Sunday Supper

Dear Secret Blogiary,

As envious as I am of other food blogs like The Pioneer Woman and Bakerella I thought I'd try my own hand at it. After spending far too much time in the kitchen for a simple meal, I've come to the conclusion that if I do this more, it will probably only happen on Sunday when I have the time to play with my food and the camera.

So here is my first ever Sunday Supper:

Sweet Potato and Ham Soup and Homemade Applesauce

First the sweet potatoes: three large ones will do



Bake at 400 for 45 minutes or until soft. Let them cool slightly and then strip peel them.

See how the skin just falls away?

See all that good caramelazation that took place in the oven?

In batches, puree sweet potatoes with 3 14.5 ounce cans of chicken stock (I use low sodium)

Pour into pan (I ended up using my crock pot because I was using my only large stock pot to make the applesauce)

Bring to a simmer and then add 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp nutmeg and black pepper and cayenne pepper to taste. Stir and simmer some more. Then add some ham cubes.

Simmer some more and then add about half a cup of heavy cream.

Don't measure.

Really don't. Do this part to taste.

I always end up adding more than a half cup.

Stir and simmer for about 5 minutes and then remove from heat.

Oh. Yum.

This is a perfect soup for autumn.

Creamy, filling, with just a touch of heat from the cayenne.

Perfect.

And then onto dessert.  

Although really, can applesauce really be considered dessert?

According to Big Sis and Little Sis, this is the best dessert ever!

I start with a mix of apples.

Today, I used Gala, Granny and Red Delicious

(sometimes, I get daring and add in pears, too!)

Peel 'em.

Core 'em.

Coarse chop 'em.

Mix 'em with cinnamon, sugar and 1/4 cup water

(nope, I didn't measure these out either)

Cover and cook 'em over medium heat until they start to bubble.

Stir then turn the heat to low, cover, and let simmer, occasionally stirring.

Until you end up with this:

Admittedly, these are not very complicated recipes. But they are oh so good.

The applesauce is particularly versatile. Mister W likes to eat his over vanilla ice cream - like apple pie ala mode with out the crust. Big Sis loves to dip graham crackers in hers. Little Sis eats it as is. I've also used it to replace oil in certain recipes and in a spice cake. You can also cook this down even further if you are opposed to chunky style.