Apple-Date Cobbler...and Homemade Biscuit Mix

I have been searching around in my little trusted file box from Better Homes and Gardens to pull out some "magic"...as in pulling a rabbit out of a magic hat?...well, it certainly came down to that, because I am just fresh out of ideas, for finding something out of my favorite cookbooks, ie: How To Cook Everything, by Mark Bittman, or my Southern Living collection, my Food and Wine Collections, or my Cooking Light collection of series, from the year 2000 all the way through 2010...all of which are "thrift finds," but my collections of newspaper clippings, which I have totally narrowed down, and have stopped collecting, and index cards that I have pasted or written recipes on, are now, a "thing of the past."...done, and gone!

Nowadays, you can find so many recipes on the Internet, and you don't have to go further than, your foodie buddies' blogs, to get inspired by all the amazing recipes they create, and post. I get inspired just by visiting, and commenting on all the my favorite blogs...most of, who are my friends that I like to keep in touch with! So why don't I just stay comfy-cozy, and keep getting ideas from their blog?...it's because I need to accomplish what I set out to do, is to go through my collection of recipes...or just toss them out...which most I have already done so!

Homemade Biscuit Mix
from Sun Sentinel, West Palm Beach, 1994

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup vegetable shortening

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking
powder, sugar, and salt. cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Store in an airtight container, and refrigerate. It will keep fresh for up to one month, or you can freeze it and keep up to 6 months. Just let it come to room temperature before using it, either way.
Makes up to 2 1//2 cups.







Apple Date Cobbler
my own recipe

1/2 cup Homemade Biscuit Mix
2 Tbsp. whole-wheat flour
2 Tbsp. light brown sugar
1 Tbsp. cane sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp. milk
4 apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
juice of 1 lemon
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 cup pitted dates

In a medium mixing bowl, combine biscuit mix, flour, and 1 Tbsp. of cane sugar. Stir in the lightly beaten eggs, and the 2 Tbsp. milk, just until they are combined, and smooth. In another medium bowl, combine the sliced apples, the 2 Tbsp. brown sugar the one teaspoon cinnamon powder, juice of the one lemon. In a medium skillet, melt butter, add the apple mixture, and saute until al-dente (not quite soft)...add the 1 cup of the pitted dates, stir for a few minutes to let the dates heat up, and soften a little.

Transfer the mixture to a 1 quart oven proof casserole that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Immediately spoon biscuit mixture atop of the hot fruit mixture, into 4, or six mound (I added 6) Bake in a 400 -degree F. oven for about 15-20 minutes. Spoon out, 1 biscuit, and surround with fruit. You can sprinkle with powdered sugar, or additional cinnamon, mixed with sugar.
Serves 6.
Note: If you are using frozen fruits for the cobbler, you can mix 1 Tbsp. cornstarch into 3 Tbsp. water, to add to the fruit mix to heat up.

Enjoy!
I made this in the middle of the afternoon, and my 10 yr.old  granddaughter Gabby and I enjoyed a serving of this...just check out the biscuit, how light, and fluffy, the apples still in beautiful pieces, and the dates, slightly softened...Mmmm...let me tell you, this is a TREAT!...a great middle of the afternoon snack, with a nice cup of hot tea (which I don't drink unless it gets cool outside)...or a cup of cold glass of milk!

Original Nestlé Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Thrift Finds

It's been raining practically all day yesterday, and I have not had the desire to go outside in the rain, to do any errands, except just to chill out inside my condo apartment, open the windows in my living room and listen to the rain. I just love watching summer rain, and listen to the rain drops. Sounds corny, but it's one of the sounds of nature that I love so much. In the early morning, I love to open my back windows in the bedroom, just to hear the cricket sounds, and watch the lush greenery of the enormous grape leave trees. The clean fresh air, even if it's 79 to 81 degrees F. in the morning, I love to open my windows and get the nice cross breeze from the ocean, which is only about 100 ft. away.

I'm linking this to:

 Full Plate Thursday 8-11-11 @ Miz Helen's Country Cottage

I decided to bake cookies last night, and I always refer to the Original Nestle Toll House Cookies recipe.

The only adaptation I use for the full recipe, is instead of 2 sticks of butter, I substitute 1 cup of Crisco all vegetable shortening, which equals to the 1 stick of butter. The reason for that is...my cookies always come out so perfect and just the right amount of crispiness. It never flattens down, as it would with the full amount of the butter. So that's my little secret "tip!"

Now, do you see what I mean?...Perfect cookies every time! Later, I plan to make enchiladas, which I have not made in ages...one filled with leftover rotisserie chicken, and the other vegetarian.

In the meantime, here's the link to the Chocolate Chip cookie recipe. Yeayy!!! saves me from typing it all out! Trust me on this one. Perfect cookies every time!

 Original Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies