Johnny Appleseed Rum Punch

Growing up in Southwestern Michigan, fall was one of the busiest times of the year. There were plenty of fruit orchards around us, and U-Pick apple orchards got plenty of business. We always went down the road to Jollay Orchards in Coloma, where if you wanted, they cranked your apples into cider. I can still remember how sweet and pungent the cider mill smelled.

As soon as the temps dip below 60s, heat up this punch and pour it into a thermos for tailgating, hayrides, or bonfires. It'll keep you warm and happy all night.

You can add more or less rum to taste, or skip the rum altogether if you prefer.

Prosit!

Ingredients

1 gallon apple cider
2 cups water
1/3 cup clover honey
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 cups dark rum

Directions

Stir together all ingredients except the rum. Heat to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in rum before serving. Don't burn your mouth!

Makes about 1 1/2 gallons.

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Cornbread with Sweet Green Chiles

Simple, filling comfort food...that's what we call these cornbread squares! We've tried many cornbread recipes, but this is one of the most moist and flavorful versions we've come up with yet. Stick around to see some of our other cornbread recipes, too.

This is really good with Polish Mushroom Barley soup or Joe's Award-Winning Chili.

Ingredients

1 cup corn meal (we like to use the medium-coarse kind)

1 cup flour

1 tbsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp butter, melted

3 tbsp olive oil

2 eggs, beaten, or 1/2 cup egg substitute

1 1/2 cups milk

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 5-oz can mild or hot green chilies

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt. In another bowl, stir together the butter, oil, eggs, milk, and lemon juice. Pour the liquid into the flour mixture and stir until the mixed, but still a little lumpy. Stir in the can of chilies.

Grease a 9x12 baking pan. Pour the batter into the pan. Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until slightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool slightly before cutting into squares.

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Skinny Chicken Caesar Salad

We didn't eat as many healthy foods as we wanted to this summer. Sadly, it was a summer of drive-through lunches and meetings in restaurants with way too much temptation. I think it's safe to say this was a summer spent on the run.

Luckily, we have very health conscious friends who help us be our best selves, not our most self-indulgent selves.When we arranged for a picnic at Ravinia, an outdoor concert venue north of Chicago, Joe tossed up this tried-and-true light Caesar salad that he's been making for years. It's unbelievable quick and tasty.

Wine, fruit, and salad were all we needed to round out an evening under the stars, listening to Crosby, Stills, and Nash, and finally sitting back to relax.

Ingredients

For the Dressing

¼ cup fat-free egg substitute

1/4 cup low-fat mayonnaise

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

3 tbsp cider vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp anchovy paste or Asian fish sauce

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 small clove garlic, minced

1 tsp ground black pepper

3 cups cooked chicken (for this evening, Joe picked up a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store; usually we make this with leftover chicken or roast chicken breast)

1 large head romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces

1 1/2 cups nonfat croutons

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Blend the dressing ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth. 

Place the lettuce in a bowl and pour the dressing over it. Add the chicken, croutons, and cheese and toss until well combined.

Note: because we were picnicking at the concert, we brought the dressing and salad ingredients in different containers and mixed it together at the park.

Serves 4.

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Peruvian Potatoes with Cheese Sauce (Papas a la Huacaina)

What a whirlwind summer we've had! Though our recipe posts have become farther apart, and stopped altogether for a month, don't think for a minute that we have fallen out of love with food. In fact, we've tested enough new recipes to stock the next year. 

In between my librarian work and marketing work for the local chamber of commerce, I've also been experimenting with art. Joe's been experimenting with having man friends and leisure time, something he hasn't allowed himself in quite a while. When you're raising kids, you don't have much spare time.

But now we've gotten to the lovely part of life where our children are our friends and we have much more time to cultivate our interests. And that's where this recipe comes in. To celebrate Joe's birthday, First Born found a Peruvian restaurant on the north side of Chicago, Ay Ay Picante (4569 N Elston Ave). None of us had tried Peruvian food before, but we learned their cuisine has a strong Asian influence and the backbone of their traditional recipes are seafood and potatoes.

I have become addicted to these potatoes. It's a surprising change on traditional potato salad, or a warm and comforting dish that is hearty enough for a main meal. The luscious sauce is what makes this dish so alluring. It is the authentic version of that orange cheese sauce they put on nachos. It's what nacho cheese sauce wants to be when it grows up.

I bet we could find a dozen other uses for the cheese sauce, but for now, we'll just pour it generously over the papas.

Ingredients

For the Sauce

1 Pound of queso fresco (fresh farmer's cheese)  Dash of Salt and Pepper 1 poblano pepper or large banana pepper, seeded 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded (note: you can use all banana or poblano peppers if you like it very hot) 1 can of evaporated milk 1 cup crumbled saltine crackers (about 15 crackers) For the Potatoes 6 large red potatoes  1/3 cup pitted Kalamata olives, cut in half Lettuce leaves 4 eggs 2 tbsp snipped chives or green onions Directions: Boil the potatoes and eggs together until the potatoes are tender. Allow to cool. Peel the potatoes and eggs and cut into slices. If you will be serving the dish cold, chill the potatoes and eggs until ready to serve; otherwise, leave at room temperature. Put all the sauce ingredients in a blender or food processor, and blend until thick and smooth. Pour into a saucepan and slowly heat up the sauce until it starts to bubble, stirring constantly.  If you are serving the dish cold, allow the sauce to cool to room temperature before assembling. Otherwise, lay down a bed of lettuce and arrange the potatoes on top. Pour the sauce over the potatoes, then garnish with the chives, olives, and eggs. Serves 4 as a main meal.

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Eunice's Carrot-Banana Bread

I had the most wonderful mother-in-law ever. Eunice was a sweet lady who grew up in the early 1900s and spent most of her life on cattle ranches and in church charity guilds. I see her thoughtful, kind, good-hearted traits in Joe. I just wish I'd met her (and Joe) sooner.

Eunice spent her retirement serving other people and making them happy. In her late eighties, she'd still go to the Senior Center nearly every day to serve those "old" seventy and eighty-year-olds. When she passed away the day after Mother's Day a few years ago, her funeral was swamped with people from all over the U.S. who had loved her. She truly showed a life well lived.

Joe and his mother Eunice at her 90th birthday party

The first time we traveled to Clear Lake, Iowa to meet her, she made a big loaf of this moist and dense banana-carrot bread for me and the girls. I think Joe got some too, but we might have eaten it all without him. She was so happy that I loved it that every time she knew she was going to see me, she would make a couple of extra loaves of bread for me to take home.

When Joe and I were engaged, I gave Eunice a blank cookbook and asked her to write down some of her favorite recipes and maybe some of Joe's long-time favorites. Her banana-carrot bread is the first one in the "breads" section. I love it that I have this recipe written in her handwriting.

I'm a little teary right now.

Last weekend my parents came to visit, to take me out for my birthday and to take the family to a Cubs game as our Christmas present from last year. I made a double batch of the quick bread batter to make a loaf for breakfast and muffins for Jessie and Erich, since they're working through finals week. The bread tasted just as moist and delicious as when Eunice used to make it.

Ingredients

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs (or 1/2 cup egg whites)
2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 or 3)

1 cup grated carrots

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and oil a 9x5 loaf pan (or a 12-cup muffin pan)

In a mixing bowl, combine oil and sugar. Add eggs; mix well. Stir together flour, soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Gradually blend into the creamed mixture alternately with the mashed bananas. Stir in carrots and nuts. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes (for loaf pan) or 25-30 minutes (for muffins), until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

Makes 1 loaf or 12 muffins.

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