Ingredients:
8 c. peeled, chopped apples
4 c. fresh or frozen strawberries
½ c. water 
½ c. Stevia or sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Instructions:  Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes or until fruit is soft enough to mash with a fork.  Remove from heat and cool.  Use a blender or a food processor to blend until smooth.

Ingredients:

• 16 ozs silken tofu (drained)
• 3/4 cup stevia extract 
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp light agave syrup
• 1/4 cup soy milk
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Instructions:  Place tofu, stevia and vanilla in a food processor. Process until well blended. Add remaining ingredients and process until mixture is fully blended. Pour into small dessert cups or espresso cups. Chill for at least 2 hours. 

Yum!  These are so easy to make, taste delicious, freeze well (for unexpected company) and are good for the heart to boot.  Melt 1/2 bag of dark chocolate chips in the microwave on 50% power.  Add your favorite heart-healthy trail mix.  Be sure to save some of the prettier pieces for the top of the bites.  Cover a baking sheet or plate with wax paper, and spoon the mixture onto the wax paper.  Decorate with the leftover trail mix bits.  Refrigerate until set.  Freezes wonderfully.

Peaches are in season!  Hooray!

Peach Muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh peaches (2 medium peaches, seeded), chopped (or frozen unsweetened peaches, thawed)
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), melted
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Cupcake liners (optional)

Instructions:  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease or line a 12-cup muffin tin and set aside. Sift 1 1/2 cups of the flour, the granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl.   In a small bowl, toss the peaches with the remaining 1 tablespoon flour. 

Whisk together the sour cream, butter, egg, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring quickly until just combined, being careful not to overmix. Fold in the peaches and divide the
batter among the muffin cups. (The dough will be somewhat cakey.) Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean and the muffins are puffed and golden brown, about 20 minutes. 

Remove the muffins from the oven, let cool in the tin for five minutes, and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

Pork Chops with Roasted Peach Sauce

Ingredients:
3 ripe peaches
Butter
6 T. brown sugar
1 tsp. powdered ginger
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. garlic
Cooking spray
1 T. olive oil
4 thick pork chops, boneless
Pepper

Instructions:  

Peel peaches, and cut in half to remove the pit.  Place on a baking tray, hollow side up, and dot with about 1 tsp
of  salted butter per half. Sprinkle each half with 1 T. of  brown sugar, and roast in preheated oven at 425 for about 25 minutes, or until tender throughout.

Combine roasted peaches, soy sauce, and ginger in a food processor; process until smooth.  Set aside.

Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and heat with olive oil over medium heat. Trim all visible fat from chops, season with pepper, and brown chops.  Remove chops and cover with foil.

Pour peach sauce in skillet, and boil until reduced by half.  Add chops, and serve.

So my fabulous sister Beth is in town this weekend, and we visited a store in the Arboretum called Con' Olio, where I was introduced to the world of flavored olive oils and balsamic vinegars.  We bought four bottles:  Blood Orange Olive Oil, Basil Olive Oil, Cranberry Pear White Balsamic, and Dark Chocolate Dark Balsamic.  Besides the delish dressing we made from the cranberry pear white balsamic to go with our spinach salad, we made the tremendous dessert below.  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we enjoyed making and eating it!

Cake Recipe from the Con' Olio website:

Ingredients:
7 ounces 70% dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup (4 oz.) Agrumato Blood Orange extra-virgin olive oil**
1 cup (7 oz.) granulated cane sugar, divided
5 large eggs at room temperature, separated
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
Whipped cream for serving

**Note: We didn't know that the small bottle of blood orange olive oil we bought was only a 1/4 cup of oil, so we just added another 1/4 cup of regular olive oil.  We think it turned out perfectly balanced -- and that maybe the full 1/2 cup of blood orange olive oil would have been too much. 

Instructions:  Preheat the oven to 350°F with the rack positioned in the middle. Line the bottom of a 9-by-3-inch round cake pan with parchment paper. Put the chocolate in a large stainless-steel bowl and melt it over simmering water.  Whisk it until it is smooth. Add the olive oil, whisking in a steady stream. Whisk in 2/3 cup of the sugar, the egg yolks, then the flour and salt.

Put the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium speed with the whisk attachment until they start to foam. Add about a third of the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar. Beat until the whites become opaque, then add another third of the sugar. When the whites begin to increase in volume and become firmer, add the rest of the sugar and turn the mixer speed to high. Beat until the whites form soft peaks when the whisk is lifted from the bowl. They will still look slightly  wet.

Fold the whites into the chocolate mixture in two additions. Pour  the batter into the pan and bake until the cake is puffed and a skewer inserted  into the center comes out clean or with only a few crumbs clinging to it, 35 to  40 minutes.

Let the cake cool completely, still in the pan, on a rack. It  will deflate as it cools. Run a table knife around the
edge of the pan and  invert the cake onto a serving plate. Peel off the parchment paper. Lightly dust  the top of the cake with powdered sugar. Serve at room temperature, with whipped cream and the marinated strawberries.

Marinated Strawberries with Chocolate Balsamic -- from our imaginations and a bit of websurfing

Ingredients:
16 oz of strawberries, cleaned and halved (or quartered if they are large)
1/4 cup sugar
2 T. chocolate balsamic vinegar

Instructions:  Combine the sugar and balsamic vinegar, and then add the strawberries.  Marinate at room temperature for at least an hour, but no more than 4.  Serve with yummy cake.

I am of the opinion that food does not have to be perfect to be delicious.  Take my cupcake, left.  For too long I did not allow myself to try things if I didn't think I could do it perfect the first time.  Sheesh.  I think my first time decorating cupcakes with whipped cream came out pretty good.  Regardless, they were delish!

Ingredients:
1 box angel food cake mix plus whatever ingredients your mix calls for
1 cup heavy whipping  cream
2 T. sugar
4 T. processed strawberries*

*To make processed strawberries, put a handful of strawberries with 1 T. of  heavy whipping cream in the food processor and pulse until you have a seedy, thick cream. 

Instructions:
Prepare and bake angel food cake according to directions on the box.  Use paper-lined muffin tins to bake.  Let cool completely, and then remove the muffin paper.

Prepare the strawberry whipped cream. Whip cream until you have heavy peaks. Mix in sugar. Mix in processed strawberries until just combined. Put in plastic bag and cut corner to make a tip. 

Using a small melon baller, scoop out center of each cupcake from the bottom, and reserve (you will use this to plug cupcake after filling). Hollow out each cupcake a bit more, discarding crumbs. Insert tip of plastic bag into each cavity, and squeeze to fill; replace plugs. Using remaining filling in plastic bag, decorate top of cupcakes.

Ingredients:
2 cups of pumpkin pulp purée 
1 1/2 cup heavy cream or 1 12 oz. can of evaporated milk
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs plus the yolk of a third egg
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon 
1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest
1 pie crust

Instructions:  Preheat oven to 425°F.  Mix sugars, salt, and spices, and lemon zest in a large bowl. Beat the
eggs and add to the bowl. Stir in the pumpkin purée. Stir in cream. Whisk all together until well incorporated. 
Pour into pie shell and bake at 425°F for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes reduce the temperature to 350°F. Bake 40-50 minutes, or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack for 2 hours.  Serve with whipped cream.

This tastes JUST like a pumpkin pie, maybe even better!

Ingredients:
2 pie crusts
2 cups finely grated and cooked carrots
1 cup sugar
1 t  cinnamon
½ t ground ginger
½ t salt
2 eggs, slightly beaten
3 cups  milk

Instructions:  
After finely shredding the carrots, steam them. Gently press them into the bottom of a colander to express excess moisture.

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Bake the pie crusts at 400°F for 12-15 minutes, or until the outer edges start to brown slightly. Remove pie crusts from oven. Set aside to cool. Keep the oven set to 400°F. 
 
To prepare filling, combine carrots, sugar, cinnamon, ground ginger, salt, eggs, and milk in a large bowl. Divide filling between the two pre-baked pie crusts, cover edges of pie crust with foil or a pie crust shield to prevent crust from over-browning. Bake at 400°F for 45-50 minutes, or until the center of the pie has set. Remove from oven and let cool at room temperature for 1 hour.

Ingredients:
1 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt, strained
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Instructions:  Mix everything together in a large mixing bowl until completely combined.  Churn the mixture in an ice cream maker for a few minutes until it is a smooth, cool consistency. Alternatively, place the bowl in the freezer and stir mixture every half hour until it reaches desired consistency.

Light and healthy, these muffins are a breeze to make.  Who has time to whip egg whites?  The mix always works for me when it comes to angel food cake.

Ingredients:
1 box Betty Crocker Angel Food cake mix
1 pint blueberries
Muffin tin liners

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 and place rack in middle position.  Line 18 muffin pans with liners.  Mix cake mix according to directions, and then gently fold in blueberries.  Fill liners 1/4 the way, and bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden.  Cool 5 minutes, then remove from muffin tins to cool.