And for dessert...

Here are the dessert recipes I used last night when we had friends over. The Apple-Cranberry Crisp would be great with vanilla ice cream, but we didn't have any on hand. What I did have was some homemade Caramel Pecan Ice Cream, so I used that. The flavors were very nice together.

APPLE CRANBERRY CRISP

3 cups chopped unpeeled apples
2 cups raw cranberries (fresh or frozen)
3/4 cup sugar

TOPPING:
1 1/2 cups quick or old-fashioned oats
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup whole wheat or all-purpose flour
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup canola oil

Combine the apples, cranberries and sugar in a 9” square baking dish or a 2-qt. casserole dish. Mix thoroughly to blend; set aside.

Combine topping ingredients until crumbly; spread evenly over fruit layer.

Bake at 350º for 1 hour or until the fruit is fork-tender. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

Yield: 4-6 servings.

This is a wonderful dessert to make in the fall when apples and cranberries are both fresh. But it tastes good anytime! I’ve adapted this recipe from the original to make it healthier and lower in fat and sugar.


CARAMEL-PECAN ICE CREAM

14 caramels -- Kraft®, Brachs®, or whatever
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Melt the caramels and marshmallows in the milk. (Original recipe said to use a double boiler. I don’t have one, so melted them in a bowl in the microwave. It worked fine.) Set aside to cool.

Gently but thoroughly fold the cooled caramel mixture into the whipped cream. Add the pecans and mix gently. Pile into a plastic container (I used a Rubbermaid® Take Alongs™ bowl with cover).

Freeze 8 hours or overnight. The original recipe didn’t specify how long to freeze it before serving, but I found that 4 hours wasn’t long enough. The ice-cream was still delicious but definitely more like soft-serve.

Yield: 1 pint.

I doubled the recipe to make a quart and it worked just fine. This is a very delicious, easy homemade ice cream. We love the fact that you don’t need an ice cream maker to make this!