Hugs and Kisses Grilled Cheese

This recipe is so adorable for Valentine’s week! Our classroom educators love coming up with new recipes for our various classes. Ms. Connie and Ms. Dorothy are the creative forces behind the February Mommy and Me class in our Cooking Classroom.  Their recipes were so popular that our first two classes sold out! Luckily we decided to add a third class on February 22^nd at 9:30 for children ages 2-5. (Visit us online to register http://eckerts.stores.yahoo.net/mawilosafe22.html).

I love their festive grilled cheese and certainly it can be modified to accommodate even the pickiest of kids. I think it is a perfect sandwich for breakfast, lunch or dinner. My kids love to make grilled cheese on the electric griddle so we will be making these at home later this week.

 

 

 Eat well this Valentine’s Day, Angie

 Hugs and Kisses Grilled Cheese

1 tablespoon cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon powdered sugar
Dash of cinnamon
2 slices raisin bread
1-2 slices of apple (we used Eckert’s Homegrown Fuji)
1 slice Muenster cheese
Butter

Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar, and cinnamon. Spread on one piece of raisin bread. Top with apple slice and cheese. In remaining piece of bread, cut out a heart using a 2-inch heart cookie cutter. Place that slice of bread on top of cheese. Preheat and butter a non-stick griddle. Toast sandwich on both sides until golden brown and cheese is melted. Makes 1 serving.

Baked Eckert's Apples

Have you heard?  Jonathan apples are ripe and ready for pickin'.  This is one of my favorite baking apples and with the cooler temperatures it seems only right to dive in to some of my all time favorite apple recipes.  I particularly like this one because it is delicious with several apple varieties including:  Jonathan, Jonagold and Golden Delicious.  The news gets better - starting Saturday Jonagold apples will be available for picking at our Belleville Farm  - never have we opened Jonagold  to the public for pick-your-own (at least not that I can remember!)  I hope you enjoy the first taste of fall, too!

Baked Eckert's Apples

Ingredients:
4 large baking apples (Jonathan, Jonagold or Golden Delicious)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup chopped raisins
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 Tbs. butter
3/4 cup boiling water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Remove apple cores to within 1/2-inch of the bottom of each apple using apple corer, making the holes about 3/4-inch wide.  Combine sugar, nuts, raisins and cinnamon.  Place apples, top-sides up, in 8-inch square baking dish.  Spoon nut mixture evenly into apples.  Top each with dot of butter.  Carefully pour boiling water into bottom of dish.  Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until apples are tender but not mushy.  Baste apples with liquid in dish just before serving.

Apple Smoothie

Crazy!  I think that is the only word that can describe the weather this year.  It's August and it is already beginning to feel like fall - which is a good thing since apples are ready for picking.  Eckert's really is one of my kids favorite places to go - when asked what they want to do, Eckert's always tops the charts.  So of course, we have already been apple picking.  We picked a bunch of honeycrisp apples (my all time favorite) - I just love them for fresh eating, but my kids insisted on making something with them. Most of my apple recipes felt too hearty for August - so we settled on trying an apple smoothie.  Two thumbs up from both girls!

Apple Smoothie

 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Eckert's Apple Cider

2 scoops (about 1/4 cup each) Eckert's Vanilla Custard

1/2 large unpeeled, cored and chopped apple

2 tsp Eckert's Honey

Directions:

Blend together in a Bullet. Pour into a glass & enjoy!



Its' Apple Season!

Can you believe that we have apples and it is only the second day in August?!?  It's true -   our Country Store has a great supply of Honeycrisp Apples and more of your favorite varieties will follow shortly.  Fuji apples had been my favorite apple for as long as I can remember, that is until a few years back when I was introduced to Honeycrisp apples.  WOW!  If you haven't tried this apple yet, head out to Eckert's to pick some up - you won't be disappointed.

We are working on a new fall cookbook (which is turning out beautifully!), so I took the rough draft home last night to get inspired about apple season! I didn't make it past page 2!!  There was one recipe I wanted to try and one my kids wanted....so we made both.  I hope you and your family enjoy these as much as we did!

Baked Blue and Brie Cheese with Apple Wedges

Ingredients:
1 wedge (8 oz) Brie Cheese
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
Honeycrisp Apple Wedges

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cut Brie horizontally in half. Place bottom half, cut-side up, in small ovenproof dish. Sprinkle blue cheese over Brie; top with top half of Brie, cut-side down. Bake 5 minutes or until cheeses are slightly softened. (Do not overbake or cheeses will become runny.) Serve immediately as a spread with the apple wedges.

Apple Nachos

My kids gobbled this up - not very healthy, but fun, messy and delicious!!

Ingredients:
3 apples, cored, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 to 2 Tbsp. caramel sauce
1 to 2 Tbsp. chocolate sauce
1 Tbsp. peanuts, chopped
1 Tbsp. mini chocolate chips
1 Tbsp. sprinkles (optional)

Directions:
Arrange apples on a serving plate.  Drizzle with caramel and chocolate sauces.  Sprinkle with nuts, chocolate chips, and sprinkles.  Serve immediately.