods and recipes for candied walnuts, this is one of my all time favorites. Easy and quick to make, sweet with a dash of heat, they are delightful. If I'm bringing it for a hostess gift, I love to put them in a glass mason jar tied with a bit of raffia.


Candied Walnuts

Ingredients

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
3 cups walnuts halves
1/3 cup light corn syrup
3 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Generous pinch of cayenne pepper

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray baking sheet with nonstick spray. Combine corn syrup, sugar, salt, pepper and cayenne in a separate bowl. Place walnuts in a separate bowl, toss with syrup and sugar mixture until coated. Spread nut mixture on prepared baking sheet (some nuts may clump together). Bake until nuts are deep golden and sugar mixture is bubbling, stirring occasionally to break up clumps, about 20 minutes. Cool completely on baking sheet. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Store in airtight container.)

Recipe | Nut Brittle

Nut Brittle's have a long family tradition with us. It's something I usually make at the start of fall, in several batches and freeze. It freezes wonderfully, by the way. There is always a bowl of nut brittle sitting around on our Christmas goodie tables.


Nut Brittle

1 cup water
2 cups sugar

Stir with wooden spoon to dissolve sugar water

1 cup light corn syrup

Cook to hard ball stage, 250 degrees with candy thermometer

Add 2 cups raw, unsalted nuts (I use a combination of peanuts, pecans and almonds)
1 teaspoon salt

Continue to cook until the candy thermometer registers 250 degrees.

Remove from heat and add:

1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

Very quickly pour hot brittle onto a butter baking sheet span, spreading with wooden spoon as thinly as possible. When cool, break into small pieces. Brittle is best after setting up for 24 hours or more.

Recipe | Slow Cook Apple Butter

There isn't a better way to celebrate the season than by making a batch of a Pennsylvania Dutch favorite ... Apple Butter. And there isn't an easier way than in your slow cooker. Imagine waking up to the sweet aroma of baked apples on any fall or winter morning. I promise, it will become a tradition.

Apple butter was a popular way of using apples in colonial America and continued well into the 19th century. The term 'butter' refers only to the thick, soft consistency, and apple butter's use as a spread for breads. Typically seasoned with cinnamon, cloves and other spices, apple butter is usually spread on bread, used as a side dish, an ingredient in baked goods, or as a condiment. The Pennsylvania Dutch often include apple butter as part of their traditional seven sweets and seven sours dinner table array. [1].



Slow Cook Apple Butter

Ingredients

8 large apples, peeled, cored and cut into large chunks (I love to use a combination of apples that include; Golden Delicious, Honeycrisp, Fuji and Gala)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients into a 5-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 10 hours, overnight is a perfect time and it's wonderful to wake up to that aroma wafting through your kitchen.

Stir as needed.

After about 10 hours, remove lid of the slow cooker and change temperature to HIGH. Cook uncovered an additional 1/2 to 2 hours until thickened and dark brown. Press mixture through a fine sieve, using the back of a spoon.

Spoon into steralized jars, cover, and chill up to a week. Will yield about 2 cups.

Serving Note: Apple is wonderful served on toast or english muffins, with chicken or pork, or on deli sandwiches. I love to have this with a fresh turkey sliced sandwich. Enjoy.

[1] Wikipedia

 

Homekeeping | Preparing Your Home for Fall

This weekend, the Seattle Times published an in depth to-do checklist to ready your home for the fall and upcoming winter season. It was exhaustive and an excellent resource for all homeowners. It included tips and how-to's in the following areas:

• Roof and Rain Gutters (we'll be doing this as we put up our Christmas lights)
• Spaces (Crawl spaces, etc)
• Plumbing
• Heating
• Electrical
• Fireplaces and other Wood Burners
• Attics
• Miscellaneous

Click here to read the article.