Sautéed Cabbage With Smoked Sausage

It’s near the end of the month, so my pantry is looking a little bare. I challenged myself to create dinner from what was on hand: half of a cabbage, 2 links of Conecuh smoked sausage, 1 onion, 2 carrots,  and 1 apple. All of these ingredients are things we like and that pair well together individually. The combination really worked. Fennel and celery seeds and a splash of apple cider vinegar added just the right flavor notes. Enjoy!

Sautéed Cabbage With Smoked Sausage
1 onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
2 carrots, chopped

Olive oil

1/4 to 1/2 lb. smoked sausage

1/2 cabbage, thinly sliced

1 apple, cored and thinly sliced
1 tsp. fennel seeds
2 tsp. celery seeds
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
Salt and pepper

1. Cook onion and carrots in hot oil 10 minutes. Stir in sausage, and cook, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes or until sausage is browned. Stir in cabbage and apple; cook 5 more minutes. Stir in fennel seeds, celery seeds, and vinegar. Cook, stirring regularly, 5 minutes; season with salt and pepper to taste.

Sprinkled Vanilla Cupcakes

For our last Discovery Club meeting of the school year, we served homemade cupcakes for snack. This is a great recipe; the finished product tastes like scrumptious wedding cake. My friend Isabel came over to decorate the cupcakes with pastel-colored sprinkles. She and I had fun making them, and the children enjoyed eating them!

Cinnamon-Pumpkin Scones

Andy loves scones, and I’ve recently begun to experiment with recipes. This one is from the Pioneer Woman. I made a few tweaks, such as omitting the cinnamon chips, adding pumpkin puree, and cutting them into bite-size triangles. The dough comes together easily in the food processor, and you can freeze unbaked scones for later use. Enjoy!

Cinnamon-Pumpkin Scones
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
5 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup butter

1 cup pumpkin puree

3/4 cup cream

1 egg

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp. cream

1. Combine flour, 1/3 cup sugar, and next 4 ingredients in a food processor until mixture resembles coarse sand. Stir together 3/4 cup cream and next 2 ingredients. Gradually add to flour mixture through food chute until dough forms.

2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into squares, and then then cut the squares in half to form triangles. Place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

3. Combine 1/2 cup sugar and next 2 ingredients; brush mixture over tops of scones.

4. Bake at 350° for 10 to 15 minutes or until done.

Pinto Beans

Earlier this year, I became a convert to dried beans. They are so easy to make and so much creamier than canned ones—totally worth the extra time. This recipe is based on one from the Pioneer Woman’s blog. The beans are absolutely delicious. One batch makes a lot, so I froze the leftovers and we enjoyed them another night. If you’ve never tried dried beans before, please make this recipe. You’ll be glad you did!

Pinto Beans
1 lb. dried pinto beans, rinsed and sorted
4 thick slices bacon, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 bell peppers, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. chile powder
1 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. cumin

1. Place beans in a Dutch oven, and cover with 1 inch of water. Bring to a boil, and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand 1 hour. Drain beans, and return beans to Dutch oven.
2. Cover beans with 2 inches of water. Add in bacon, and bring beans to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer, and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, 2 hours.
3. Stir in onion and next 2 ingredients. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 more hour. Stir in salt and remaining ingredients, and cook for 30 more minutes. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.

Happy Birthday, AC!

It is so hard to believe that our niece AC is turning 8 tomorrow! The cliché is true—time does fly. For dinner at our house, the birthday girl wanted “pancakes, butter, and syrup.” None of the adults in attendance wanted pancakes followed by cake and ice cream, so we had these delicious enchiladas, homemade tortilla chips, guacamole, pico de gallo, and pinto beans. As you can imagine, the table featured an eclectic cornucopia of food. We had such a great time celebrating with AC and her family!

Brown Sugar-Buttermilk Pound Cake

Pound cake is delicious when made by other, but I’ve never had a recipe that I really liked—until now. This recipe came about as I experimented with some of my favorite flavors and with guidance from several online versions. Brown sugar adds a caramelized depth to the cake, and buttermilk contributes tang and, most important, moistness. I like to cut the cake in fourths and freeze the sections individually wrapped in foil. This keeps us from eating too much at once. After all, pound cake is good for breakfast and dessert. Enjoy!

Brown Sugar-Buttermilk Pound Cake
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
3 tsp. vanilla extract*
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup buttermilk

1. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add in eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Gradually add in flour alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. Pour into a lightly greased Bundt pan.
2. Bake at 325° for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until done. Allow to cool in pan 10 minutes; invert cake onto a cooling rack, and cool completely.
*Substitute 1 tsp. almond extract and 2 tsp. vanilla extract.

Popcorn and Cheetos

This year we had the privilege of sharing the Christ with a group of second graders at the elementary school in our neighborhood through Discovery Clubs of Alabama. Because our club met right after school, we brought a snack for the children each week. One of the most popular was popcorn and Cheetos. Simply pop the corn on the stovetop, drizzle with melted butter, and sprinkle with a little salt. Then combine the popcorn with an equal amount of Cheetos—so easy but so delicious. Definitely try this snack!