No, I didn’t make doughnuts today, but I did make Hot Apple Cider Funnel Cakes… yes I did… with a cinnamon and powdered sugar topping. Mmmmmmm.

Good day turns questionable when the kid keeps yammering… “Where are the doughnuts, mom? Can I have a doughnut?”

Then you have to break it to the poor little one that 1 – you didn’t make doughnuts and 2 – you made funnel cakes but they are all gone. Yes, all gone, as in none left for the after school kids to eat. Ooops. That’s a fun one to share… you get to smell the deliciousness of what we had to eat today, but sorry… you don’t get to have any!

Luckily, they are really easy to make. Once my jeans fit again, I’ll definitley make some more, to share.

These are similar to my Pumpkin Funnel Cake Minis that I made last fall, but normal funnel cake size and smack full of cinnamon apple flavor. Make some for your kids today – or eat them all yourself and break their heart. It’s up to you.

Enjoy!

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Hot Apple Cider Funnel Cakes

Funnel cakes take on fall with this Hot Apple Cider Funnel Cake recipe!

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup Green Mountain Naturals Hot Apple Cider cooled (brewed at 8oz setting)
• 1 cup milk
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon Allspice
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• vegetable oil for frying

For topping:

• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• 1 Tablespoon cinnamon

Instructions

• Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla together until creamy. Next, add the Green Mountain Naturals Hot Apple Cider and milk slowly – beat until well combined.
• In a separate bowl combine flour, salt, cinnamon, Allspice and baking powder. Slowly add to the wet ingredients, blending until smooth and creamy.
• Heat vegetable oil in a 2 inch deep skillet on your stove. You’ll know the oil is hot when you place one drop of batter into the pan and it cooks quickly.
• Using a funnel or fill an empty squeeze bottle (like a clean ketchup bottle) with batter. Pour the batter into round, funnel cake shapes, cooking one at a time. Once browned, carefully flip and cook the other side (1 minute total at the most).
• Carefully remove from hot oil using tongs or a spatula. Drain on a dry paper towel.
• In a small bowl combine powdered sugar and cinnamon. Using a sifter, sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the funnel cake. Serve hot.

Disclosure: I have partnered with Green Mountain Naturals to create recipes using their product. All opinions expressed are my own.

The post A Good Day {Recipe: Hot Apple Cider Funnel Cakes} appeared first on Dine and Dish.

I can’t think of corn bread without thinking of Tippin’s restaurants. When I was younger, before living in Kansas City, my family would visit Kansas City quite often. Along with those visits usually meant lunch at Tippin’s, a restaurant known for their delicious pies. While everyone else would pour over the menu trying to decide which kind of pie to get for dessert, I would get giddy with excitement over their sweet corn bread served with delicious honey butter. I’ve always had a hard time considering corn bread as anything other than dessert. I know it is perfectly acceptable to eat alongside a bowl of soup (I always ordered the French Onion at Tippin’s) or a pot of hot chili, but to me, corn bread is just as delicious of a sweet treat at the end of the meal as any cake or pie I could have. The gorgeous Maple Corn Bread picture in the November 2011 issue of Real Simple Magazine, glistening with a sweet glaze, did me in. I knew as soon as I read it that I wanted to make corn bread but instead of using maple syrup as the glaze, I did a simple honey butter. The first bite immediately took me back to sitting around the table at Tippin’s with my family, me snacking happily on corn bread while they devoured their slices of pie. Soup and corn bread season is upon us.. or if you are like me… corn bread and more corn bread season. Whether you choose it along side your favorite cup of soup or as dessert, enjoy! Recipe: Honey Butter Corn Bread (barely adapted from Real Simple Magazine

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for the pan

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled

• 2 cups cornmeal

• 2 tablespoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 2 cups whole milk

• 4 large eggs

• 3/4 cup honey

1. Heat oven to 425° F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. 2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the milk, eggs, ½ cup of the honey, and ½ cup of the butter; whisk together the wet ingredients, then incorporate the dry ingredients until just combined (do not overmix). 3. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. 4. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the remaining ¼ cup of butter and ¼ cup of honey After removing the corn bread from oven, brush with the honey butter mixture. Cool completely in the pan, then cut into pieces.

The post Memories of Tippins {Recipe: Honey Butter Corn Bread} appeared first on Dine and Dish.

• Random Non-Food Related Thought #1 – I’ve been contemplating buying a Dyson vacuum but am hesitant to plunk down that much change for a vacuum cleaner. According to my contacts over at Twitter, a Dyson is well worth the investment. What do you think? Experiences?
• Random Non-Food Related Thought #2 – I turn 35 in less than 2 weeks. Why is it that as a teenager I had perfect skin, but now that I am in my mid-30’s I am having massive breakouts?  Bring on the .
• Random Non-Food Related Thought #3 – I wonder if people who are auditioning for American Idol play the American Idol Wii game. I’ve actually won the game and have become the next American Wii Idol… thinking it may give those people considering auditioning a little more confidence than they should have to audition.
• Random Non-Food Related Thought #4 – I really need to find a good blog designer for another blog I’m working on. If Jules with Everyday Design is not available, I need to get someone else in place pronto! Do you know of anyone you can refer?
• Random Non-Food Related Thought #5 – My husband doesn’t read this blog or our family blog, and I think that is starting to irk me a bit. Seriously… if he wrote a blog (which will never happen) but still…if he wrote a blog I would hang on every word and would love to have that glimpse into his life.  Do your loved ones read your blog?

My thoughts are now getting a bit too random to even continue. I do have to share this recipe with you that I tried out last week. You may have remembered seeing it on our menu. I followed the recipe exactly, but added some chicken breast pieces sauteed in rosemary and garlic. Delicious!

Penne with Pumpkin Cream Sauce from Everyday with Rachael Ray Magazine

1 pound penne pasta
2T butter
1 onion, chopped
salt & pepper
1 15-oz. can pure pumpkin puree
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese plus more for topping
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Cook pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking water.

In the same pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the onion and season with salt and pepper; cook, stirring until softened, about 6 minutes. Stir in the pumpkin and heavy cream and bring to a boil. Return the pasta to the pot, along with the reserved pasta water, and toss. Stir in the parmesan; season with salt & pepper.

Top pasta with parsley and more parmesan to serve.

I know that so many people have such a love/hate relationship with Rachael Ray. I admit, I don’t watch her shows, but I do like a lot of her recipes. Other food bloggers do too! Check out some of these food blog tried and true Rachael Ray recipes:

• Gigi’s Apple Cake from Culinarily Obsessed
• Garlicky Bean and Chicken Enchiladas from Taste and Tell
• Spanish Shrimp and Chorizo Skewers from I’m Running to Eat
• Cheddar Cheese and Macaroni from Family, Friends and Food

Disclosure: This blog post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

The post Well, Hello Writer’s Block appeared first on Dine and Dish.

Autumn conjures up so many warm and cozy feelings for me. Just a few of my favorite autumn things are:

• My birthday is in October, so it is no wonder I love this time of year!
• School supplies… nothing says Fall to me like a box of new crayons and freshly sharpened pencils. Of course, with school starting in early August now, this correlation will probably be extinct by the time my kids get to be my age.
• College football. I still love football this time of year. By January I am ready to kick football to the curb, but in the fall there is nothing like the spirit and excitement of college game day.
• Candles – I love the Yankee Candle fall scents. For some reason, I rarely burn candles in the summer, but in the fall, I have candles burning all day long.
• Visits to the pumpkin patch. This is probably my all time favorite family activity. We usually go out to Weston, Missouri to the Red Barn Farm. The trees are abundant with color, the pumpkin patch is full of pumpkins to choose from, the allergies are fired up… it is always a fun, memory filled day!
• Clothes that cover the pudge. I love for it to be cool enough to wear jeans and a light sweater, but warm enough that you don’t need to put on a heavy coat.
• The slight chill in the air. I love having the windows open and feeling the cool breeze come in.
• A light quilt and a good book. I love quilts that are well worn… the kind that seem to conform to your body in all the right spots. Give me a quilt and a good book, let me sit by the window or out on the deck, and I am in pure bliss.
• Fall flavors… pumpkin, baked apples, cinnamon and spice… Autumn is the best time of year for baking.

Today I was browsing through Yankee Candle and even though I just ate breakfast, I was starving by the time I left the store. I, being the foodie that I am, tend to navigate towards the food scented candles. Apple Pie, Oatmeal Cookies, Chai Tea… no wonder I was hungry. My belly thought it was going to be getting some great food, but instead it was nose that got all of the pleasure.

In an effort to give my tummy some pleasure, I came home and began flipping through my new “go to for desserts” cookbook, The Pampered Chef Delightful Desserts. A recipe that I had been flipping past, waiting for just the right occasion, jumped out at me as the perfect way to welcome Autumn. These apple bundles are all of the cozy things of Autumn all wrapped in a delicious dessert.

Make these and you won’t need a Yankee Candle to fill your house with the scents of Autumn. Sit down, savor the moment, and think about what you love about the beginning of this new and wonderful season. Care to share?

Apple Bundles from Pampered Chef Delightful Desserts

2 lg apples
1 pkg refrigerated breadstick dough — 11 oz
1 med orange
2 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 375F. Peal, core, and slice apples. Cut slices in half. Unroll dough; separate into 8 breadsticks. Cut each in half crosswise to make 16 strips. Place 3-4 apple slices at the end of each piece of dough; roll up. Arrange bundles in greased 7×11″ pan. Zest 1 t. orange rind, set aside. Juice orange. Pour orange juice into bottom of pan (but not over bundles). Brush bundles with butter. Mix zest, sugar and cinnamon; spoon over bundles. Bake 25-30 min. or until golden brown.

Are you ready to welcome Autumn with some yummy apple recipes? Check out these other recipes from food bloggers around the blogosphere:

• Homemade Apple Pizza from Tammy’s Recipes
• Apple Fritters from The Picky Apple
• Apple Chicken Stew from Taste Buds Are the Best Buds
• Teddie’s Apple Cake from The Wednesday Chef

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• Adopt-a-Blogger matches should be coming out within the week. We could still use a few more Veteran bloggers. If you are interested in mentoring a new blogger, contact me as soon as possible!
• I participated in Wordless Wednesday for the first time over on my family blog – Dishing It Up Family Style
• I am looking for a good blog designer who can work on a special project for me. I’ve contacted my go to designer, Jules from Everyday Mommy, but if she isn’t available I’d love to have some other people to check out. Know of anyone? Let me know!

The post Autumn in a Bundle appeared first on Dine and Dish.