I love fall!  I am so happy to live in New England and have the change in the seasons.  I especially love the leaves and fall colors.  We ventured off apple picking over the long weekend and got some beautiful apples.  I made some homemade apple sauce with some and worked on perfecting my apple cake with the rest.  It was a hit!!!

I love apples and I adore caramel, so I blended both together.  This is my Apple Caramel Cake.  I am thinking about entering into a few contests, so if you make it, tell me what you think!

APPLE CARAMEL CAKE

Ingredients

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs, beaten

1/2  cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup apple sauce

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups finely chopped apples

1/2 cup apple juice

Glaze topping for cake

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup whipping cream

Directions:

In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, soda and salt. Make a well in the center and set aside.

In a medium bowl combine eggs, oil, apple sauce, apple juice and vanilla. Stir in apples. Add the egg mixture to dry ingredients, just until moistened.

Spread batter in a greased and floured 9 x 13-inch pan. Bake at 350°F for 45-50 minutes.

In a small saucepan combine the brown sugar, butter and cream.

Cook and stir till bubbly and all of the sugar is dissolved. Cool slightly. Drizzle warm sauce over cake, when it has cooled for 5 minutes, so it can seep into the cake, keeping it moist.

Happy Columbus Day to all!  Such a funny "weather" weekend.  We went apple picking on Saturday and wore shorts and t-shirts.  Today, I woke up to frost in the backyard!  Only in New England.

I love butternut squash, or really, any kind of squash.  This is the season for those sweet, healthy, orange fleshed beauties.  I few years ago, I came up with this recipe and usually make it on the first cold day of the fall.  It really incorporates the end of summer (crabmeat) with the beginning of fall (butternut squash), so it is a good transition soup!  This soup is really easy to make.  To roast your garlic, put a whole head of garlic in foil.  chop off the top to expose the garlic cloves.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Wrap completely in foil.  Bake at 400 for about 35-40 minutes.  cloves will squeeze out when done.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND CRAB BISQUE

Ingredients

4 large cloves garlic, roasted 

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 to 2 pounds butternut squash, peeled and cubed

1 large yellow onion, diced

1 cup fresh carrots, diced

1 cup fresh celery, diced

1 quart chicken broth, divided use

1 tablespoon fresh sage leaves, finely chopped

1 cup heavy cream

8 ounces crab meat

Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Prepare roasted garlic.

In a large (at least 5 quart) soup pot over medium heat, add the butter and olive oil. Once butter is melted, add squash, onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Saute 5 minutes.

Add 3 cups of broth, reserving the rest. Cover pot and simmer until squash is very tender (about one hour).

Add the cream and puree the mixture with a stick blender until very smooth (or blend in batches in blender and return to pan). Thin with remaining broth if needed.

Fold in the crab meat and sage. Season with salt and pepper and serve.  Save a few pieces of crab to garnish on top of soup.