Hot Apple Pie Dip

My neighbor sent me this recipe and it sounded so different, I had to try. I served it with cinnamon graham crackers. It is very different, and I did enjoy it. It does taste a bit like apple pie with a creamy base. The only change I made was to use low fat cream cheese. Oh, and I did add about a 1/2 tsp. of vanilla.

Hot Apple Pie Dip

8 oz cream cheese

2 TBSP brown sugar

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 apple, chopped and divided

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 TBSP finely chopped pecan pieces

Mix cream cheese, sugar and spice in medium bowl til well blended. Stir in half of the apples. Put in small/mini crock pot, top with remaining apples, cheddar cheese and nuts. Serve with Cinnamon wheat thins or the new Brown Sugar Cinnamon Ritz crackers.

Caramel Pops

I have a weakness for these little buttery, caramely pieces of "melt in your mouth" goodness. In fact, I would be willing to admit I have gained a few pounds from these this week. Thanks to my friend, Noreen who had to remind me of this recipe this week. Ugh! I LOVE these and HATE these at the same time! I made two batches this week. The first batch I took to work and the second batch I sent to work with Dave for a snack/potluck they were having.

Here is the recipe for all of you who asked, and for those of you who didn't......you'll want this recipe. :)

1 Bag Corn Puffs, butter flavor

1/2 Cup Butter

1/2 Cup Corn Syrup

1 Cup Brown Sugar

1 tsp. Baking Soda

Place Corn Puffs in a large roasting pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

Combine butter, corn syrup and brown sugar in a medium saucepan. While mixing, cook for two minutes or until bubbly around the edges, remove from the heat. Add baking soda and stir to cause foaming. Pour caramel mixture over corn puffs and stir until puffs are properly coated. Place in 250* oven for approximately 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Remove from oven and pour onto waxed paper. Break apart before puffs can cool.

Mini Sloppy Joe Cups

These little bite size snacks were really yummy. They came about because I had some leftover sloppy joe mixture and a roll of crescent roll dough. Sunday night is usually snack night at our house with a movie. Sometimes we make homemade pizza, and sometimes we open the fridge and make munchies with what's leftover. That is how these came about.

I put small pieces of the crescent roll dough in a mini muffin pan, put a small spoonful of the sloppy joe meat mixture on top and sprinkled with a bit of cheddar cheese. Bake and eat.

MMMMMMMMMM.

Pumpkin Cookies

These cookies looked so fun to try, and we are camping with friends and family for the weekend. They seemed a perfect treat to share. Dip a mini pretzel in white candy coating and place on a graham cracker. Sprinkle liberally with orange sugar sprinkles. Next, cut green spice drops into fourths. Dip one side of each one lightly and place on top of pumpkin for stem. Cute, yes. A bit time consuming, yes. Patience, no, at least not enough to make more than a couple dozen. The rest of the candy coating and graham crackers turned into these:

Fall Candy Mix

Yummy! Yummy! I love candy corn and peanuts. It is one of my favorite fall food traditions. This time I mixed in some funky colored M&M's and some spice drops. I think it looks so colorful and festive for a candy dish.

Salami Roll-Ups

I wanted to try these for a change of pace from the traditional mexican style pinwheels. Not much to making them, and they were a great change up. Yum! I ate way too many....

• 1 carton (8 ounces) whipped cream cheese
• 1/4 pound hard salami, finely chopped ( I subbed in summer sausage)
• 2 TBS. dill pickle relish
• 4 flour tortillas, room temperature

In a small bowl, combine first 3 ingredients and spread over tortillas. Roll up tightly and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Unwrap and cut into 1 in. slices.

Black Bean, Corn and Cherry Tomato Salad

I made this salad for a second time last night and realized I had forgotten to post it last time. So, here it is and it completely rocks. I love this stuff and it is so versatile. You can use alternative ingredients to maximize what you have on hand. For instance, I substituted Mexicorn for the fresh corn, chopped fresh tomatoes from my garden instead of cherry tomatoes, and prepared salsa for the dressing ingredients. It was still delicious. I have served it with tacos or with grilled chicken. It works as a dip for tortilla chips and I also served it on the side with some scrambled eggs. Yum!!

• 3 Tbs. red wine vinegar



• 3 Tbs. olive oil



• 2 15 oz. cans black beans , rinsed and drained



• 3 cups fresh corn or frozen, thawed



• 12 cherry tomatoes



• 1 or 2 avocadoes, peeled, pitted and cubed



• 2 Tbs. lemon juice



• Salt and pepper to taste.
  

In a large bowl, whisk vinegar and olive oil until blended. Add beans, corn and tomatoes. Toss avocado cubes with lemon juice to prevent browning and add to bean mixture.

Just before serving, stir to redistribute dressing and add salt and pepper to taste.