One Pot Spaghetti Squash Meal

Spaghetti squash with ground turkey, red peppers, and fresh sage topped with grated parmesan. A one pot meal made in a flash by preparing the spaghetti squash in advance.

One Pot Spaghetti Squash Meal

Welcome to the main dish portion of my celebration of squash! If you missed the appetizer course, you can find it here. Stay tuned for the dessert recipe coming next week!

Have you ever tried spaghetti squash? If you haven't this is the perfect recipe for you to give it a whirl.

Autumn Chicken and Rice Soup

Chicken and rice soup with a creamy base made from acorn squash.  Chock full of carrots, celery and brown rice this soup is healthy and delicious! The first of three seasonal squash recipes to celebrate the beginning of Autumn.

Autumn Chicken and Rice Soup

Is there anything more soothing than a hot bowl of soup or chowder when the air starts to have a chill?

Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad and an Introduction to Cheater Recipes

Broccoli, cauliflower and peppers mixed with cheese and bacon, a delicious and easy side dish that can be made quickly with "cheats". A great dish for your holiday table too!

Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad

I call this one of my "cheater" recipes. I have quite a few of these that I plan to share. What defines a "cheater" recipe?

Stuffed French Toast Sandwiches

Orange zested cream cheese stuffed into cinnamon swirl raisin bread and grilled until golden brown, one of my favorite breakfast foods, try this jazzed up stuffed french toast and it will be one of your favorites too!

Stuffed French Toast Sandwiches

French toast is a breakfast favorite for me, much better than pancakes. Stuff it with some yummy concotion and I'm in heaven. I eat this plain, no toppings needed. The creamy and slightly sweet

Perfect Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Cupcakes

A perfectly spiced chocolate pumpkin cupcake topped with a pumpkin spice frosting sprinkled with mini chocolate chips! 

Perfect Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Cupcakes

As I was contemplating my next recipe, it occured to me that I hadn't posted a chocolate or a cupcake recipe. Shame on me! It was decided, a chocolate cupcake would be the next recipe to share. Just one teensy problem

Cinnamon Red Hot Apple Tassies

Cinnamon red hot apples encased in a buttery tassie cup, plain or topped with cinnamon whipped cream, a perfect autumn treat.

Cinnamon red hot apple tassies!

Cinnamon and apples, a classic pairing for everything from candles and drinks to desserts. Today we are talking about dessert! Mini red hot cinnamon apple pies topped with a dollop of spiced whipped cream. The warmth of the cinnamon candies mixed with the crisp fall apples make a wonderful treat for the autumn season.

There are three components to be made here, but each step requires little more than combining and mixing. The first step is dicing the apples and making the syrup. The second step, combining the ingredients for the tassie dough, which can be done easily by hand; and shaping the dough into the mini muffin pan. The third step is nothing more than mixing all the ingredients for the whipped topping.

The syrup covered apples alone are worth making. I ate them by the spoonful(s), all by their lonesome. I am not ashamed. An apple a day keeps the doctor away. I needed to make sure I ate a whole apple.

You could also make this into a regular pie using a store bought pie crust and just slicing the apples, if you wanted to do this in a less time consuming way. I will caution you to use a slotted spoon to drain the apples when filling the tassies or pie crust. The crust tends to soften when too much of the syrup is used.

A perfect autumn treat!

I hope you enjoy these as much as my family did! I would love to hear from you! Will you make these as tassies or a pie? Or will you just make the cinnamon apples to eat? Either way, you have a winner! 

Cinnamon Red Hot Apple Tassies

Makes approximately 42 tassies. For the Red Hot Cinnamon Apples: 4 Cups Diced Apples – I used gala, about 4 to 5 medium size apples 1/2 Cup Red Hot Cinnamon Candies plus additional to add to tassie cups 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice 1 Tablespoon Butter 1 Tablespoon Unsweetened Apple Sauce – Do not use chunky style 2 Tablespoons Corn Syrup Place the one half cup of candies and lemon juice in a sauce pan on low heat, stirring this mixture frequently. Once candies start to melt add butter and applesauce, keep this on low heat until all candies are melted. This will not happen quickly, it will take about twenty minutes, a higher heat will result in a clumpy mess. Once all candies are melted, remove from heat and add corn syrup and apples. Mix to cover apples completely with candy mixture.  Let sit to cool for about 30 minutes. Make tassie cups while this mixture cools. For the Tassies: 1 and 2/ 3 Cups All Purpose Flour 8 Ounces Cream Cheese – Softened 3/4 Cup Butter - Softened 1/4 Teaspoon Salt Mix softened cream cheese and butter until thoroughly incorporated. Add flour and salt mix until no dry streaks remain. Using a small (tablespoon) cookie scoop fill a mini muffin pan with one scoop in each well. Push middle of dough into and up the side of the well with a mini tart shaper or using your fingers. Make sure to get dough all the way to the top edge of the well. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Add 4 or 5 red hot candies to the bottom of each tassie cups then fill with apples, being careful not add too much of the syrup from the apples.  The syrup will bubble over and cause the tassies to stick to the pan and they will be hard to remove. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, tassies are ready when the edges turn a light golden brown color. For Cinnamon Whipped Cream: 1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream 2 Tablespoons Powdered Sugar 1 Tablespoon of Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon Mix all ingredients with a hand mixer, or in a stand mixer until fluffy. If using hand mixer start on slow, increase speed as mixture thickens.  Do not over mix, you will have flavored butter!

©Christy’s Cooking Creations. Please do not use my images without prior consent. Please link back to this post even if recreating and posting this recipe in your own words.

Banana Pound Cake with Vanilla Bean Glaze

An extra moist banana pound cake covered in a thick vanilla bean glaze, it's like banana pudding in a slice of cake!

Banana Pound Cake with Vanilla Bean Glaze

I made this cake due to the fact that there were more than a few over ripe bananas on my counter begging me to make them into something delicious and beautiful before it was too late. Isn't that how all banana cake/bread/muffin recipes come into being? Oh good, it's not just me. My son swears that I buy bananas just to watch them start to turn so that I will then have an excuse to bake them into something. What an insult, like I need an excuse to bake:) 

I knew I was going to make a cake, but I wasn't sure about what I wanted to glaze it with. Chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla-so many delicious choices. I settled on vanilla bean. I am so glad I did, this was like eating banana pudding in cake form! The cake is moist and the banana flavor is prominent. Using over ripe bananas is the key to getting that full on banana flavor. The glaze, flecked with vanilla bean seeds, not only makes this extra pretty it takes this cake to a whole new level. When the glaze is completely set, it makes a thin shell right on top, but keeps a creamy consistency underneath. 

Banana Pudding in cake form!

An easy cake to make, the baking time is the longest thing required. So the next time your bananas are hanging on, waiting for you to give them new life, make them into this yumminess. They will thank you with sweet deliciousness!

Banana Pound Cake w/ Vanilla Bean Glaze

3 Cups All Purpose Flour 2 and 1/2 Cups Sugar 1 and 1/4 Cup Mashed Banana 1 Cup Canola Oil 1 Cup Sour Cream 5 Eggs 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda 1/2 Teaspoon Salt For the glaze: 2 Cups Powdered Sugar 3 Tablespoons Evaporated Milk 1 Vanilla Bean – Split and seeds scraped Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray bundt cake pan with nonstick spray. In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt. In stand mixer or with hand mixer cream together sugar, oil, banana, cinnamon and vanilla extract about two minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add flour mixture and sour cream in thirds, beginning and ending with flour mixture. This will not be a thick batter. Place cake in oven and turn oven to 325 degrees. Bake one hour and fifteen minutes at 325 degrees. Make sure to test cake for doneness with a wooden skewer, depending on how your oven runs it may take a few minutes more or a few minutes less. Let cake cool in pan ten minutes, remove and let cool completely before glazing. To make glaze combine powdered sugar, vanilla bean seeds and the evaporated milk. Mix all together thoroughly and pour immediately over cooled cake. Three tablespoons of the evaporated milk worked perfect for me, this will be a thick glaze.

©Christy’s Cooking Creations. Please do not use my images without prior consent. Please link back to this post even if recreating and posting this recipe in your own words.

Grilled Chicken and Couscous Salad

Try this tasty grilled chicken, couscous, tomato and spinach salad with a tangy vinaigrette. Big on flavor, low in fat! Dinner or lunch in less than thirty minutes.

Grilled chicken, couscous, spinach and tomato salad with homemade vinaigrette.

September has arrived but summer is still raging here in the south. Salad is on the menu as long as the temperature is still reaching ninety plus degrees. I think August and September decided