Apple Pie Liqueur

Image by macross actual via FlickrLast fall we bought a bottle of Apple Pie Liqueur, which we really enjoyed.  We shared some with a friend, and he said it tasted just like some he made at home - Grandma's Apple Pie.  There are several recipes for apple pie liqueur online, different variations, but they all look pretty much the same - apple cider, spices and alcohol.  Today I followed my friend Mike's recipe and finally got around to making some apple pie liqueur of my own:

Grandma's Apple Pie (Liqueur)

• 1 gallon apple cider
• 1 quart apple juice
• 1 cup sugar
• 7 cinnamon sticks

Boil all ingredients, cover and cool to room temp.  When cool, add 1 pint of Everclear.  Then you just need to bottle and enjoy.

Some of the recipes I found online say to bottle and age 1 month, so I'm not entirely sure if it's ready yet or if I need to let it sit.  But, it made a lot - I probably should have made a half recipe!  We have the original Apple Pie Liqueur bottle from last year re-filled, along with a Jack Daniels bottle, another whiskey bottle, a Mason jar - all full, and about half a pint jar.  So, even if I can't wait to get into some of it, there will be plenty that will age way more than a month.  If you've made this before, let me know how you do it.

We just drank the bottle we bought, either room temperature or slightly warmed. It was really good that way, but I want to try some of these Apple Pie Liqueur Cocktail Recipes with what I made today.  That Apple Pie Ala Mode looks especially good!

Peasant's Offering

Another recipe from my favorite cookbook, The Best of Mennonite Fellowship Meals.

Peasant's Offering

Ingredients:

• 2 T cooking oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 lb. lean ground beef (or turkey)
• 1 medium head cabbage, grated
• 2-1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 cup sour cream
• 5-6 large potatoes
• 1 cup milk or less
• 1 T butter
• Chopped parsley or chives

Directions:

1. Heat cooking oil in very large skillet. Add onion and saute lightly. Add ground beef and stir to keep meat loose and fine. cook just until pink disappears.
2. Gradually add grated cabbage, stirring until all cabbage is well cooked. Add seasonings adjusting to taste. Remove from heat.
3. Stir in sour cream. Spoon into rectangular baking dish (13X9) and spread evenly over bottom. Keep hot in oven.
4. Dice and cook potatoes. Mash with milk and butter until desired consistency. Layer mashed potatoes over cabbage mixture.
5. Garnish with chopped parsley or chives and serve.

This is always really popular at potlucks. I usually spoon the meat and cabbage mixture into my crockpot, layer the mashed potatoes on top, and turn it on low to keep it warm. If I'm fixing this at home, I usually just leave the meat and cabbage mixture in the skillet and put that in the oven to keep it warm. Then layer the mashed potatoes on top and serve. I usually completely forget about the parsley or chives, but I figure they're more for looks than anything - and no one seems to care.

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Apple-Pecan Muffins

I found this recipe in the food section of my Sunday paper, though I'm not sure when. I finally made them, and they were quite good.

Apple-Pecan Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 T baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 3 T melted butter or vegetable oil
• 1 medium tart apple (peeled and cored)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans

Directions:

1. In large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
2. In medium bowl, beat egg with milk and melted butter.
3. Shred the apple directly into egg mixture; stir to blend. Combine egg mixture with flour mixture, stirring just until flour is moistened. Do not overmix.
4. Lightly grease a muffin pan with 12 (2-1/2 inch) cups or use paper muffin cups. Spoon batter into muffin pan. Sprinkle top of each muffin with 1 tsp. chopped pecans
5. Bake in preheated 400 ° oven until well browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm.

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To Print all These Recipes, You Need Cheap Printer Cartridges

I've tried to include a printable copy of all the recipes on this blog, because running back and forth between the computer and the kitchen when you're trying to cook up a masterpiece in the kitchen is just not practical.  It's also not practical to print the original post when all you want is the actual recipe and none of the extra text or images that are also on the page.
 
I really want to play with the style code I found on another recipe blog I like.  They have it set so when readers print a post, they just get the text and no images.  They may even have it set so that all that prints is the recipe, but I'm not completely sure about that.  I haven't had time to really look into it.  In the meantime, I've been using Google Docs for my printable recipes, and that seems to be working really well.  Besides making the recipes easy to print, it also gives me a back-up copy of all my recipes - and half the reason I started this blog is so that I can store my recipes and not lose them.
 
And I really do use the recipes on this blog.  Have I used my own  'Print this recipe' link on all of them?  No.  Sometimes I go back and forth between my computer and my kitchen, and sometimes I jot down the ingredients on an old envelope.  I would probably save myself lots of time and hassle if I just printed them when I posted them, but I keep thinking about all that printer ink I'd be using.  When it's time to replace the ink cartridges, I always look for cheap printer cartridges HP to get the best deal possible.  Free shipping, coupons codes, I combine everything I can, so I'm not sure what I'm worried about.  I should be able to print as many recipes as I want - and you should too.  Print all my recipes.  Go ahead.  You know you want to.
 

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