Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Favorite Fall Recipes

In our last volunteer newsletter I asked for people to send in their favorite fall recipes to share with our families. Here are a couple of great ones:


Mulled Cider

Ingredients:

1.       1 qt. apple juice
2.       1 cinnamon stick
3.       10-20 black peppercorns (optional)
4.       10-20 whole cloves
5.       1 to 2 Tbs. brown sugar
6.       Lemon zest (optional)

Process:

1.       Select a pot or pan large enough to hold all the apple juice. Toast the cinnamon, cloves, and peppercorns to bring out their distinct flavors and aromas. Do this by heating your pan over medium heat with the spices in the pan. Toss the spices in the pan occasionally to prevent burning. The spices should become very fragrant within a minute or two.
2.       Pour the apple juice into the pan and bring to a boil over high heat. When the apple juice gets warm stir in the brown sugar so it fully dissolves.
3.       Once the apple juice is boiling, reduce the heat so it just simmers. Add the citrus zest at this time.
4.       Maintain the simmer for thirty minutes.
5.       Pour the mulled juice/cider through a fine mesh strainer and into the container of your choice. If your cider has a great deal of particulate matter, you may want to place a cheesecloth or coffee filter in your strainer (or sandwiched between two strainers) to filter out the fine particles. Serve hot. (Only necessary if you have used the lemon zest).

Popcorn Balls

Ingredients:

1.       ¾ cup light corn syrup
2.       ¼ cup margarine
3.       2 tsp. cold water
4.       2 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar
5.       1 cup marshmallows
6.       5 qts. plain popped popcorn (unpopped kernels removed)

Process:

1.    In a saucepan over medium heat, combine first five ingredients. Heat and stir until the mixture comes to a boil. Carefully combine the hot mixture with the popcorn until it is all coated.
2.    Grease hands with vegetable shortening and quickly shape the coated popcorn into balls before it cools. Wrap with plastic wrap and store at room temperature.




No comments: