Jill asked for the slow cooker applesauce recipe.

This is so easy, I’m ashamed to call it a recipe.

Basically, you peel, core, and slice the apples and put them in the slow cooker on high for about 1 hour.    Then turn your slow cooker to low and cook until you like the texture.

When the texture is the way you like it (smooth or a little apple lumpy),

you can taste and add sugar( depending on how sweet your apples are- 1/2 -3/4 cup will make it sweet) and cinnamon (1/2-  1 tsp. to your taste) or those red hot cinnamon hearts and it will end up with a little pink look to it.

 

That’s it!

Yesterday I made seafood gumbo.

It was so good, my mouth is watering just writing about it.

There are a lot of great recipes on-line if you want to make your own batch.

This is the one I used.

But it was the first time I actually did all the work and completed a good roux.

And I finally figured out why my roux wasn’t that great before.

It takes patience.

and perseverance.

And I think they should show pictures.

So here is a pictorial journal of the many colors of Roux.

I KNOW roux means red in French.

But there’s red and then there’s red.

 

Here is where I started.

1/3 cup bacon fat and a scant cup of flour.  I added the flour left over on my pastry board from making the pie.  Because I have a hard time wasting food.

Even flour.

The color is light beige.

Now stir, stir, stir !  Find a stool and sit down next to your stove, because the next 30 minutes or so is STIR.  This is harder than making Risotto- because that only takes about 22 minutes.

Are you still stirring?

Good.

Look! It is turning to a light tan color!
And it has only been about 7 minutes!

Same color- better picture.

This is darker-raw sienna of roux.

Here I have been stirring for about 17 minutes.

You have to keep stirring or it will burn.

And then you wasted all the time you put into it-

and have to start over  again.

It is hard to tell the color here- but I have put in my 30 minutes and it sure looked mahogany red to me!

So I added my vegetables.

 

And sauteed them in the roux.

The guy who gave the recipe said you could brown your flour in the oven and it is a lot easier.  I might go that route next time!

And now for some show off cookie time!

I’m not really SHOWING off- I’m just very pleased with how these turned out.

 

I baked these gingerbread cookies yesterday.

And painted them with white and dark chocolate today!

Gingerbread ponies,apples and sea gulls!

Aren’t they cute!