Skor Apple Dip

This is an incredibly easy 3-ingredient dish that will wow guests at any potluck or holiday gathering. 

It doesn't seem like much - just cream cheese, caramel and crushed skor bars.  But when you combine them and refrigerate overnight, it becomes a tangy, sweet and crunchy dip for apple slices. 

In a class dish or pie plate, spread the cream cheese into a thick layer. 

Cover the cheese layer with caramel.

Spread into an even layer over the cream cheese. 

Crush the Skor bars into small crumbs by placing them in a plastic freezer bag and pounding with a meat mallet or heavy pan. 

Spread the crumbled Skor bits over the dip, cover, and refrigerate overnight. The chocolate on the bottom will start to meld into the caramel a bit, but the top will stay crunchy.

Serve with sliced apples for dipping.  You could even try dipping pretzels or ladyfingers.

Believe me, people will love this!

Here's the (simple) recipe:

Ingredients
340 gram tub spreadable plain cream cheese
250 gram tub old fashioned caramel sauce (found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store in the produce aisle)
191 gram package mini Skor bars or 5 full size Skor bars, smashed into small pieces
1 lemon
6-8 apples for serving, sliced

Instructions
Spread the cream cheese in a thick layer in a glass baking dish or pie plate. 
Spread the caramel sauce over the cream cheese
Spread the Skor pieces over the caramel layer
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 24 hours
Squeeze the juice of the lemon into a large bowl and add a cup of water.
Slice the apples and dip the slices in the lemon water to prevent browning
Serve the dip surrounded by apple slices

Enjoy!

Fall Chicken & Apple Stew

This is a very simple fall stew quick enough for a weeknight but fancy enough for company, which is my favourite category of recipe!  

Also, this recipe makes a ton of stew and the leftovers are great!  The recipe comes from Cooking Light magazine.  Here's what you need for this quick fall stew:

The Beer Baron - Twin Pines Cider

This post is from Matt, the Beer Baron

Over the years, I’ve dragged the Clockwatching Tart to countless craft beer festivals and bars across two continents – despite the fact that she legitimately doesn’t like beer. Beyond proving I’m a jerk and testing her patience, there are a few good reasons why even non-beer geeks might want to visit such places: 1) where there is craft beer, there is typically good, local food, 2) beer geeks are good people and more likely to argue over how much hops is too much hops than they are actually start a real fight, and 3) you might also discover some awesome cider!

That was the case about five years ago when we first discovered Twin Pines Orchard & Cider House at a little booth at the London Wine & Food Show. Since that happy first meeting, we’ve seen Twin Pines every year at the Wine & Food show, at this year’s Forest City Beer Fest and up at their cider house in Thedford, Ontario.

Recently, Twin Pines has been on our minds because it has started showing up on tap at Milos’ Craft Beer Emporium (which is one of those “you got chocolate in my peanut butter” type of great moments) and Twin Pines recently won an award for their Hammer Bent Red. Specifically, they picked up a “Best in Show" award at the 2014 Great Lakes International Cider and Perry Competition, which is a pretty wonderful accomplishment and more than enough reason for us to enjoy a beautiful fall drive back to visit the cider house again.

Tart of the Month - Beet Cheddar and Apple

I'm getting addicted to these easy puff pastry tarts.  Most of the time you just top the puff pastry with a few ingredients, bake 20 minutes and you're done.

This recipe from Martha Stewart uses thin slices of raw beet.  It seems like an odd combination with cheddar and apples but the taste and texture is great!

Here's what you need:

Chicken with Cranberry Agrodolce

Here's another healthy recipe that's still very tasty and even a little fancy.  It is based on this recipe from the Bon Appetit food lovers cleanse. 

The sauce is called agrodolce, which is a traditional Italian sweet and sour sauce, similar to a French gastrique.

Here's what you need:

For the sauce:

• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1 medium red onion
• Kosher salt
• 1 Granny Smith apple
• 2 cups fresh (or frozen, thawed) cranberries
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

For the Chicken:

• 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
• Kosher salt
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 8 fresh sage leaves (optional)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Let's start with the sauce.  It can be made in advance.