Name: Apple Butter
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 55 min
Ingredients: 1-1/2 pounds apples (about 5), cored and coarsely chopped; 1/2 cup water; 1/4 cup caster sugar; 2 tablespoons lemon juice; 1/3 cup brown sugar (add more or less to taste depending on how sweet your apples are); 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon; Pinch of ground clove; Pinch of salt

Apple Butter

November 4, 2019November 3, 2019 Renee 3 Comments

Homemade Apple Butter is easier to make than you might guess. It’s sweet and warmly spiced and will add a unique punch of flavor to so many things. Use up any ugly apples that might be hanging around your house to make this absolutely gorgeous Apple Butter.

I’ve lived in four different states in the US. Five if you count those two months in Texas. I also spent two years in Taiwan, and now I live in Scotland. From here in Glasgow, we’ve been able to travel to six different countries in Europe. I’ve had the opportunity to try a lot of different food in my life which is pretty impressive considering I mainly ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the first 20 years of my life.

For a while, there was this tiny restaurant near us in Honolulu that did American Southern food. It was called Kiss My Grits, and I would drink at least a gallon of sweet tea every time we went there. My favorite thing was their creative biscuit sandwiches. Sadly, they closed down not long after we discovered them, but luckily I was able to remember and create my own easy version of one of their outstanding biscuit creations.

Kiss My Grits made everything, including the pork sausage, from scratch, but for my Sausage Egg & Cheese Biscuit with Apple Butter, I used canned biscuits, Jimmy Dean sausage, and store bought Apple Butter. My lazy version is still pretty damn awesome.

When I wanted to make this again here in Glasgow, I had to go to a bit of effort because one thing you learn from living all over the world is that you can’t get everything everywhere, even from Amazon.

I’m getting better at biscuit-making, and I’ll share the super easy recipe I used for my biscuits soon. Today, though, is all about the Apple Butter.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover how easy it is to make your own Apple Butter. Even just a few apples make plenty to go around. Use any apples you like. Different types of apples will obviously give it a subtle difference in taste. I used the apples I happened to have lying around the house in a moment when I thought I’d surely eat more fruit. I never do.

The only thing you need is a medium sauce pan and a food processor. We don’t even have to peel the apples. Chuck some chopped apples and a few other basic ingredients in a pot. Let them simmer until the apples soften. Puree them in a food processor, then cook this down further with some spices. Put it in a jar and enjoy. It will keep in the fridge in a sealed container for a couple of weeks.

In addition to that biscuit sandwich, you can also use your Apple Butter on a grilled cheese. Spread it on croissants, English muffins, or toast. Serve it with pancakes, waffles or French toast. You could even spoon it over ice cream. You’ll want to make Apple Butter all the time.

I hope you try and love this Apple Butter recipe. We could all use a little more sweetness in our lives.

Recipe adapted from Love and Olive Oil.

If you make this recipe, be sure to take a photo and tag me on Instagram and use the hashtag #awesomeon20.

Turkish Eggs

July 1, 2019June 30, 2019 Renee Leave a comment

I’ve wanted to tell everyone ever about these Turkish Eggs since the first bite, but instead, I’ve had these photos stuck on my phone for a couple weeks while I stagnate in indecision. There’s been a lot of women’s football in the mix, and a total obsession with Harry Potter Wizards Unite.

Have you been following the Women’s World Cup? We’ve watched nearly every match. This year is seeing record attendance and viewership on television, and I think people are finally ready to admit that female athletes are totally legit. So far, we’ve been cheering on England and the USA, but both our teams are about to face each other in a semi-final match on Tuesday. It’s gonna be high drama in the house. You should join us.

You know what else you should do? Eat Turkish Eggs. Like right now. Then keep doing that every day forever. When I first read about this recipe, I didn’t quite know what it would be like. It’s not liked a baked egg, shakshuka, huevos rancheros kinda thing. It’s not like anything I’d ever had before. This dish has four components that come together seamlessly to create a unified dish that is irresistible.

The first layer in Turkish Eggs is a garlic infused Greek yogurt, just warmed through, making it perfectly fragrant. The next layer is a poached egg with firm whites and a gloriously oozy yolk. We make this last though. Don’t stress. Nigella gave me a great method for poaching eggs that has working better than anything else I’ve tried, and I’ll share it with you. The final layer, which we’re actually going to make second, is browned butter loaded up with crushed red pepper flakes. In an ideal world, those would be Aleppo pepper flakes, but I found those difficult to come by without ordering online, and I already had some regular crushed red pepper flakes in my pantry, and I’m cheap, so I used those, and this dish was still great. The final component is some sourdough toast. This is how we’re getting all the good stuff to our mouths. Forks are for nerds. The crunchy, chewy sourdough toast is the perfect delivery method.

That was a super long description, but I hope it’s convinced you to make this. I’ve wished I was eating this at least once a week since the first time we tried it. We’ve always eaten for breakfast, but I can’t really think of a wrong time of day to eat this. Just make sure you do. Turkish Eggs for life.

Recipe from At My Table by Nigella Lawson

Black Pepper Bacon Waffles

June 17, 2019June 16, 2019 Renee Leave a comment

It’s been non-stop women’s soccer in our house for the past week, and for once our teams are on top. If the Women’s World Cup proves anything, it’s that if you want to win, send in the women. After the US’s 13-0 win over Thailand last week, I doubt anyone will be doubting their superiority over the men’s team any time soon.

I’ve been on a bit of a brunch kick lately, and I’ve got a couple of real winners for you this week. Something sweet, something savoury, both absolutely delicious. Things you’ll wish you could eat every day.

These Black Pepper Bacon Waffles have crispy bacon cooked right inside of them, so you get a hit of smoky, salty bacon with every bite. The black pepper adds just a hint of heat to keep the whole thing interesting. Be sure to have plenty of maple syrup on hand to balance it all out and make your morning sweet.

Making these waffles couldn’t be easier. Crisp up your bacon all at once in the oven. Mix together dry and wet ingredients, then bring all your components together in one bowl. Slap it into your waffle iron and come out with something excellent.

Black Pepper Bacon Waffles are the perfect all-in-one breakfast. Make them and be happy.

Recipe from Joy the Baker by Joy Wilson.

Banana Macadamia Nut Muffins

March 8, 2019March 7, 2019 Renee Leave a comment

These muffins represent my complete and utter failure to change. One of my goals for this year was to eat more fruits and vegetables. One of each every day. I lasted about two weeks, then the vegetables faded away.

I made an effort to carry on with fruits for a while, trying new things, most of them disgusting. But now I’ve basically given up choking down melons and force feeding myself half a banana while trying not to retch. You’re probably saying, don’t be so dramatic. It’s just a fruit. Fruits are delicious, you say. Just try them.

I’ve tried. You might as well be feeding me bugs. Drinking my fruits and vegetables is about the best I can do. Although even that is sometimes a miss. I tried a Waste Not orange, beetroot, and apple juice the other day, and it tasted exactly like dirt. Not only did they use the ugly fruits and vegetables, but it tasted like they didn’t bother to wash them first. Look, I’m just gonna be dead soon. I have t learn to accept it.

These Banana Macadamia Nut Muffins are the answer to those languishing bananas you bought when you thought you were going to thought you were going to be healthy but ended up eating pizza instead. They’re easy to make, and they have legit banana flavor, along with some crunch from buttery macadamia nuts.

By the way, to make oat flour, I just whizzed up some porridge oats in the food processor until they were relatively fine. It saved me having to run to the store.

I am who I am, and I’m not ready to change. At least something delicious could come from my failures. I hope you enjoy them.

Banana Macadamia nut muffins

Yield

12 Muffins

Prep time

20 minutes

Cooking time

30 minutes

Difficulty

Easy

ingredients

12 ounces (about 3) overripe bananas
210 grams sugar
220 grams plain flour
35 grams oat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
113 grams unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup chopped macadamia nuts

instructions

Preheat your oven to 350F (175C) and line your muffin tin with paper cups if its prone to sticking.
Add your bananas and sugar to a mixing bowl, and mash them together with a potato masher or a fork until smooth.
Add the flour, oat flour, baking soda, and salt to a large mixing bowl, and whisk gently to combine.
In another bowl or a measuring jug, whisk together the melted butter, eggs, and almond extract. Once that’s well combined, add it to the banana mixture and whisk all that together.
Now add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and gently mix it all together with a rubber spatula until just mixed. Finally, fold in your chopped nuts.
Divide your batter between your twelve muffin cups, and bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.
Remove the muffins to a wire right right away to cool a bit. Serve warm.

Recipe from I’m Just Here for More Food by Alton Brown

10 Awesome Pancake Recipes

March 4, 2019March 3, 2019 Renee Leave a comment

Mardi Gras always seemed a bit overly indulgent for me. I mean, I get that indulgence is the whole point, the last hurrah before the austerity of Lent, but being packed in with crowds of people in the street drinking daiquiris and shouting over blaring music, all those beads and potential for public nudity… Just the thought of it gives me a headache.

Here in the UK, they have a much more introvert friendly tradition for the last day before Lent. Pancake Day is quiet, very British, lacking in exuberance, but I love it. Eating stacks of crepes with lemon juice and sugar seems much preferable in my mind. In addition to my traditional recipe for Pancake Day, here are ** other awesome pancake recipes for a sugary indulgence, whether you observe Lent or not.