• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Get Cooking!

Recipes, Kitchen Gadgets, Cookbook Reviews, Gluten Free Recipes...

  • Home
    • Contact
    • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Sitemap
    • Store
  • Reviews
    • Cookware Reviews
    • Food Reviews
      • Gluten Free Food Reviews
      • Health Food Reviews
    • Bakeware
    • Candy Reviews
    • Coffee Reviews
      • Aerobie AeroPress Coffee and Espresso Maker
      • Coffee Makers & Grinders
    • Cookbook Reviews
      • Cooking Magazines
    • Kitchen Gadgets
    • Small Kitchen Appliances
  • Gifts & Collectibles
    • Candy Bowls
    • Christmas Shopping
    • Coffee Mugs
    • Canister Sets
    • Cookie Cutters
    • Gifts for Coffee Lovers
    • Gifts for Tea Lovers
    • Owls in the Kitchen
    • Pig Collectors
  • Recipe Index
  • How to Be a Better Cook
    • Baked Sweet Potatoes in the Oven
    • Cooking Videos
    • Perfect Baked Potatoes in Your Oven
You are here: Home / Archives for apples

apples

Lady Alice Apples (Review of a New Favorite Apple)

February 23, 2013 By Joi Sigers

Lady Alice Apples

I’ve loved apples with wild and reckless abandonment since I had enough teeth to bite them. Actually, I must have been an apple fanatic when even before my teeth came in. My mom once told me that my favorite baby food was applesauce. Somehow I’m not surprised. Apples simply do it for me, and apparently they always have.

When I was contacted with an opportunity to sample a new apple (Lady Alice – is that a beautiful name or what?) for a review on my food blog, I jumped at the chance. Then I watched for the delivery with the same level of intensity of a hawk.

Lady Alice apples are, if we’re being completely honest, the best apples I’ve ever had. They are everything you want from an apple, and then some. My husband also declared it the best apple he’s ever had and, trust me, we have both had our fair share of apples.

History of Lady Alice

The Lady Alice brand apple was discovered as a chance seedling near Gleed, Washington. While cultivating the neglected orchard soil in 1979, a plow disc hit the base of a Red Delicious tree injuring its trunk. The damaged tree sent out a new shoot. The new shoot had a decidedly different appearance from the rest of the tree so it was allowed to grow and bear fruit. Since the new tree was discovered in an orchard with many different varieties of fruit trees scattered throughout, its parentage is unknown.

Over the next 25 years steps were taken to preserve and propagate the new variety. As with the first generation, all subsequent generations exhibited the same characteristics observed in the original tree. Rainier Fruit is the exclusive marketer of Lady Alice apples from Washington State.

Exclusively offered by Rainier Fruit Company, this new and distinct apple possesses unique and desirable characteristics:

  • Lady Alice has a bright pink stripe over a creamy-yellow background that deepens to a banana-yellow after harvest.
  • Lady Alice holds its texture when baking.  It is slow to brown after cutting which makes it excellent for eating fresh, cutting into salads or serving on fruit trays. This is an excellent all-purpose apple.
  • Its heirloom dense flesh is sweet with a hint of tartness that lingers on the palate.

I’ve used Lady Alice in a lot of smoothies. I’ve made green smoothies with it as well as good old fashioned, delicious fruit smoothies.  Bananas are a mainstay in the green smoothies and fruit smoothies I make because it provides a great creamy consistency. I found that Lady Alice apples can be substituted for bananas to change things up.  They also compliment bananas beautifully.

I also added a cut up Lady Alice apple to my chocolate Slim Fast shake for extra creaminess, flavor, and nutritional punch.

Homemade Applesauce with Lady Alice Apples

Lady Alice apples are also PERFECT for making homemade applesauce (pictured above). I left the skins on because I wanted the reddish tinge.  If you peel them, you’d have the more traditional applesauce look.  They made amazing applesauce. I used the applesauce recipe found on the Nutri-Bullet blog.

These sweet apples have the perfect amount of crunch – they’re far from mushy but biting into them requires zero effort.

I’ve also found other ways to work Lady Alice apples into our day for healthy and delicious snacks.  In the picture below, you’ll see a few of my favorite co-stars for Lady Alice Apples.  I slice up a Lady Alice apple and add other healthy choices such as (from left to right):  Chia Seeds, Peanut Butter, and Jif Hazelnut Spread (similar to Nutella but with even more of an amazing Hazelnut flavor).

The Chia seeds cling beautifully and, in my opinion anyway, make a darn cute snack.

Lady Alice Apple Slices with Chia Seeds Peanut Butter and Jif Hazelnut Spread

Lady Alice apples can be found in grocery stores around the country. Visit the Rainier Fruit website for more information on Lady Alice apples as well as a variety of other fruits.

Lady Alice Apples

Filed Under: Food Blog, Food Reviews, Fruit Recipes, Health Food Reviews Tagged With: apples, food review, health food review, Lady Alice apples

Vanilla Apple Pudding Recipe with Vanilla Whipped Cream

September 21, 2010 By Joi Sigers

Vanilla Apple Pudding Recipe from Nielsen-Massey Vanilla

I’m about 10 minutes away from putting on my yard-working clothes and “getting after it” in the yard. There are weeds to pull, Autumn decorations to put out, and pears and apples to pick. Around this time every year, I look for new ways to enjoy fresh apples and Nielsen-Massey Vanillas is providing me with endless ideas this autumn. Nielsen-Massey is my “go to” brand for vanilla extract and, yes sir/ma’am, it does make a HUGE difference when you use quality vanilla in your recipes.

I love to cook with (and just flat-out eat) apples primarily because they’re delicious – but they’re also uncommonly healthy. The saying, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” has more legs to stand on than a centipede. For a great article about the MANY health benefits of apples, click the link.

Apple pie, apple cider and applesauce are traditional uses of course, and you can never go wrong with any of them. Below, Nielsen-Massey Vanillas, the vanilla specialists, suggest additional ways to enjoy freshly picked apples in autumn baked creations.

  • Combine Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract, brown sugar and cream cheese for a simple, tasty apple spread.
  • Add a splash of Tahitian Pure Vanilla Extract to applesauce to enhance its fruity taste.
  • Stir Pure Almond Extract into whipped cream or whipped topping to garnish apple cake.
  • Use Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Bean Paste to glaze pie crusts for apple pies.
  • Vanilla Apple Pudding (recipe below) is an easy at-home recipe that combines crisp apples with quality Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract.

“Using seasonal ingredients adds an undeniably clean element to any dish,” says Beth Nielsen, ­­chief culinary officer of Nielsen-Massey. “Nielsen-Massey Pure Vanillas ensure that your produce won’t be tainted by artificial ingredients and the fresh flavors will shine through.”

Nielsen-Massey uses a proprietary cold extraction process which gently coaxes the maximum flavor possible from the beans. The result is a sweet, creamy, mellow Pure Vanilla that is an excellent ingredient for general cooking and baking.

{To make the recipe gluten-free, substitute gluten-free all purpose flour for the regular flour.}

Vanilla Apple Pudding

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract
2 eggs
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
4 cups coarsely chopped cored peeled apples
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9×13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Cream the butter, granulated sugar and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl using an electric mixer. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat until the batter is fluffy. Add the flour, baking soda and cinnamon and mix well; the dough will be crumbly.

Add the apples and walnuts and mix just until incorporated. Press over the bottom of the prepared pan. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the top and press into the dough mixture. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Serve warm. Garnish with a dollop of Nielsen-Massey’s Signature Whipped Cream.

Serves 15

Gourmet Vanilla Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Bean Paste
2 tablespoons sifted confectioners’ sugar

Whip the cream in a mixing bowl using an electric mixer on medium-high until soft peaks form. Add the vanilla bean paste and confectioner’s sugar.

Add a dollop of whipped cream to each serving of the vanilla apple pudding.

Nielsen-Massey Vanilla is an aromatic ingredient that enhances the flavor of the hand-picked apples and uncovers rich fall flavors.

If only I had walnuts on hand, I’d make Vanilla Apple Pudding for our Biggest Loser snacks tonight – I have all the other ingredients.  I’m tempted to try them without the walnuts this time… after all, I’ll be too busy in the yard to run to the store.  Sigh.

About Nielsen-Massey Vanillas:
Throughout its more than 100 year history, Nielsen-Massey Vanillas has earned its reputation as a manufacturer of the finest extracts in the world. The full line of Nielsen-Massey’s Pure Vanilla products include: Vanilla Beans and Extracts from Madagascar, Tahiti and Mexico; sugar and alcohol-free Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Powder; Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Bean Paste; Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Sugar and Certified Organic Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract and Beans.

Nielsen-Massey Vanillas recently introduced a line of Pure Flavors: Pure Chocolate Extract, Pure Almond Extract, Pure Orange Extract, Pure Lemon Extract, Pure Coffee Extract, Pure Peppermint Extract, Orange Blossom Water and Rose Water. All Nielsen-Massey products are Allergen-Free and certified Kosher and Gluten-Free. The company is headquartered in Waukegan, Illinois, with production facilities in Waukegan and Leeuwarden, The Netherlands.


Filed Under: Christmas Baking, Desserts, Fall Favorites, Fruit Recipes, Oh, Nuts!, Winter Favorites Tagged With: apple recipes, apples, Desserts, Nielsen-Massey Vanilla, pudding

Delicious Apple Crisp Recipe for a Taste of Early Autumn

August 27, 2009 By Joi Sigers

Apple Slicer by Leifheit

APPLE CRISP RECIPE – A DESSERT WITH AUTUMN ON IT’S MIND!

6 fresh apples – peeled, sliced, and sprinkled with 1 tsp. lemon juice
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg (can actually be left out entirely)
1/3 cup soft butter or margarine

Put the apple slices in the bottom of a baking dish. Combine all of the other ingredients, then sprinkle evenly over the apples. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes.

We have a lot of apple trees in our yard, so I always try to come up with as many ways to use them up as possible. This past week, alone, we’ve had apple pies, fried apples, and this amazing apple crisp.

I’ve made this crisp with and without the nutmeg. When I leave it out, I simply add a smidgen more cinnamon. It’s fantastic either way.  I doubled the recipe last night because I was using a huge dish.  I also took it out of the oven a little early.  Everyone in my family gets home at different times, so I wanted it to be ready to warm up – without the delicious crumb topping getting too hard.  Personally, I like the topping to be a little soft anyway.

Just cook it till it looks (and tastes) just the way you want it.  This is a recipe I swear by.  I even had a little this morning for breakfast, with a slice of toast.  Delicious – even cold!

Something I have noticed is that preparing apples is MUCH easier when you have an apple slicer like the Apple Slicer by Leifheit, above. When you have to use a knife and separate apple corer, the process takes so long that the apples lose their gumption and begin turning ugly (even with the lemon juice). But when you use an apple slicer, the process is much quicker, neater, and takes a lot less time.

Something else I love about apple slicers:  Kids adore them!  It’s a perfect way to get them to eat more apples (especially with a little caramel sauce for dipping).

Filed Under: Desserts, Fall Favorites, Fruit Recipes, Kitchen Gadgets Tagged With: apple crisp recipe, apple recipes, apples

Primary Sidebar

Welcome to the Get Cooking Food Blog

My name is Joi (“Joy”) and Get Cooking is where I celebrate some of my greatest passions: Recipes, kitchen gadgets, gluten free food reviews, gluten free recipes, pig collectibles, chocolate, cookbooks, and coffee.

Lots of coffee…


2020 Christmas Gift Guide: Gift Ideas for Cooks and Foodies!

  • Email
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Search for Recipes and Reviews

What’s New on the Food Blog?

  • An INGENIOUS Way to Prepare and Eat Chicken: Where Has this Method Been all My Life?!
  • Fellow Purple Fanatics, You’re Going to LOVE These Dishes
  • Quick and Easy Meal Ideas: “Nights Off” at Home with Less Stress and Less Mess
  • 2020 Gift Ideas for Cooks and Foodies: A Beautiful Handmade Ceramic Bowl
  • Chili Tips of the Trade and a Kitchen Tool You Absolutely MUST Have
  • Clorox Scrubmates with Handheld Scrubber
  • The Duke’s Mayonnaise Cookbook: A Cookbook Deserving of the Name!
  • The Way to this Rachael Ray Collector’s Heart….

Gluten-Free Recipes

A Wonderful Gluten-Free and Vegetarian Cookbook: Whole Bowls by Allison Day

Pumpkin Stuffed Green Lentil Cannelloni

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Stuffed Green Lentil Cannelloni

Gluten-Free Lasagna with Explore Cuisine Green Lentil Lasagna Noodles

Easy Gluten-Free Lasagna with Explore Cuisine Green Lentil (No Boil!) Noodles

Tostadas with Refried Beans and Tomatoes

Fast & Easy Summer Meal: Meatless Tostadas

Gluten-Free White Chocolate and Pecan Cookies

Gluten Free Cranberry Pecan Cookies

Gluten Free Pecan Sandies

Gluten Free Pecan Sandies Recipe

Footer

T-fal… As Good as Good Gets

The T-Fal Cookware Set (Amazon link), above, is available in several gorgeous colors.

Subscribe to Get Cooking

Fill in the form below to receive updates through e-mail whenever something new has been added to the food blog.



Powered by FeedBlitz

  • Email
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Contact me through e-mail at joisigers@aim.com and/or connect with me through social media (see above)!

I do not claim to have taken all of the photographs on this website. I did not take any of the “product” or “affiliate” merchandise photos, nor do I claim to own them. If you are a photographer that sees something you want removed, simply e-mail me!</font size>

Copyright © 2020 Get Cooking Food Blog   xml sitemap   Privacy Policy   Color Me Gluten Free!