or Treat- Baked Apples!

We couldn’t resist sharing a delicious Halloween treat, Mulled Cider Baked Apples!  So sweet and perfect for the fall and beautiful to share, we are eating these tonight…

First HOW TO CORE AN APPLE, we had to google it but you can just review the above tools and method below to get you going all on one page:

1. Wash the apples prior to coring them. Remove all surface dirt from the apples  and place them onto the cutting board.
2. Insert the tip of the paring knife approximately 3/8-inch to one side of the  center stem of the apple. Push the tip of the knife into the apple and rotate it  around to cut out an even circle around the stem of the  apple.
3. Push the knife into the apple and angle it under the stem to remove the  entire stem from the top of the apple.
4. Insert the tip of the spoon into the hole in the center of the apple. Dig out  the core of the apple, including the seeds, with the spoon and discard these  pieces. Continue digging until you remove the entire core area of the  apple.
5. Dig with the spoon until you reach approximately 1/2-inch from the bottom of  the apple. Do not cut all the way through the entire apple—leave this 1/2-inch  of apple at the bottom to contain the brown sugar and other fillings you will  add to the empty core area. Make the hole in the center of the apple  approximately 3/4-inch wide

Ingredients

4 medium baking apples- Roma recommended

2 cups Apple Cider

3 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

3 whole cloves

Zest of 1 orange

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

4 cinnamon sticks

Core apples, place in the bottom of a medium size saucepan with a lid.  Add in the cider, honey, syrup, cloves, zests and juice then place 1 stick in the cored center of each apple.  Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until tender but not falling apart 15-20 minutes.  Remove apples from pan to a serving plate and set aside covered to keep warm.

Increase the heat under your pan to medium/ high and boil to reduce the cider mixture, uncovered, stir occasionally until slightly syrupy and reduced to 1 cup of liquid.  Strain the mixture through a mesh sieve reserving the liquid, toss the solid and drizzle of each apple to serve.

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Trick! Chop it Up

It Halloween and I know these carrots aren’t the treats you are looking for- BUT they are another example of great ways to save on your groceries each and every week.  This one seems so obvious but not as many people as you’d expect chop their own snack veggies. Maybe you buy a veggie tray in a rush or just grab a bag of baby carrots or pre cut apple slices at the store. A bag of actual whole vegetables and fruit is always the better deal- and it tastes so much better! So grab a bag of carrots and peel away the savings, enjoy the healthy snacks and have a fun and safe Halloween out there!