Caramel Apples

Hello again! Lets try a kind of dessert. Today we had a community pot luck. This one was a Halloween celebration so we brought a traditional treat - caramel apples.





Caramel Apples


very fine sandpaper
skewer sticks


2 cups brown sugar
1 cup golden corn syrup
1/2 cup butter


1/2 water
1 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter (or regular butter)
1 cup of powdered milk


about 24 small - medium sized apples


crushed nuts, candy or melted chocolate


Wash apples with hot water to get any wax off and dry the with a tea towel. Use sandpaper to scuff up the apple skins so the caramel will stick to the apple. Stick skewer sticks in the stem end of the apple and set on 2 cookie sheets covered with parchment paper. 


Combine the brown sugar, corn syrup and butter in a medium saucepan at low heat.


In a pot combine water, white sugar, and butter. Boil till a rolling boil, remove from heat and let cool slightly. This can be done by pouring the water mixture into separate bowl and placing it into the refrigerator for a quicker process. 


While warm, whisk the powdered milk into water, sugar, and butter mix. Whisk until no lumps remain and is a creamy color.
Bring brown sugar, corn syrup and butter mixture to rolling boil and add the other mixture in. As mixtures blends, it will look creamy. Continue stirring and bring mixture back to a rolling boil until it reaches the soft ball stage on a candy thermometer (234 degrees F or 116 degrees C). When you drop a bit from a spoon into a glass of water it will form a soft ball. 


Once it has reached that temperature, take your apple on a stick and dunk it into the caramel. You may have to spoon it on as well. This is when you would roll the apple on to crushed nuts. Set the dunked apples on the prepared cookie sheet and leave the stick and apple as strait up as possible. As soon as you put the apple on to the cookie sheet, is when you would put any other candies, such as crushed chocolate bars, and candy pieces. If you were to put a drizzle on, you would wait until cooled. 

 

Our Style Steak

    
       All you need are the three main ingredients ; steak, salsa, and cheese.



    Our Style Steak


     4 medium steaks (we often use sirloin steaks)
     enough salsa to cover steaks
     any a mount of grated cheese (Cheddar, and Mozzarella)


     Preheat oven to 325°.


     Place meat cuts into casserole dish or into a  roaster. Cover with salsa. Then use a lid or use tin foil for cover to keep in moisture. Put in oven at 325°. Cook until done. When you are near serving time, take out of oven and sprinkle any amount cheese on top. Wrap in tin foil or put on the lid and throw it in the oven. Serve when meat is cooked and cheese is melted.




 I call this recipe our style steak because my family made up this one. My dad loves any thing spicy and strong in flavor - especially salsa. When we would be on the run, my mom would whip up this in no time. You could easily put this one in the slow cooker for more tender meat to cook it over a day instead an after noon.If you have any questions, comments or would like to say hello, please feel free to email me at jensencooks@hotmail.com or become a follower. I would love to have some questions to answer. Check out the poll as well.





     In these pictures we served this dish with fried zucchini disks and a baked potato. The baked potatoes can be cooked at the same time as the steaks. Before you sit down to eat you could fry up some fresh zucchini or other veggies to eat.