Two great fall recipes.

Anyone that knows me will tell you how much I HATE to lie-I'm just no good at it. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I am able to "pull the wool over" my kids' eyes when duty calls.. For example-sometimes as a Mom you almost have to play a good carnival barker- "Come one, come all. Step right up ladies and gents and feast your tongues on a simply nutritious-er..ah... I mean DELICIOUS meal!)

Our dinner tonight is a perfect for instance-we had a recently discovered favorite. Three out of four people in our family like it and the fourth rarely eats well at supper anyways, so I wouldn't completely count for him. I guess I should just post the recipe and you can see why it's so shocking that we "squashed" out any dislike for this meal!


COBBLER CRUNCH

1 Squash (acorn or butternut work great)
1/4 C. Brown sugar
1/4 C. Peanuts
1/4 C. Dried Cherries
1 Tbs. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Nutmeg
1/2 tsp. Ground Cloves
2 Tbs. Butter (divided)

1. Wash squash, cut in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Place face-down in a baking dish and bake in a 350º oven for 30 minutes.
2. While squash is baking, mix next 6 ingredients (sugar through cloves).
3. Remove squash from oven, turn over. place sugar mix in "bowl" part of each squash half. Place a tablespoon of butter on top of each part of sugar mixture.
4. Cover squash and place back in oven for an additional 25-30 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and mix squash in with the "cobbler mixture" until combined.


My daughter absolutely loves this recipe and she doesn't even seem to notice that it is the same kind of squash she turned her nose up at 2 months ago-just because it is prepared differently.

I also have a recipe that EVERYONE in my family loves-good old fashioned applesauce. I made my third batch of fall today. I thought I was done, but my mother's farmer friend was kind enough to provide me with a large batch of apples, and I'm never one to turn an apple away. Since all of our sauce apples have been received at no cost.. I think our family saying of the month is "When life gives you apples, make applesauce."



MOMMA'S CHUNKY CINNAMON APPLESAUCE

8-10 Apples
3-4 Pears
1/2 C. Water
1/2 C. Brown Sugar
3 Tbs. White Sugar
1 Tbs. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Nutmeg
1/2 tsp. Ground Cloves

1. Peel, core and slice apples and pears, place in slow cooker.
2. Add rest of ingredients and combine.
3. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.
4. Mash fruit with a potato masher until it reaches desired consistency. Keeps in refrigerator for at least a month (ours has never made it longer than that without being consumed!)


On a gardening note-does anyone else have a bunch of tomatoes sitting in their kitchen? I have a whole slew that I picked right before it frosted a week ago-most of which were still green. I made fried green tomatoes with some of them (not our favorite), but the rest I'm just watching with hopeful eyes-is that a twinge of red on that one?