Baked Pears with Hazelnut Yogurt Sauce

Baked Pears with Hazelnut Yogurt Sauce

Pears - 1 per serving
Brown Sugar
Nutmeg or cinnamon as desired
Plain yogurt
Hazelnut syrup (found in the coffee section or kitchen specialty shops)
Sweetener or sugar

Peel the pears and cut in half.  Scoop out the seeds and membrane.  I used a 'grapefruit' spoon that I have.  It is a teaspoon but has a serrated edge so it is easy to dig into the fruit.   A melon baller might work, I don't have one. 

Place pears with cut side up in a baking dish and pour in about 1/2 water.  Spoon 1/2 tsp brown sugar into the center of each pear.  Sprinkle with nutmeg and/or cinnamon as desired. 

Cover with foil and bake at 350 until the pears are soft and you can pierce them easily with a fork. The length of time will depend on how ripe the pears are.  Mine were very hard and took about an hour. 

You can serve these hot, cooled to room temperature or chill - with or without the yogurt sauce. 

Hazelnut Yogurt Sauce - 

Mix 1 tsp Hazelnut syrup and some sweetener/sugar in the plain yogurt.  Adjust taste by adding more syrup or sweetener as needed. 

Other flavors can be used. I am thinking Raspberry would be good and maybe Gingerbread around Christmas time.  

Pumpkin Crunch Dessert

Pumpkin Crunch Dessert

Mix together

1 15 Oz can pumpkin

1 12 Oz can evaporated milk

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp salt

3 tsp cinnamon

Pour into greased 9 x 13 cake pan. 

Sprinkle 1 yellow cake mix (dry) on top to cover completely.  Use the whole box of cake mix.

Drizzle with 1/2 cup (1 stick) melted margarine or butter.

Bake at 350 for 50 minutes or until set in the center. 
Serve with whipped cream.



Dee's Bars

This recipe comes from a friend of my sister's - thanks Dee and Jane for passing it along.

 

 

Crust -

2 cups flour

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 cup margarine, melted

 

Mix togther and press into bottom of  a greased 9 x 13 cake pan.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  Allow to cool.

 

Topping-

4 cups rhubarb, chopped

4 eggs, beaten (I used eggbeaters)

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup flour

 

Mix all together and pour over the cooled crust.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. 



Simple Baked Apples

Simple Baked Apples

I modified the recipe in the Betty Crocker cookbook to make these.  They were easy and tasted pretty good.

Apples

Brown sugar

Margarine

Cinnamon and sugar mixture (I have this on hand in a shaker)

Dried cranberries (optional)

Water

Juice of a lemon

I cut the apples in half and used a melon baller to remove  the core and removed the stem and opposite end with a paring knife. Mix the lemon juice and water in a shallow bowl and dip each apple half in the solution, being sure that all the cut edges of the apple are rinsed with the lemon water. Place the apple halves cut side up in a baking dish.



 In the center of each apple half, place approximately 1 teaspoon of brown sugar.  The apples are still wet from the lemon water so the sugar will start dissolving - that is okay.

 Top each with some margarine - about 1/2 tsp I guess, I just ran my knife across the soft spread like I was buttering toast.

 Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture. You could also use a little nutmeg if you want.  That would taste like apple pie.

 I added a few dried cranberries to a few of them.  My daughter does not care for cranberries and wasn't sure my husband would eat them (found out later cranberries were okay - just not raisins!)  You could also add a few walnuts or pecans if you like.  The next time I make these I will try to remember to put the cranberries (and nuts if desired) in the apple first. 
Pour about 1/4 inch of water in the bottom of the pan. 
Cover loosely with aluminum foil and bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes until the apples are soft. 

 And here they are. The lemon juice keeps the apples from turning brown.  Mine took about 45 minutes but the apples were cold when I started - straight from the refrigerator. 
You can spoon some of the water in the bottom of the pan over the apples during the cooking but my pan was packed and could not easily get to the water in the bottom.  It was okay without doing that.

I served them by placing an apple half in a dessert bowl and spooning a little of the water/juices in the bottom of the pan over top, then a dollop of non-dairy topping.  You could also drizzle some of the juices over the topping. 

Cupa Cupa Cupa Cobbler

This is a recipe I got from my friend. Donna (made a few changes). 

1/2 stick margarine
1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
3 - 4 cups fresh fruit (I think you could probably use canned fruit filling if fresh fruit is not in season)

Since I used peaches, I added some sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Melt the margarine in the bottom of a casserole or baking dish.  Add the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and milk - stir to blend.

Spoon the fruit on top of the batter - do not stir.

Bake at 350 - about 30 minutes - until browned.  The batter rises above the fruit (or the fruit sinks) and makes a crust.

Served warm with vanilla ice cream - yum!  Doesn't get much better than that.

Easy fruit salad

Can of mandarin oranges, do not drain
Apples, in bite size pieces
Bananas, sliced
Other fruit if available

Place all in a large bowl and toss to mix. The orange juice will keep the other fruit from turning brown.

This was an easy way to get my girls to eat some fresh fruit. They loved this simple fruit salad. Other fruit that works well with this are blueberries, strawberries, kiwi, grapes, and canned or fresh pineapple chunks. Nuts and/or mini marshmallows can also be added for variety.

Super Brownies

1 package family size brownie mix (makes a 9 x 13 inch pan)
3 large Symphony bars with the 'crunchies'

Preheat oven and prepare pan according to brownie mix package. Prepare brownie mix according to package. Spread half of mix in bottom of pan.
Unwrap the candy bars and place them on the mix in the pan - should just about perfectly cover the mix. Spread remaining mix over the candy bars.

Bake according to brownie directions. Remove and cool before cutting.


YUM! YUM!

Bread Pudding - Crock Pot

Bread Pudding

8 slices bread (raisin bread works well although my family doesn't like the raisins so I use a Pepperidge Farm cinnamon swirl bread if I have some on hand)
4 eggs
2 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup melted butter or margarine
1/2 cup raisins (1/4 cup if you use raisin bread - again my family doesn't care for the raisins so I don't add them)
1/2 tsp cinnamon (the first time I used the cinnamon swirl bread I cut back on the cinnamon but that did not work - evidently there is not that much cinnamon in the cinnamon swirl bread. I will just use the same amount as regular bread next time)

Spray the crockpot with vegetable oil spray. Cut bread into cubes or tear into small pieces and place in crockpot. Mix together remaining ingredients and pour over bread. Stir to mix. Cook on High for 1 hour and then on Low for 3-4 hours until thermometer placed in center reads 160 degrees.

Sauce:
2 Tbsp butter or margarine
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Melt margarine in saucepan. Stir in flour until smooth. Gradually add water, sugar and vanilla. Bring to a boil. Continue to boil, stirring constantly, until thickened (about 2 minutes). Serve over warm bread pudding.