Easy Apple "Pie"

photo by sara tady ©

Who has time to make homemade apple pie?  Not this girl.  I've been cheating with this method for a few years.  It's all the simple ingredients and flavors with a little help from the store and not a lot of time.  If you can slice an apple, you can make this :)

Ingredients:

2 apples (granny smith, golden delicious, macintosh-whatever you have!)

1 store bought pie crust

2 tbsp of sugar

1 tbsp of cinnamon

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees & thaw pie crust

2. Slice apples.  Here's how, just make sure to slice them MUCH thinner as shown above.

3. Roll out the thawed dough onto a greased baking sheet

4. Place chopped apples in the center. Add sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest and juice. Mix together.

5. Fold up the edges toward the center. Sprinkle some sugar on top. 

6. Bake for 20-25 minutes until everything is golden and your house smells like apple pie.

Blueberry turnover with Homemade Whipped Cream

photo by sara tady ©

I made this great salmon chowder a few weeks ago- here's the dessert I made to go along with it.  This is SO easy and you can make it with any berries you like or even sliced apples (just add some cinnamon)! A perfect ending to a classic east coast dinner.

Ingredients:

1 sheet of puff pastry (found in the frozen section)

1 package of blueberries 

Zest of half a lemon

Sugar

whipping cream

1 egg white (optional)

vanilla extract (optional)

Directions:

1) Place half the blueberries in a small bowl.  Sprinkle 3 spoons of sugar on top and mash with a fork. Zest half a lemon into the bowl.  Go ahead and squeeze a little lemon juice in there too.

2) Roll out the thawed puff pastry on a greased/non stick baking sheet. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

3) Spread the mashed blueberry mixture as well as the remaining blueberries on ONE HALF of the pastry dough. (You'll be folding this in half into a triangle shape, from 1 corner to the other) Leave a 1 inch gap between the blueberries and the edge. 

4) Fold in half and press the dough closed with a fork.

5) Cut a little 1 inch cross into the top to allow air to escape

6) Brush egg white on top and sprinkle with sugar

7) Bake for 12-13 minutes until golden brown.

Homemade Whipped Cream

Pour 1/2 cup to a cup of whipping cream in a medium sized bowl.  Sprinkle in 2 spoonfuls of sugar and a 1/2 capful of vanilla extract.  With a whisk, beat it continuously until it becomes whipped cream.  It will take about 3 minutes.  Trust me, it's worth the elbow grease!  (if you own a mixer- go ahead and use that if you want).

photo by sara tady ©