Apple, Pecan and Cheddar Spinach Salad with Sweet Maple Dressing

Today is Tuesdays with Dorie, my weekly baking club day. It is outrageous to see a leaf of spinach here on Tuesdays, or anything green-unless it is tinted frosting. Instead, you should see butter, sugar, and flour emerging from the oven in a variety of tempting creations. But I confess that I never have the heart for extra sugar in the days following Halloween. Bear with me.
This is my sugar free-est week of the year. For some reason, the sweet magic ends on Halloween night for me, and it's a very good thing, since I'm hoping to never weigh 682 pounds. Up until October 31st, I raid the cupboard of all our tricks and treats. The charges always catch me-those darn crinkly wrappers!-and then I have to share. Quiet Man finds the open bags and digs in too, filling his pockets on the way to work. I'm forced to buy more candy (my favorite kinds, of course)...then we eat that too. Please don't tell my new dentist. But then when Halloween is over, the sugar monster can be kept at bay. Yesterday West and Sailor actually chose apples out of their treat bags OVER the candy. It isn't because they are virtuous and self-denying; we're all maddeningly sick of candy. And in case you are wondering, it's still safe to get an apple for Halloween in Smalltown, USA.

And speaking of apples, here's my latest and greatest favorite salad showcasing Fall's most winsome fruit. I've shared variations on this salad before, but I think this is the best version. It's decidedly American in flavor, with creamy cheddar, crunchy pecans, and crisp apples, in a sweet maple dressing. If you're off candy, give this salad a go. If you aren't off candy, give it a go anyway. I think it would make a very nice appetizer to a Reese's peanut butter cup. Just not this week.

Money Saving Tips: If you don't have pure maple syrup, sub in a little pancake syrup. Compare the price of bagged spinach with the loose and buy for a bargain. Any apple you've got on hand will work well-even a baking apple -since it will be coated in sweet dressing. It's a great idea to double or triple the dressing and use it all week long.

Spinach and Apple Salad

Estimated Cost: $4.00 for four servings

1/4 cup light flavored olive oil, or vegetable oil

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon maple syrup

about 6 cups baby spinach

2 small crisp apples (I like Gala and Golden Delicious)

2 ounces cheddar, diced

1/4 cup paper thin onion slices

In a small bowl whisk oil, cider, vinegar, sugar, and syrup. (I love to throw mine in the blender and let it get nice and thick.) Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper. Combine salad ingredients at the last possible minute. Drizzle with dressing and serve.

Next Up:

Classic Cheddar Mac and Cheese

The morning after...

Time to put away the spider webs, the gravestones, and the grinning jack o'lanterns. It's November now, just like that. But first......

It was a very merry party last night in our neighborhood. At the last minute, the Quiet Man and I decided to dress up just like the charges. Seeing double...
Our neighborhood hosted a pre trick or treating party. That's my pop working the grill, with Quiet Man as back-up. And my dear neighbors working the popcorn machine with their cutie pie pirate grandson. The teenagers were whipping up the cotton candy. Because there isn't quite enough sugar in Halloween candy for this boy of mine. Go get um' tiger.Here's some neighborhood tweens in their spooky duds. Are those days really coming for my charges?

This little girl does not belong to me, but she's so precious that I followed her around snapping pictures and scaring the daylights out of her. If you're a two year old Dorothy , the last thing you want is an oversized witch trailing you. That's our scarecrow, Abercrombie, on the lawn with some of Sailor's neighborhood pals. We make a new Abercrombie every year. Abercrombie, Abercrombie, Abercrombie. There could never be a better name for a scarecrow. I love you, Abercrombie. See you next year.

When it was time to trick or treat, this fiercesome Captain Hook nephew of mine was too scared. He spotted a grim reaper prowling the neighborhood and decided he was better off in a locked house. He just barely got over his fear of The Great and Terrible Frog, from the Frog and Toad musical that we saw in the spring. But I did get to take my Little Bo Peep niece Annabelle around. (Annabelle borrowed the Bo Peep costume I made Sailor four years ago.) I love to Trick or Treat. I feel more closely connected to my neighborhood and community and the kids learn how to be polite and gracious AND they get candy. What could be better?

My favorite trick or treat house has a giant decorated tree in the front yard. The sweet little lady of the house makes white chocolate mint ghost pops every year. (She gives them to grown-ups, too.) The ghost pops never make it home.

Here's the loot and the happy trick or treaters, ready to call it a night.

Hope you all had a safe and happy Halloween. Enjoy your extra hour today! I think I already wasted mine, lying in bed, thinking about what to be for Halloween next year.

Next Up:

Spinach and Apple Salad with Cheddar and Pecans with Maple Dressing

Cider Braised Beef and Vegetables plus my little Witchy Poo

Are you ready for Halloween?????

Tights, check.

Little Black Bloomers (just in case she wants to do a cartwheel when little warlocks are around). Check.

Pointed black hat. Check.

The dress. Check.

The apron. Check.

The cape. Check.

Double-sided, of course. Check.

One happy little Witchy Poo. Check.

One tired mother. Check, check, check, check.

But it's all been fun, and I'm all set to go. I've even got a simple and hearty Halloween dinner planned. I spotted this braised beef on the October Cooking Light cover. Why not chili, you wonder? Frankly, we've been eating chili all month long, so this looked like just the perfect unexpected Halloween dinner, the kind of dinner that could slice through a trick or treat chill. I've made it just as they recommended in Cooking Light, except I swapped out the beer for cider and a tablespoon of cider vinegar. The meaty juices had just a hint of autumn sweetness. I think you're really going to like this one.

We're gearing up for our big neighborhood Hallween party. I can't decide if I will dress as Hermione or Little Red Riding Hood. I've convinced the Quiet man to be a mad scientist. He already has the lab coat and goggles. What about you? Are you dressing up? How will you be spending the evening? However you pass the spookiest night of the year, I hope it is safe and happy for all.

Cooking Light Braised Beef and Vegetables

Estimated Cost: about $10.oo for four servings

Tips: Ask your butcher to cut a 1-pound roast for you, or buy a larger one (especially if it's on sale) and freeze the rest for later.

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil1 (1-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed

1 teaspoon salt,

divided1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup fat-free, less-sodium beef broth

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 (12-ounce) dark beer (I used 1 cup cider plus 1 tablespoon cider vinegar)

1 bay leaf

3 carrots, peeled and cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices

9 ounces small turnips, peeled and cut into wedges

1 medium onion, peeled and cut into wedges

1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1. Preheat oven to 300°.
2. Place flour in a shallow dish. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sprinkle beef evenly on all sides with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper; dredge in flour. Add beef to pan; cook 10 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Add broth and next 3 ingredients (through bay leaf), scraping pan to remove browned bits; bring to a boil. Cover and bake at 300° for 1 1/2 hours. Add carrots; cover and cook 25 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, turnips, and onion; cover and cook an additional 1 hour and 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender and beef is fork-tender.
3. Remove beef and vegetables from pan; discard bay leaf. Cover beef mixture; keep warm. Let cooking liquid stand 10 minutes. Place a zip-top plastic bag inside a 2-cup glass measure. Pour cooking liquid into bag; let stand 10 minutes (fat will rise to the top). Seal bag; carefully snip off 1 bottom corner of bag. Drain cooking liquid into a medium bowl, stopping before fat layer reaches opening; discard fat. Serve cooking liquid with beef and vegetables. Sprinkle each serving with 1 tablespoon parsley.Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 3 ounces beef, 1 cup vegetables, and about 1/2 cup cooking liquid)CALORIES 383 ; FAT 19.7g (sat 6g,mono 9.1g,poly 2.2g); CHOLESTEROL 70mg; CALCIUM 68mg; CARBOHYDRATE 21g; SODIUM 815mg; PROTEIN 24.4g; FIBER 3.6g; IRON 2.9mg

Post Edit: I almost forgot to unabashedly solicit votes for my French's recipe. My goal is to get to 500 votes. I'm almost there, so vote again Friday and Saturday and help your old Pru get to New York. Thanks and here's the link.

Next Up:

Spinach and Apple Salad with Cheddar, Pecans, and Maple Dressing

Apple Cider Donuts

I couldn't wait any longer, not one more minute. I had to make these donuts last night. I'd been dragging the recipe around from a magazine insert, salivating from dusk to dawn. The madness had to end. And such delectable madness they were. I still think the buttermilk maple are my favorite, but there's room in my heart for more than one toroid. (I only know the word toroid from my crossword puzzle obsession; it means donut shaped.) The recipe and pic came from Home Made Simple, link below.

Click here for the recipe.

And now that you're here, can you do me a quick favor? Vote for my French's recipe one more time. There's just a few days left, so don't forget to vote every 24 hours. I'm hoping to become a finalist so I can get a trip to NYC.

I'm off to class, running a little late as usual. Tonight my students are analyzing the film Sense and Sensibility, looking for characteristics of the Age of Reason and the Romantic Era. Should be fun for all my Jane Austen fans.

I'll be back tomorrow with that hearty beef stew with cider for Halloween.

See you then.

Halloween Brownie Torte

Welcome to Tuesdays with Dorie, the day in which I whip up one of Dorie Greenspan's sweet treats with my on-line weekly baking club. Join in; it's super fantastic fun. Whee!

This week's assignment was for a Cherry Brownie Fudge Torte, but it just didn't sound like Halloween, and all treats this week must evoke the spookiest of holidays. So with a few little changes, I've made a Halloween Brownie Torte. I used Dorie's brownie as a base (click here for the recipe), and then added a cheater mousse made by whipping 4 ounces of cream cheese, 1 cup of whipping cream, and about 1/2 cup powdered sugar. I piled it high and deep atop the brownie, then added a chocolate chevron pattern. It's easy; I'll show you. Simply pipe some melted chocolate into straight parallel lines; then run a toothpick in a perpindicular motion down from end to end, switch directions and run up from end to end. You can do it, too.

But here's the naked truth: this week my mind is on donuts. I'm considering a new recipe for apple cider donuts to eat while pumpkin carving. But these are my all time favorite maple glazed buttermilk donuts, and I'm not sure if anything else will ever be as good. Make some, OK? I'll try the new recipe and let you know if it's worth it. Because these maple babies are worth every. single. deep-fried. sugar-coated. calorie.In less guilty pleasures, there's always a hearty bowl of my crockpot vegetarian chili to warm the cockles of the Halloween heart. You can look on my sidebar for lots of other chilis, too. One can never have to much chili, unless you are a baby. "You fed a baby chili?"

I also like the warming idea of a hearty beef stew with a hint of cider before Trick or Treating. See you soon with that recipe.

P.S. Here, here. I've entered a French's recipe contest that ends on Halloween Day. Click here to vote for my recipe. I'm not a passionate lover of voting contests, but this one is nicer than usual, since you can vote for any and all recipes that you like. If you like mine, could you purdy please vote for it once a day? You can? Thanks, I knew I could count on you.

Next Up: Hearty Beef Stew with Cider

My Sister Heidi's Red Curry Chicken

Live from my house, it's Saturday night. The weekend is going along just swimmingly and I'm in my pajamas early, which always makes my heart sing la-la-la. This busy coming week is going to be Share-your-talents week for the charges. My little Sailor girl has a voice recital in which she will be singing "I'm Shy" from Once Upon a Matress. Why isn't she more nervous? I'm not even sure she knows the words. I'm the one who should be up there singing because I'm living the title; when it comes to singing outside of the home, I really am shy. I could belt "I'M SHY!" and truly mean it. Tomorrow the kids are in a primary program for church. Once a year, the younger crowd share songs and spiritual thoughts about the past year's Sunday school curriculum. It's my favorite Sunday of the year, save Christmas Sunday. Wouldn't you rather listen to kids for an hour over grown-ups? Sailor and West will also be playing their violins for the program. Thank goodness that I'm not playing the piano for them, but I'm nervous anyway. West always waits until the last minute to put his violin on his shoulder. I'm in the crowd, trying to catch his eye, frowning, grimacing, motioning to him to put his violin in ready position. If he sees me he stubbornly shakes a "No" in my direction, with a playful gleam in his eye. He likes to put his violin up just as his bow comes down, a tick late for the first note. Why is this? Can somebody please tell me? My theory is that he likes to see me squirm for sport. And a few nights later, the charges are both playing their violins in the annual Halloween Spooktacular concert with the Southwest Symphony. West, dressed as Indiana Jones, will be sure to put up his violin at the last minute, just to prove that he is adventurous, blithe, and insouciant. And I'll be in the audience, trying hopelessly to signal to him to be ready. It's a little game we play, him and I. Except I'm really sweating, and he's laughing.
Since this week is going to busy, I already know what I'm making for dinner. It's my sister Heidi's chicken curry, the latest hit of the dinner hour. A few weeks ago, I wrote that Heidi left some red curry paste in my fridge, and this is the dish for which it is intended. I'm hooked. At this point, I want it at least once a day. It's delicious, healthy, cheap, and best of all-fast. At least I don't have to worry about dinner. Phew!
Money Saving Tips: A curry paste jar is a little pricey, but a little goes a long way. You can substitute red curry powder to save a little money. For a vegetarian option, swap out chicken for two cans of drained chick peas and veggie broth. Cook up a double batch of rice and store leftovers in zip top bags in the freezer for the next time you serve curry. I bet it'll be soon!
Heidi's Red Curry Chicken
Estimated Cost: $6.00 for 4 servings
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 lb. boneless, skinless, chicken, cut into 1 inch pieces
3 tablespoons flour
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger
1 tablespoon red curry paste
1 (14 ounce) can chicken broth
3 tablespoons apricot jam or mango chutney
chopped cilantro, for serving
hot rice, for serving

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and peppers and cook for four minutes. Add chicken and cook until chicken is browned on all sides. Sprinkle chicken with flour and stir for one minute. Add ginger and garlic and cook an additional 30 seconds. Add paste and broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Stir in jam and sprinkle with cilantro. Serve over rice.

PS My youngest sister Mary Kate left her lover-ly bracelets behind when she last came for a visit. If she's wondering where they are, ummm, she will find them in the above picture. I promise to return them the next time I see her, but in the meantime, ahem, I'll put them to good use. Thanks, MK!

PSS Begging your pardon, but if it isn't too much trouble, would you please click here to vote for my recipe again? You can vote once every 24 hours. A million thank yous. Or, rather, 25,000 thank yous.
Next Up:

Halloween Brownie Torte

Spicy Green Beans with Pork

Photo: Courtesty Family Fun Magazine

In my former life, before I became a dedicated food blogger, I used to be a competitive cook. I'd enter several recipe contests a year, and sometimes when extremely lucky I'd even win. (Think money, trips, Food Network appearances, and more aprons than I care to admit.) I've always enjoyed the challenge of creating new recipes and I particularly like using common ingredients in exciting, new ways. Since I started blogging, however, most of my creative recipes land right here at Prudence Pennywise. That's a good thing; I love being able to share what's cookin'. And frankly, before this blog, I wasn't exactly a stellar record keeper. I'm constantly clicking on my own blog to get my own recipes. This is where I keep them; it's their home. I'm absolutely giddy over the idea that other people are using my recipes and enjoying them too. So, thank you! But still, once in a while, I do miss the thrill of cook-off, and that good-news phone call or letter in the mail, and that chance to win a prize or trip. So here and there a cooking contest will lure me in, like this one. 25,000 bucks for a recipe. Not bad, eh? It's worth a shot,right?

And besides the grand prize, there's a cook-off in NYC in the spring for the semi-finalists. I need your help to get there! All you have to do is click here to vote for my recipe. You'll see my recipe (Cheery Cherry Chicken with Crispy Onion Grits), and a box that says Vote Now. Click on it and I'll earn another star, and be one step closer to becoming a semi-finalist.
You can vote one time per day till October 31st. And if you're so inclined, try coming up with a recipe and enter yourself. I'll vote for you too, promise.

Today's recipe, ironically enough, isn't mine. I lifted it straight from the pages of Family Fun magazine. A couple of months ago the mag ran a "Homemade Takeout" section with some fast and fabulous restaurant quality recipes. This Spicy Green Beans and Pork caught my eye immediately. Oh, mama-the taste of crisp-tender green beans with garlic and ginger together with thin slices of pork and a sprinkle of sesame is just to die for! You've got to make this one this weekend!

Money Saving Tips:

Look for 2 for 1 sales on pork chops and then stock up. If you like, you can substitute chicken for the pork. I swapped out the hoisin sauce for ketchup, since they are both essentially sweet and vinegary. Be creative if you don't have a lot of Chinese sauces on hand. You could also substitute red pepper flakes and fresh garlic for the chili garlic sauce. Sesame oil is pricey but it only takes a little drizzle to pack a big punch.

Spicy Green Beans with Pork

Estimated Cost: $6.00 for 4 servings

From Family Fun magazine
1 pound pork tenderloin (I used chops)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine (I substituted extra chicken stock)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon spicy bean sauce (I left this out)
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce (I substituted ketchup)
1 1/2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 cup peanut or vegetable oil
1 pound green beans, trimmed and snapped in half
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 (1-inch) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup toasted white sesame seeds
Instructions
Cut pork into the thin possible strips. (Tip: first partially freeze it for 30 to 90 minutes.) In a small bowl, toss the shaved pork with 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of rice wine, and the pepper. Marinate the pork at room temperature while assembling the rest of the ingredients.
In a separate bowl, combine the remaining tablespoon of soy sauce, the remaining tablespoon of rice wine, the stock, spicy bean sauce, hoisin, chili garlic sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and cornstarch, and set aside.
Heat a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat and add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the beans and stir-fry them until they begin to brown or blister, about 10 minutes. Remove the beans from the pan using a slotted spoon and pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the oil.
Return the pan to the heat and add the pork, garlic, and ginger. Stir-fry the mixture until the pork is no longer pink, about 3 minutes. Add the green onions and cook for 1 minute.
Add the reserved sauce and green beans, mix well, and cook until the sauce begins to thicken, about one minute. Finally, sprinkle with the sesame seeds before serving. Makes about 5 cups.

Next Up:

My sister Heidi's Chicken Curry