Tastes Like Autumn

Two absolutely stellar recipes that capture the flavors of autumn.

Autumn Chopped Salad. Cranberries, pears, bacon, feta, nuts....it's a bowlful of deliciousness! Click HERE for the recipe.

I didn't exactly follow the recipe; I used the idea and made a small salad to take to work for lunch. So I can't testify to whether or not the amounts and such are accurate.

Also, instead of romaine lettuce, I used an artisan blend of four different kinds of lettuce - two green and two purple - that I bought at Aldi's. It's a big tub of deliciousness for only $1.99! (If you can't find this blend, it's somewhat similar to spring mix.) The blend is lighter in both taste and texture than romaine, and I think it really allowed all the other flavors to come to the forefront.

And I only used poppyseed dressing, because it was too complicated to pack two dressings in my work lunch. The dressing I buy has a good sweet-sour taste, so I think it added the right balance to the salad. Finally, I used almonds instead of pecans, because that's what I had on hand.

Kinna sounds like I didn't use the recipe at all, doesn't it? :)

Dutch Baby (aka German Apple Pancake).  Fresh apples sprinkled with cinnamon and covered with a nutmeggy egg custard bakes up into a flavorful yummy puffy thing. This is SO GOOD. Click HERE for the recipe. The only change I made was to cut the amount of sugar in half, and I thought it was plenty sweet enough. The tartness of your apples should probably determine how much sugar to use.

Pee-wee's Ice Cream Bread

Ice cream....bread?

I dunno. I haven't tried it, but a friend did, and supposedly it works! The recipe first appeared on twitter...posted by Peewee Herman.

ICE CREAM BREAD

Ingredients:
1.5 cups of self-rising flour
1 pint of softened ice cream

Instructions:
Butter and flour an 8"x4" loaf pan.
Mix flour and ice cream.
Put mixture in the pan.
Bake for 40-45 minutes at 350º.
Before removing from the oven, test with a toothpick; it should NOT come out clean (i.e., a few crumbs should be stuck to it).
Cool on a wire rack.