by | October 15, 2012 · 8:00 am

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

Saying hello to fall does not mean saying goodbye to the fresh, filling salads of summer. I created this salad to incorporate some of my favorite fall flavors: squash, maple, apple cider, crunchy pumpkin seeds and of course, bacon. This salad is perfect for a crisp fall night, served as a main course or as a hearty side dish.

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad
Mixed Greens
1 whole butternut squash
1 large red onion, cut into chunks
2 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP maple syrup
salt and pepper to taste
2 oz goat cheese
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup pepitas

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut, peel and dice butternut squash. The best way to do this is cut off the top and bottom. Scoop out extra seeds at bottom. Using a vegetable peeler, peel off the thick skin, making sure any green is peeled off. Cut into slices and dice into cubes.

Place squash and red onion on rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil and maple syrup over squash and onion, coating completely. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast in oven for 25-30 minutes.

Plate mixed greens (I used a mixture of spinach, red Romaine and green Romaine). Place squash over top of salad. Add cranberries and goat cheese. Drizzle with bacon dressing and serve immediately.

Warm Bacon Dressing
5-6 slices of bacon, chopped
2/3 C apple cider vinegar
2 TBSP Dijon mustard
1 TBSP maple syrup
1 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Heat a medium sauce pan. Add bacon. Cook until crispy, about 8-10 minutes.

In the meantime, add cider vinegar, mustard, maple syrup, sugar, salt and pepper to a small mixing bowl. Whisk until emulsified.

Drain bacon grease. Add bacon back to pot. Add vinegar mixture. Heat through, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Drizzle over salad, adding bacon bits across the salad.

Enjoy!

Bloggers from across the country are dishing up mixed greens this fall. Check out these awesome recipes as a part of Food Network’s Fall Fest!

Jeanette’s Healthy Living: Quinoa and Black Lentil Salad With Mixed Salad Greens
Cooking With Books: “Chopped” Salads
Dishin & Dishes: Beet Salad With Garlic Vinaigrette
Thursday Night Dinner: Mixed Lettuce, Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Pita Pizza
And Love It Too: Rainbow Salad
Made By Michelle: Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwiches
Feed Me Phoebe: Hearts of Romaine With Beets, Pistachios and Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette
HGTV Gardens: Garden-to-Table: Mixed Lettuce
Virtually Homemade: Mixed Fall Greens With Dijon Chive Vinaigrette
Devour: Lettuce (Hold the Salad)
Daily*Dishin: Almond Chutney Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Delicious Lean: Chiffonade of Mixed Greens
FN Dish: Top 12 Lettuce Wraps

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by | October 11, 2012 · 8:00 am

Pumpkin Pancakes with Creamy Cinnamon Maple Syrup

I found over the years that there are many dishes, be they breakfast, dinner or dessert, where pumpkin can be snuck in to give it a little fall kick. One of my favorites are these easy pumpkin pancakes. With a little extra doctoring on a boxed pancake mix (or make your own pancake mix if you are feeling up to it), you can create a savory and sweet, warm fall breakfast. You can use a boxed mix that just adds water or one where you add milk and eggs. Whatever you have on hand will work just great.

Regular syrup tastes just fine on these fall flapjacks, but this extra trick with maple syrup takes them up a notch. The syrup was inspired by a creamy maple syrup I had at the most delicious Pancake Pantry in Nashville this past spring. I tried it once and had to have it again!

Pumpkin Pancakes with Creamy Cinnamon Maple Syrup
1 C boxed pancake mix
Mix-ins for pancake mix (see box for instructions, they all vary)
3-4 TBSP extra liquid (water or milk)
1/2 C pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
Cinnamon and powdered sugar for dusting.

Preheat griddle to high heat.

In a spouted mixing bowl, mix pancake mix and other mix-ins according to box directions. Add pumpkin and spices, whisk until smooth. Most likely, your batter may look a little too thick. Add 3-4 TBSP of liquid (water or milk, depending on what you started with).

Spray griddle with cooking spray. Pour batter onto griddle, varying in size depending on the size you desire. When the pancakes start to crisp at the edge and little bubbles form over the top, flip over. When heated through, remove from heat.

Creamy Cinnamon Maple Syrup
1/2 C maple syrup
2 TBSP heavy cream
dash of cinnamon

In a small saucepan, heat syrup over medium high heat. Once heated through (not boiling), add cream and whisk. Heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through about 4-5 minutes. Add a dash of cinnamon and whisk. Serve warm over pancakes.

With a little extra dash of cinnamon, if desired, and a dash of powdered sugar, there is no better way to wake up on a crisp and cool fall morning.

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by | October 3, 2012 · 8:35 am

Honey Sesame Chicken

Lately it has been a battle to get my 4 year old to eat dinner.  She used to eat anything but suddenly she has become stubborn and turns up her nose at everything except boxed Macaroni and Cheese.  It is almost impossible to get her to eat any form of meat, unless I make it sweet.  All I need to do is tell her this is “Honey Chicken” with lots of honey in it and she eats it no problem.

If the dinner table struggles about food are any indication of what the teenage years will be like, then I’m in trouble!



Honey Sesame Chicken

5 chicken breasts
¾ C. honey
¼ C. light soy sauce
¼ C. ketchup
2 t  olive oil

4 teaspoons cornstarch
6 Tablespoons  water
3 Tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

Grease the bottom and sides of your slow cooker.  Add the chicken and cover with a mixture of the honey, soy sauce, ketchup and olive oil.

Cover and cook on low for about 5 hours or until the chicken is cooked and falls apart easily.  Be careful not to over cook.

Remove the chicken and shred, leaving the juices in the pan.  Mix the cornstarch and water and add the mixture to the juices left in the slow cooker.  Place shredded chicken back into the slow cooker, cover and cook for an additional 15-30 minutes.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over rice.

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by | October 1, 2012 · 7:32 pm

And the winner is…

Thank you to everyone who entered to win our anniversary week giveaway from Rosy Rings candles plus all the extra Facebook love! We wish we had enough to go around to everyone but one lucky winner has been chosen at random…drumroll please…

Congratulations to Jennie!  She’ll be snagging that Honey Tobacco scent she was coveting, along with two others to get her ready for a heavenly smelling fall.

Happy Monday!

Winner chosen using Random.org. Blog giveaway sponsored by Rosy Rings.

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by | September 28, 2012 · 8:00 am

Three Years Later and Getting Hauter…

We can hardly believe it has been three years since the inception of Haute Apple Pie. This blog started as just a fun side project to share our recipes and ideas with our friends and has grown into more than we ever could have imagined. To celebrate our third blogversary, we have some Haute Apple Pie superlatives for you, with links to some of our best, favorite and most popular posts!

Thanks to all of you for reading this little corner of the world-wide web. We appreciate you stopping by and letting us host this three-year long party.

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…

Most Pinned
This post tops the charts as our most viewed post of all time, mostly thanks to your favorite addiction and mine, Pinterest.

Slow Cooker Beef Brisket over Garlic Parmesan Mash

Best Rehab
Who doesn’t want to make something old, look something new? Katie’s dresser rehab ranks #2 in the blog life traffic list.
{How to} Refinish a Dresser

How to Refinish Wood Furniture

Best Breakfast
We are not Nutella shy here at Haute Apple Pie. Anne’s French toast hit everyone’s morning sweet tooth.
Orange Scented French Toast with Nutella

The most popular meal posts include:

Best BBQ
The Perfect Bratwurst
Best Dinner
Chicken and Spinach Stuffed Pasta Shells
Best Dessert
Chocolate Guinness Cake with Bailey’s Cream Cheese Frosting
Best Snack
The Art of Toddler Food: Veggie Dip

We’ve also found that our HAP readers are wild about parties! It seems we have quite the following of haute hostesses. Here are the winners in the party category:

Best Kid’s Party
Anne threw this adorable camping inspired birthday party for Isla’s 2nd birthday, complete with bug juice and s’mores.
Campfire Birthday Party

S'more birthday party favors

Best Baby Shower
The ladies collectively honored Stef with the adorable safari themed baby shower. Who doesn’t love a good candy bar!
Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! Baby Shower

Safari Candy BuffetBest Bridal Shower
Stef’s lemonade shower for her cousin’s wife was much more sweet than sour!
Summertime Lemonade Shower

Other parties topping the charts:

Inspiration for a Peter Rabbit Baby Shower
Pink and Brown Ladybug Party
Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice Baby Shower

We can’t forget about our do-it-yourselfers!

Katie’s DIY tie onesie rounds out at our third most popular post of all time! Consider making one of these for the little man in your life:
DIY Necktie Onesie

tie baby onesie patternOther projects to consider:

Fall Berry Wreath
Window Chalkboard

It has been a great three years and we cannot wait to see what the next three have in store. Thanks for reading!

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by | September 24, 2012 · 8:12 pm

{Giveaway!} Rosy Rings Apothecary Jar Candle Set

A few years ago three girls sat mindlessly chatting about recipes over lunch when the topic of a blog came up. At first it was more of a pop culture discussion than anything until that proverbial light went off. Why not start their own, they thought. It would make all that recipe sharing so much easier and it could be fun(!) and cute(!) – the things you say when you’re a girl. Soon after, our little blog was born.

Things at HAP have changed a bit over the years as our families and jobs have grown and changed. At the end of the day, we write for fun about real things, real food and the special touches of “hauteness” we try to bring to every day things.

In honor of our third blog-iversary, we’re giving away a swoon-worthy candle set with the help of our friends at Rosy Rings! We were smitten with the rustic-chic packaging of their Apothecary Jar Candle line, not to mention the classic-with-a-twist scents they come in like Fireside or Honey Tobacco – so perfect for fall.

Enter to Win!

You may have seen these pretties at Anthropologie or Nordstrom’s but today you can win them right here! In standard blog fashion, there’s a few ways you can enter to win:
1. Leave a comment sharing which Rosy Rings scent would light your fire this fall.
2. Like us on Facebook and leave a comment to let us know.
3. Like Rosy Rings on Facebook and leave a comment to let us know.

We’ll announce a random winner next Monday morning so best of luck! And in case you aren’t the lucky winner, Rosy Rings candles are reasonably priced plus they donate 15% of proceeds to charity every year making them a gift you can feel good about giving…even if it is to yourself.

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by | September 21, 2012 · 8:28 am

{Obsessed With} Chevron

I do not know what it is, but I know I am not alone. I haven’t felt this way about a pattern since argyle. I don’t know if it is the sharp points, the contrasting colors or slightly dizzying effect, but I am obsessed with chevrons. I love them for clothing, jewelry, home decor, handbags, towels, invitations, decorations, baby items and more. Really, put some chevrons on it and I will buy it. So I’ve round-up a bunch of my favorites from around the world wide web to share with you.

Paint your own chevrons:

DIY Chevron Dresser

These were made using shoeboxes! You could also use canvases.

Chevron accent wall

Chevron for Fall:

Chevron Halloween Wreath

Carved Chevron Pumpkin

Little Baby Chevron:

Bright Chevron Nursery

Chevron Birdie Bib via Paisley Pockets (etsy.com)

Monogrammed Chevron Onesie via myretrobaby.com

Dress in Chevron:

Chevron Silver Sequin Dress via laposhstyle.com

Chevron Bangle Bracelets via asos.com

Chevron Sundress via dorothyperkins.com

Chevron extras:

Monogrammed Chevron iPhone Case via Simply Monogram at etsy.com

Chevron Wedding Cake

Last but not least, I was inspired by all the chevron out there in the world and added my own birthday invitation to my Etsy shop, Morning Star Designs.

Chevron Ombre Invitation via Morning Star Designs at etsy.com

For plenty more chevron inspired projects and items and for the full links to all the items on this page, follow my Chevron Love board on Pinterest!

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by | September 18, 2012 · 2:23 pm

Chicken Fingers

As one of the writers of HAP, I love to cook and cook often. However, as the mother of a preschooler and a newborn, my life can become somewhat hectic and I find myself turning to to convenicne foods. That’s right, chicken fingers, tatertots and sweet potato fries right out of the freezer. I know these foods aren’t bad occasionally, but lately I have been reaching into my freezer more often that I would like in order to get dinner on the table fast.

In an effort to break this habit, I wanted to make my own chicken fingers that would be quick to make and taste great, but would also be something I felt good about serving to my family. I coated chicken fingers with panco breadcrumbs and seasoning, then individually froze them before putting them in ziploc bags. With minimal effort, I have created chicken fingers that I can grab in a hurry that are homemade and still taste great.

Chicken Fingers for your freezer

3lbs chicken tenders
3 eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups panco bread crumbs
1 Tablespoons ground cumin
2 Tablespoons garlic powder
1 Tablespoon Salt

Ziplock Bags

In a large bowl, mix together the panco bread crumbs with the cumin, garlic and salt. Dip each chicken tender into the beaten eggs, then into the bread crumb mixture. Place on a large cookie sheet. Continue until you have used up all of your chicken tenders.

Place the cookie sheet into your freezer for about 45 minutes or until the tenders are mostly frozen. Then place into freezer safe ziplock bags. This will ensure that the chicken fingers will not stick together when you go to grab a certain number.

I like to try and slightly thaw the chicken before I bake it by putting it in the fridge in the morning if I am going to have it for dinner that night. If you are cooking from thawed, bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes or until cooked through. If you are cooking from frozen, you will want to add 10-20 minutes to your cooking time.

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by | September 13, 2012 · 8:00 am

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper & Basil Soup

With the first crisp breath of fall air I take, comes the first batch of soup. This soup is easy to make with staples that can be found any time of the year. The fresh basil adds the perfect balance to the sweet pepper taste. If you want to kick this up a notch, add some crushed red pepper.

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper & Basil Soup
1 TBSP olive oil
2 large russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 12 oz jar roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
4 sun dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
4 C chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 sherry wine
1 C fresh spinach
1/2 nonfat, plain Greek yogurt
1 handful fresh basil, chopped
cracked black pepper
salt

In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil over high heat. Add potatoes, stir occasionally for 3-5 minutes. Add peppers and tomatoes. Pour stock into pot and bring to a boil. Boil for 15-20 minutes. Add fresh spinach, boil until softened. Remove from heat. Add yogurt and stir. Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth (or transfer to a blender or food processor). Add basil and stir. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Perfect for a cool fall day!

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by | September 10, 2012 · 7:48 am

Grilled Fish with Toasted Coconut Couscous and Spicy Melon Salsa

Last week the hubs came home from a fishing trip to Florida with a stack of fresh saltwater fish including grouper, snapper and mackeral. Living in the Midwest, these fish don’t make it to my table very often and I was too excited about the dish I created to wait to post it.

Back in May, we had taken a trip to Florida together and eaten plenty of fresh catch with bold tropical flavors. Taking a cue from the trip, I made a slightly sweet coconut couscous and a spicy cucumber melon salsa to serve with our lightly seasoned grilled fish. Big and bold yet light and fresh while still playing up the fish…made me wish I had saltwater fish to eat every day!

Grilled Saltwater Fish
1 lb grouper, mingo snapper, mahi mahi or similar saltwater white fish
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
garlic powder
ginger powder
Old Bay seasoning
kosher salt

Form a “plate” with aluminum foil and place fish on foil “plate”. Rub with olive oil so that fish is lightly coated. Season very lightly with garlic, ginger, Old Bay and salt. No need to measure specific amounts here – just lightly dust each piece with the spices. Grill fish for 5-7 minutes. Fish should be flaky and opaque.

Toasted Coconut Rice
1 1/4 C Israeli couscous
1 can lite coconut milk
1/2 C water
1/4 C coconut flakes
1/4 tsp kosher salt

In a large sauce pan, combine couscous, water and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cover. Cook for 10-15 minutes until liquid is fully absorbed. Meanwhile, in a small saute pan, toast coconut over medium heat until golden brown, taking care not to burn – approximately 6-8 minutes. Add toasted coconut to couscous and season with salt. Fluff couscous with a fork and keep covered until other components are ready.

Spicy Melon Salsa
2/3 C diced cantaloupe
2/3 C diced pineapple
1/2 cucumber, diced
1 Tbsp mint, finely chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp honey
1/2 Tbsp lime juice
red pepper flakes, to taste
pinch kosher salt

In a small bowl, combine cantaloupe, pineapple and cucumber. Mix in mint. In a separate small bowl, combine oil, honey and lime juice, whisking until combined. Toss gently over fruit. Dust with salt and red pepper flakes to taste and mix to combine. Salsa should be the right mix of spicy, sweet and tangy for your taste.

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