Spinning up frozen deliciousness

It's September and finally we are spinning things up in the Ninja Creami. It's been a wild summer and apparently, we haven't given much thought to making pints 24 hours ahead. That's the rub with the Creami.... thinking ahead. Yes I want delicious ice cream... but to think 24 hours ahead to make it? Yeah... wasn't happening for some reason... but we decided we wanted to try watermelon sorbet. We've tried it in the past and it was not great, but we tried a healthy recipe. This time I tried it with my normal sorbet plan... pound of fruit and quarter cup of sugar. I buzzed up that watermelon, added sugar and away it went in the freezer. We spun it up last night and decided it was delicious... maybe a little extra sweet but certainly a great treat on a hot night! Time to get more pints in the freezer!

Ninja Creami Watermelon Sorbet
16-ounce container of fresh watermelon
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Cut fresh watermelon. Place in the bowl of a food processor.
Add sugar to the bowl of the food processor. Puree until smooth.
Transfer mixture to a Ninja Creami pint container and secure the lid. Place on a level surface in the freezer and freeze for 24 hours.
Remove pint container from freezer and remove lid. Place pint into the outer bowl of the Ninja Creami and lock the outer bowl lid into place.
Secure the outer bowl into the Ninja Creami machine. Press the Sorbet button and let the cycle run (this should take about 2 minutes).
Remove outer bowl from machine and take off the lid. If the mixture appears crumbly, add a tablespoon of lemon juice, then return to the machine and press the Re-Spin button. If necessary, repeat re-spin cycle until desired texture is achieved.
Scoop and serve!

Swimming in apples, frying them up

Cooking in oil is not something I love doing. From frying in pan to deep frying, just lots of spatter and little blazing hot oil droplets all over. Our apple trees are busy dropping apples so when I saw a recipe and lots of helpful hints for apple fritters, I asked Nicholas and we agreed, it was time to try making fritters again. This recipe is very similar to what we've made in the past, but it has way more helpful hints. A spiced flour mix to coat the fritters so fewer apples are lost, ways to portion, just plain good advice. We got our oil to the right temp and did only a few at a time like the recipe said to do. Sure we had some floating apple, and some of our fritters feel apart and we got little fritter nuggets. Once we dipped them in glaze and they cooled... we ate and just smiled... we did so good. We shared them too - we made 13 fritters, that's more than we could eat in good conscious!

Homemade Apple Fritters
Dough
1 cup whole milk, warmed to 100–110°F
1 Tablespoon active dry or instant yeast
1/2 cup granulated sugar, divided
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature and cut into 6 pieces
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed
Filling
3 cups peeled & diced apples (about 2 large or 3 medium apples)
1/2 cup (packed) light or dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons water
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For Shaping & Frying:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1–2 quarts vegetable oil*
Glaze
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
6 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions
Prepare the dough: Whisk the warm milk, yeast, and 1 Tablespoon of sugar together in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or paddle attachment. Cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
Add the remaining sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla extract, salt, and 1 cup of flour. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula, then add the remaining flour. Beat on medium speed until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 2 minutes. If needed, add more flour, 1 Tablespoon at a time, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. *If you do not own a mixer, you can mix this dough with a large wooden spoon or silicone spatula. It will take a bit of arm muscle!*
Knead the dough: Keep the dough in the mixer and beat for an additional 5–7 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5–7 full minutes. (If you’re new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a “windowpane test” to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: tear off a small (roughly the size of a golf ball) piece of dough and gently stretch it out until it’s thin enough for light to pass through it. Hold it up to a window or light. Does light pass through the stretched dough without the dough tearing first? If so, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading until it passes the windowpane test.
Rise: Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick spray. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a relatively warm environment for 1–2 hours or until double in size. (I always let it rise on the counter, which takes about 2 hours. For a tiny reduction in rise time, see my answer to Where Should Dough Rise? in my Baking with Yeast Guide.)
Make the filling: In a small bowl, whisk the cornstarch, water, and vanilla until the cornstarch is dissolved. Set aside. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cook, stirring, until the mixture comes to a boil, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cornstarch slurry. Cook for another minute. Remove from heat, transfer to a heat-proof bowl, and cool completely.
Prepare to fill and shape the dough: Cut parchment paper into 12 squares, about 5–6 inches each. When the dough is ready, punch it down to release the air. In a small bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg together. This will be your “bench flour” for shaping the fritters.
Fill the dough: Sprinkle some of the spiced flour over a large work surface. Turn out the dough and, with lightly floured hands or a rolling pin, press or roll it into a large oval about 1/2 inch thick. Spoon the cooled apple filling over one half of the dough, then sprinkle some of the spiced flour over the filling. Fold the unfilled half of the dough over the apples and seal the edges.
photo collage showing dough with spiced apple filling at different stages.
Cut and shape the fritters: Use your hands to gently shape the filled dough into a long oval, making sure the edges are sealed. Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, make 11 cuts across the filled dough, cutting mostly but not quite all the way through. Then make 3–4 perpendicular cuts to create a crosshatch pattern. Sprinkle on more spiced flour as needed to help absorb any exposed sticky filling. Now divide the dough into 12 roughly equal portions. I find it easiest to divide it into 4 sections, then divide each section into 3 pieces. This is not an exact process, so don’t stress. Just make sure you have 12 portions. Redistribute the filling as needed, then gently shape each portion into a lumpy round, tucking in the dough and apples as best you can. Place each fritter on a parchment square and set it in a standard 12-cup muffin pan. Loosely cover and let the fritters rest while you heat the oil. They’ll puff up slightly during this time.
Place a cooling rack over a large parchment-lined baking sheet. Set aside.
Pour the oil into a large heavy-bottomed pot set over medium heat and attach a candy/oil thermometer to the pot. Heat the oil to 350°F. This will take several minutes. Keep the oil between 350–360°F as you fry, adjusting the heat as needed.
Fry the fritters: When the oil is hot enough, carefully lower 2–3 fritters, still on their parchment squares, into the oil. Fry for 2 minutes. Using tongs, flip the fritters and remove and discard the parchment. Fry for another 1–2 minutes, flipping once more if needed, until deeply golden brown on both sides. Wear kitchen gloves and use caution if the oil is splashing. Using a metal slotted spatula, transfer the fritters to the prepared rack. Repeat with the remaining fritters, keeping the oil between 350–360°F. Let the fritters cool for a few minutes while you
Make the glaze: In a medium bowl, whisk together confectioners’ sugar, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth. If needed, add more milk to thin out or more confectioners’ sugar to thicken.
Dunk one side of each fritter into the glaze. Return to the rack and let the excess glaze drip off. Allow the glaze to set.
Fritters are best enjoyed the same day. Cover and store leftovers at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

All the chaos of life and a bottle tossed over the fence

Years ago I would make my good friend's pulled pork recipe but somehow when I'd make it, it was overcook, get dry, sometimes burn. I gave up on it. When I offered to make pulled pork for my dad's birthday, I gave myself no other choice but to find a new recipe, something simple. Thankfully, giant pork butts were on sale at the store, so I was able to get one that could cut down into pieces, like the recipes says to. Mine was about 8 pounds, so I upped my recipe a bit. I had to order liquid smoke because that's not something I keep on hand. Fun fact! Now that we live on a roundabout, or the roundabout lives in front of our house, the Amazon guys are afraid of parking in our driveway or coming to our front door... so they throw packages over the gate onto the sideway in our backyard... it's... charming. thankfully, the bottle of liquid smoke was in some bubble wrap and didn't break. I let the pork cook all day in the crockpot and shredded it. My mom reheated it with some sauce the next day for lunch. I'd tell you what everyone thought but I missed lunch because I was taking Andy's wallet to the airport... weird you might need that traveling internationally... oops. When I DID get back and enjoyed a sandwich, with a scoop of coleslaw. I think it's the best pulled pork I've ever made. Nicholas and I have been working on leftovers and thoroughly enjoying them... here's hoping there's some for Andy when he gets home from his trip! Or I just may have to make it again.

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches
3 pounds boneless pork shoulder, pork butt, or pork sirloin roast
1 teaspoons salt (I use coarse, kosher salt)
½ teaspoon black pepper (I use coarsely ground)
2 cups water or low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons liquid smoke
3 cups BBQ sauce (plus more for serving)

Cut the pork roast into large 4-inch pieces (optional, but helps cook a bit faster and more evenly). Season the pork on all sides with salt and pepper.
Slow Cooker Directions: add water or broth and liquid smoke to slow cooker. Add pork. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours or high for 5-6 hours, until the pork is fall-apart tender.
Remove the pork from the slow cooker or pressure cooker and discard most of the remaining liquid (I leave about 1/4 cup or so). Shred the pork using a couple of forks – it should easily fall apart into pieces. Place the meat back in the slow cooker or pressure cooker. Add the BBQ sauce and heat through (or keep on warm for several hours).
Serve on buns with extra barbecue sauce.

Make good choices, this is a good choice.

What's the best part of a cinnamon roll? Of course it's the center, if you answered otherwise you are just wrong. Sorry, but not sorry. These little bites are amazing and taste just like the center of a cinnamon roll. These were easy enough to make on a Saturday, toss them in the fridge to bring out Sunday morning to rise in the oven with the light on while I walked. Mix up the goo and warm up the heavy cream, bake them up and you have a pan full of cinnamon roll centers covered in frosting, that is if you add the frosting too, which why wouldn't you? Now don't go telling my doctor about these... she'll want to know how much protein is in them and well... probably not much. Sometimes you just need something delicious to have for breakfast! This was that something.

Best Cinnamon Roll Bites
1 cup whole milk (warmed to about 110°F)
2 ¼ tsp. instant yeast (1 packet)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs (room temperature)
1 large egg yolk (room temperature)
1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
1 ½ tsp. kosher salt
4 ¾ cups bread flour (plus more for dusting)
1 Tbsp. lukewarm milk (if needed)
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter (melted and slightly cooled)
1/2 cup light brown sugar (packed)
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
Pinch kosher salt
Before Baking
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter (melted)
4-5 Tbsp. light brown sugar (packed)
1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream (warmed slightly)
Cream Cheese Frosting
4 oz. cream cheese (softened)
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter (softened)
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
Pinch kosher salt
2-3 Tbsp. heavy cream

Prepare the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the warm milk, yeast, and granulated sugar. Let sit for about 5 minutes, or until the yeast looks foamy.
Add the eggs, egg yolk, softened butter, and salt. Mix until combined. (Might look funny at this step but it’s ok it’ll all come together in next step)
Warm milk and yeast being combined, followed by eggs and softened butter, to begin making cinnamon roll bite dough.
Add flour: Gradually add the flour, about 1 cup at a time, mixing until a soft dough forms.
Bread flour being gradually added to the wet ingredients in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.
Knead: Knead for 8-10 minutes, until the dough is smooth, elastic, and only slightly tacky.
If the dough feels dry, add lukewarm milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, kneading well after each addition. Avoid adding too much flour.
Soft, smooth cinnamon roll dough kneading with a dough hook in the bowl of a stand mixer.
First rise: Transfer to a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise for 60-90 minutes, or until doubled in size.
Cinnamon roll dough before and after the first rise, showing the dough doubled in size.
Make the cinnamon sugar: In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and pinch of salt.
Shape the bites: Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 5-6 equal portions. Working with one portion at a time, pinch off small pieces (about 1 inch or roughly 20 g each) and roll into smooth balls.
Risen cinnamon roll dough divided into portions and rolled into small balls before coating with butter and cinnamon sugar.
Coat the dough: Working in batches, place ~8 dough balls into a large bowl. Drizzle with a little of the melted butter and gently toss to coat. Sprinkle with some of the cinnamon sugar mixture on top of the dough balls and toss again until evenly coated. Transfer the coated dough balls to the prepared baking dish. Repeat until all of the dough has been coated. Arrange the dough balls in 1-2 layers. They should fit snugly together but not be tightly packed.
Cinnamon sugar-coated cinnamon roll bites arranged snugly in a greased baking pan before the second rise.
Second rise: Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let rise for 30-45 minutes, or until noticeably puffy.
Before baking: Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a measuring cup or small bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. It should be a pourable consistency. Pour this over the bites. Then, pour the slightly warmed heavy cream evenly over the risen dough.
Bake: Bake for 28-32 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and the center reaches 190-195°F.
Allow the bites to cool for about 10 minutes before frosting.
Make the frosting: Beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt and beat until combined. Mix in the heavy cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the frosting is smooth. Spread generously over the warm cinnamon roll bites and serve immediately

Horror movie apples

We have two apple trees, a Honeycrisp and a Red Rome. Our Honeycrisp is full of apples that belong in horror movies... sure we have a few here and there that look good and taste great but wow they are terrible looking. Rotten and bug filled, just very strange. Our Red Rome is filled with giant green apples that blush and are great for baking. I try to pick up the apples that fall but at this time, they fall faster than I can get out there and do something about them. So, my goal is to use them and try to enjoy them as much as we can. I decided to make some fried apples to go with dinner. These would be great in a pie or a crisp, but they are also great just in a bowl with a fork. I'll happily make a big old batch of apple butter and anything else I can with those apples, but more fried apples will be on the plan too!

Southern Fried Apples
4 Tbsp salted butter
8 large Granny Smith apples peeled, cored and sliced into wedges
1/4-1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4-1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp apple pie spice
pinch of salt
1 Tbsp cornstarch plus additional as needed
cold water

Peel the apples and remove the core, then slice.
In a heavy bottomed skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat.
Add apples, granulated sugar, brown sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, apple pie spice and salt. Stir with the sugar mixture to combine.
Lower heat to low. Simmer allowing to bubble gently uncovered for 15-20 minutes or until they have a tender texture.
In a small bowl, stir together 1 Tbsp of cornstarch in just enough cold water to dissolve. Increase the heat to medium high then stir the cornstarch slurry into the apple slices. Repeat until your desired thickness and consistency is reached.