Gooey Apple Pie

This week on The Pioneer Woman, she is devoting the week to making pies. Since I have recently been taught the secret to the perfect pie crust from Dusty's mom, I was so excited! It also makes me even more excited when I have all the ingredients but apples to make this delicious dessert.

This year at Thanksgiving, my family won't have to order me the Perkins Caramel Apple Pie, I'm gonna make it from scratch!

This is what you are going to need:
-1 unbaked Pie Crust
-3 Large Granny Smith Apples-thinly sliced
-1/2 cup Sugar
-1/2 cup Brown Sugar
-2 tsp Vanilla
-1 Tbsp Flour
-1 cup Heavy Cream
-1/8 tsp Cinnamon

For the Topping:
-3/4 cup Flour
-1/4 cup Pecans
-7 Tbsp Butter
-1/2 cup Brown Sugar
-Dash of Salt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Then get your unbaked pie crust ready....I'm getting so much better at making these look pretty!

Then thinly slice your Granny Smith Apples....the thinner the apples the better!

In a medium sized bowl, combine the white and brown sugar...

Add the heavy cream...

Don't forget the Vanilla, Flour & Cinnamon!

Then mix it all together....

Please, do yourself a favor and lick the spoon!

Add the apples to the bowl....

And give them a good tossing around to coat.

Now it's time to make The Topping!

In a food processor, add all the ingredients.

Pulse the food processor until it forms a crumbly mixture.

To assemble the pie:

Place the apple mixture in the unbaked pie shell.

And top the apples with the topping crumbs.

To protect the crust from burning, loosely wrap aluminum foil around crust.

Bake the pie for 60-75 minutes on a baking sheet. During the last 10 minutes of baking, you can remove the aluminum foil to allow the crust to brown and bake. Remove the pie and allow to cool when it is bubbly and golden brown.

Serve warm with Whip Cream or Vanilla Ice Cream.

Enjoy!

The Best Steak Marinade

Yesterday I was looking around for recipes on Tasty Kitchen and saw that this Steak Marinade was listed as the most popular recipe on the website. There were tons of reviews and every single one of them had something great to say about it. My curiosity got the best of me and I bookmarked the recipe to make for Sunday night dinner. I always like to save my best recipes for Sunday nights. I believe having a really good dinner is a great way to kick off the week!

So this is what you are going to need for the Best Steak Marinade:

-1/4 cup Olive Oil
-1/4 cup Teriyaki Sauce
-1/8 cup Brown Sugar
-1-1/2 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
-1-1/2 tsp Montreal Steak Spice (made by Grill Masters and found at the Grocery Store)
-1/2 tsp Dried Mustard
-1/2 tsp Fresh Grated Ginger
-2 Steaks

*The original recipe calls for 2 cloves Garlic minced, but I forgot to add them!
The marinade was still delicious without them, but I suggest adding the garlic....because garlic is sooo good!

Place all the ingredients into a large Ziploc bag.

Seal the bag and let the steak soak up all the juices for 1 hour or even overnight. I let mine soak for 6 hours and it was delicious!

Fire up the grill....or plug in the George Foreman.

(Yay for apartment living!)

And grill up your steaks!

Serve this yummy Steak with mashed potaotes and Onion Strings!

Enjoy!

Onion Strings

Every month at the Country Store where I work on campus, the Grill has a "Burger of the Month." This month's featured burger special is "The Ultimate Burger," which contains one of my favorite foods in the entire world.....

ONION STRINGS!

The thing that really bothered me at work is how the onion strings are made at the Country Store. They throw the sliced red onions into water and then into some nasty manufactured powder. This is not right! Not right at all!

Therefore, I am posting this recipe to show everyone the REAL and BETTER way to make the yummy Onion Strings.

Here is what you are going to need:

-1 small Yellow Onion-thinly sliced
-1 cup Flour
-1 tsp Salt
-1/4 tsp Pepper
-1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
-Canola Oil

Thinly slice the onions and place them in a baking dish with the Buttermilk. Make sure all the onions are covered in the Buttermilk. Let them soak for an hour or two.

In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper.

When you are ready to make the Onion Strings, heat about 1 to 1-1/2 inches of Canola Oil in a medium saucepan. Get the oil nice and hot!

With tongs, grab some of the onions out of the Buttermilk and dip them into the Flour mixture.

(Make the onion strings in batches....don't cook all at once)

Get the onions fully coated and tap off the excess flour.

Then place them gently into the saucepan so the oil doesn't splatter!

Let the onioons cook for 1-2 minutes. Watch them closely! They cook quick!

With the tongs, remove the Onion Strings and place them onto a paper towel to drain.

That's it! So easy and yummy!

ENJOY!

Recipe Source: The Pioneer Woman

The Best Brownies...Ever!

This is the Best Brownie Ever!!!!!

I was so excited about making these Brownies last night with Dusty, I forgot about taking pictures of making them! But here is the recipe...

This is what you are going to need:

-1/2 cup Butter

-1 cup Sugar

-2 Eggs-beaten

-1 tsp Vanilla Extract

-1/3 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

-1/2 cup Flour

-1/4 tsp Salt

-1/4 tsp Baking Powder

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F).

Grease and Flour an 8×8 inch pan.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter.
Once melted, remove the saucepan from heat.
Stir in sugar, eggs and vanilla.
Beat in cocoa, flour, salt and baking powder with a whisk in the saucepan.

Spread the batter into the greased/floured pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. Make sure to not over-cook!
If you are feeling dangerous, I suggest doubling the recipe for a thicker brownie.

Enjoy!

This Is Griz Nation!!!

Today Dusty and I went to the Griz Game.
We played North Dakato and it was really fun....and cold!
I didn't prepare for the 30 degree weather and definitely didn't expect the snow and rain!

Every game starts out with its traditional pre-game show....
The parachuters fly down and land on the Grizzly Bear.

If they land on the bear, the crowd goes wild!
But if they miss, the crowd boo's them....kinda harsh!
But it's tradition.

Then Monte, the mascot comes out of his "den" to greet the crowd!

Little fact:
The guy who was the previous Monte was so amazing that he became the mascot for the Chicago Bulls! Every once in a while he comes back to Griz Nation in his Bulls costume and cheers with Monte. It's awesome!

Then before the football players come out onto the field this video is played....It gives me goosebumps everytime!

And then they rush out onto the field!!!

Now it's game-time!

Go Griz!

At today's game, the Griz won against North Dakota 27-17.

Good job guys!

Coconut Macaroons

Coconut Macaroons have to be one of my favorite cookies! I just read somewhere that Coconut Macaroons were "all the rage 100 years ago in France"....well they are all the rage in my belly NOW!

They are so easy and quick to make!

Here is what you are going to need (makes 12):

-2-1/2 cups Coconut
-2/3 cup Sugar
-1/3 cup Flour
-1/4 tsp Salt
-3 Egg Whites
-1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
-1/4 tsp Almond Extract
-4 oz Chocolate Chips
-1 tsp Shortening

First preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

In a medium sized bowl, add the Coconut, Sugar, Flour and Salt into the bowl.

Mix it all together until combined. 

Then add the Egg Whites, Vanilla and Almond Extract.

And stir until combined.

With your cookie scoop or tablespoon, form your cookie....

...and place them onto your buttered/floured baking sheet.

I highly recommend "Pam Baking Spray."

It's the spray brought to bakers from the heavens!

You can also use parchment paper on the baking sheet as well if your prefer.

Bake for 15 minutes until the edges turn a light brown.

Hello Gorgeous!

Then in a small saucepan, combine the chocolate chips with the shortening....

And over low heat, melt the chocolate and shortening while stirring constantly so the sauce doesn't burn.

Then with a fork, dip it into the sauce and flick it over top the macaroons to make interesting designs on the macaroons. It makes them look fun, fancy and original!

Now don't waste another minute and eat one!

They are so yummy!

ENJOY!

Meatloaf

Because it is snowing in Missoula today, I thought this recipe would be perfect to post. It is hearty, comforting and soooo good! I found this recipe on the blog Simply Scratch and it is a winner! Probably the best meatloaf I've ever had.

This is what you are going to need:

-1-1/2 lb Ground Beef

-1 cup Italian Bread Crumbs

-2 cloves Garlic-minced

-1/2 Yellow Onion-minced

-1/4 tsp Pepper

-1/4 tsp Dried Basil

-3/4 tsp Salt

-1 egg-beaten

-1/4 cup Ketchup (plus 1/3 cup for spreading on top)

-1/3 cup Worcestershire Sauce

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Then combine all the ingredients into a bowl. It's time to get messy with your hands!

Dig in and mix up!

Then place some aluminum foil on a baking sheet and form the meat mixture into a loaf.

Place the meatloaf into the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Take it out of the oven and brush some ketchup over every nook and cranny. Then place it back in the oven. After another 20 minutes, remove from oven and brush with ketchup again.

Bake for another 20 minutes and then remove from the oven. This time you are done!

Slice up the meatloaf and serve with some buttered peas or any vegetable.

Enjoy!