Glazed Apples and Yams

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post.

 

 

 

Can you believe that Thanksgiving is already right on our heels? It's not really one of my favorite holidays since I don't eat turkey, but I would be lying if I said that I don't get excited over some of the side dish offerings. We always have the standard stuffing, potatoes, deviled eggs, and cranberry sauce, but each year I do like to try out a new side dish just to keep things from feeling stale. I've been surfing Pinterest for a little inspiration, but honestly, I am about over that platform anymore because of all the AI recipes they've been shoving in my face the last few months (yes, I've turned off the AI feature, but they still show it constantly). I want tried and true recipes that have been created and tested by real people, so I did what I should have done in the first place and started combing through Golden Blossom Honey's recipe index for something unique and tasty. There I found what I can probably say is my favorite recipe of theirs yet: Glazed Apples and Yams. 

 

 

For some reason fresh yams aren't readily available in any of our grocery stores, so I had to improvise with sweet potatoes. We can buy canned yams, but I wanted to make everything from scratch here and had to make do with what was available. This is a quite simple recipe with minimal ingredients, but it does take about an hour in the oven so it's not necessarily quick, but when I say it's delicious, I mean it is DELICIOUS! I kept thinking as I was preparing it for the oven that I might want to add some cinnamon for extra flavor, but this recipe does not need ANY other additions than what the recipe calls for. It comes out of the oven warm and sweet and almost feels more like a dessert than a side dish. It's a great accompaniment to turkey, and also pairs well with all of the other holiday fixins so you don't have to worry about heavily contrasting or colliding flavors on the plate. I think this would compliment every Thanksgiving dish wonderfully! So if you're like me and love trying new recipes for the holiday season, I promise that you cannot go wrong here. It's going into my normal dinner rotation because it's too good to enjoy just once a year! 

 

Ingredients

3 pounds yams, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch thick rounds

5 Granny Smith apples, peeled, halved, cored and cut into 1/4 inch slices

1/2 cup GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

1/4 cup apple juice

1/4 cup butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE 

 

 

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

   

What is your favorite Thanksgiving side dish?

Walnut Coffee Cake

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. 

Don’t you just love how cozy everything feels when autumn colors start to shine? It feels like the world is wrapped in the most beautiful hues of orange, yellow, red, and gold. I am my happiest when the colors change and the last of the summer heat is finally behind us because I can finally use my oven daily without worrying about how hot the house is going to get if I use it for too long. This time of the year my urge to bake is at its strongest. I’ve been making a lot of banana bread this past month, but I think my family is starting to tire of it. So I ended up skipping buying extra bananas this week and opted to buy a big bag of walnuts at Costco instead so I could make some Walnut Coffee Cake from a recipe that I pulled from Golden Blossom Honey’s website. 

I love a good crumbly topping on my treats and the one from this recipe did not disappoint. It had the right amount of crumbly texture that complimented the smoothness of the cake portion perfectly. I did a little taste test before putting it in the cake and ended up adding a touch more cinnamon to the mix though just because I really like a strong cinnamon flavor to come through in recipes like this. It’s just a personal preference of mine. But you adjust or don’t as you see fit. I think that this is a great little cake to enjoy with a cup of hot apple cider or a mug of tea while you’re watching Halloween movies this weekend. I like to have a slice fresh out of the oven, but you can make it ahead of time then give it a little zap in the microwave when you’re ready to enjoy a piece for yourself. But it’s delicious cooled to room temperature as well. Nobody will be policing how you choose to dive into this tasty treat. Feel free to make your own rules. That’s what the holiday is all about anyway, right?

 

Ingredients

Crumb Topping:

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup walnuts

2 tablespoons GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

1/3 cup light brown sugar

3 tablespoons butter or margerine, room temperature

1 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of salt

Cake:

1 stick butter, room temperature

2/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

1/4 cup GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sour cream

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE 

 

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

   

Happy Halloween!  

Quick Alfredo Pasta Sauce

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post.   

 

 

I always have such a difficult time ordering pasta when we dine out because it's so inexpensive to make at home, and it usually tastes better when made in your own kitchen. We just joined a family member for his 21st birthday at Olive Garden last week, which was picked for their fruity cocktails over their pasta dishes. My daughter is a hardcore fettuccine alfredo fan, insisting that I cook it for her several times a month. I thought I was going to have a short reprieve when that's what she ordered at the restaurant, but after the meal she remarked that she was never ordering alfredo from there again because their version was so bland. Then she proceeded to ask me to make it for dinner again soon because her craving wasn't curbed. *insert eye roll and heavy sigh* My signature sauce is made with heavy whipping cream and cream cheese as a base, and it's not a difficult recipe to mix up, it just requires a constant eye and stir to ensure the creams aren't overcooking. It's just a tedious process that I'd like to skip if possible. However, I was able to convince her to let me try a new at-home recipe this week when I saw that Golden Blossom Honey had a Quick Alfredo Pasta Sauce recipe on their website. 

 

What first stood out to me about this recipe is it can be made right in your microwave oven. But it also had some of the other ingredients that I include in my own recipe (butter, garlic, Parmesan cheese), so I figured it couldn't be too far off from what my daughter loves so much about what I cook for her. The nutmeg and honey were something new for us, so I was looking forward to seeing how that would shift the flavor profile away from my version. My daughter's final thoughts? "That's different from yours. Not a bad different, but an interesting different. Much better than Olive Garden and I'd totally eat that one again!" 

 

If you do not want to make this recipe in the microwave, it will cook up perfectly fine stovetop. If you find that your sauce is too thick, just stir in a little more milk until it thins out. If it's too thick, gradually add more Parmesan until you reach your desired consistency. We always mix in half a bag of cooked frozen peas and a full bag of frozen broccoli into our cooked noodles. We then top with the sauce and finish off with a sprinkling of more Parmesan cheese and some fresh ground black pepper. Serve with some crusty French bread and you've got a restaurant quality meal at a fraction of the cost. 

 

4 Tablespoons butter or margarine

2 large cloves garlic, crushed

4 Tablespoons cornstarch

2 cups milk

1 teaspoon GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

1/2 teaspoon basil

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE 

 

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

   

What is your favorite pasta dish to make at home? 

Butter Lettuce Salad with Pears and Walnuts

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post.  

 

 

 

We're still having some warm weather days here in Indiana, so I haven't been so quick to let go of my leafy green salads just yet. Of course, we eat them year round, but more so when it still feels like summer outside. While we have a good mix of warmer days and cooler days now, I do find that I am leaning into salads that offer a more of an autumn vibe than those that use spring and summer fruits and vegetables as mix-ins. We've been topping our greens with apples, pomegranates, dates, and a mixture of nuts so we can make the most of seasonal produce while we can. And even though I am a pear lover, I don't tend to put them in my greens, but I made an exception this week because I wanted to try Golden Blossom Honey's Butter Lettuce Salad with Pears and Walnuts recipe for lunch. 

 

This is a perfect salad for those days where you are just craving the flavors of the autumn season. The pears offer a lovely contrast in flavor and texture to the butter lettuce, which left me wondering just why I've never really incorporated the fruit into my greens. I've definitely been missing out! What surprised me most about this salad is that you're getting many different flavor profiles in such a simple recipe. From the sweet fruits, the pungent scallions, the earthy nuts, the light greens, and the tangy dressing, it offers a fabulous mix of mouthwatering flavors that can't be beat! The dressing is a great alternative to oil heavy dressing because of the yogurt base that's sweetened with just honey and lemon. The next few months will have us surrounded by sugary treat offerings, so it's nice to have a delicious dressing that isn't processed with refined sugars. If it's still a bit toasty in your area but you want to indulge in autumn delights, this is a perfect seasonal salad to help you do that!

 

Ingredients

Salad:

1 head butter lettuce, torn into 1-inch pieces

1 large crimson pear, cored and thinly sliced (no need to peel)

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup walnuts, toasted

1/4 cup scallions, chopped

Dressing:

3/4 cup plain yogurt

3 tablespoons RAW GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE 

 

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

   

What are some autumn fruits and veggies that you've enjoyed this week? 

Carrot and Parsnip Saute

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post.  

 

 

 

Tis the season of the root vegetables. We're slowly moving away from the tomatoes, green beans, and snap peas, swapping those out more frequently now for carrots, sweet potatoes, and beets. Most nights I'll just season them and toss them in the slow cooker, steamer, or do a little oven roasting, but every now and again we'll saute them as well. Usually that involves just a quick drizzle of olive oil and a few herbs sprinkled in, but I found an interesting saute recipe on Golden Blossom Honey this week that involved a mixture of apple cider and honey and thought to myself that I might like to give that a try. So, I pulled out the ingredients for a Carrot and Parsnip Saute and got busy with the chopping. 

 

 

Does anyone else think parsnip is one of those easily forgotten fall vegetables? It's such an easy vegetable to work with, yet somehow it slips off my radar often. Probably because they look bland with their pale coloring in comparison to the brighter colors of the other autumn veggies. So, I am trying to make a conscious choice to add them to my grocery list a few times a month to break the habit of overlooking them at the produce stand. Parsnips are fiber rich, contain folate (so important for women's health!), a great source for Vitamin C (helping to get those immune systems in shape for cold and flu season), and are low in fat, so keeping those health benefits in mind, you really don't want to sleep on parsnips. They pair so well with carrots because both have a natural sweetness, but the earthy notes in parsnip help to tone down the sweet a bit so it's not overpowering. Plus, I like how visually pleasing the two look paired together, with the bright orange contrast against the cooler white, it adds a beautiful presentation on any autumn table. The addition of apple cider, honey, mint, and nutmeg offer a touch of warmth, making this a side dish that won't be soon forgotten. If you're looking to swap out the potatoes this holiday in favor of something with more pizzazz, carrot and parsnip saute is where the party's at!

 

Ingredients

12 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

3 large parsnips, peeled and thinly sliced

1 cup water

2 cups apple cider

1/4 cup GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE 

   

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

   

What's your favorite way to cook root vegetables? 

Poached Pear Delight

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. 

 

 

 

Happy October! We've finally landed in my favorite month. The heat and humidity are finally gone. The leaves have ever so slightly started to change. The spooky decor is up. And the seasonal treats are upon us! I love the flavors of autumn so much, but often wonder why pear has to take a back seat to apple and pumpkin? It tastes great, it smells amazing, and it can be incorporated into just as many baked goods as pumpkin and apple, but retailers just skim right over the pears. Rude! Since the food businesses want to be disrespectful of the fruit, I find that when I have time to make some seasonal treats for myself, I usually opt for something involving pear. And this week's sweet little treat that I made for Jason and I was Golden Blossom Honey's Poached Pear Delight. 

 

 

This isn't a quick recipe because of the poaching time, but it's one of the more effortless desserts to whip up. Most of the prep happens well before serving, so you can start the process before dinner prep, then everything will fall into place on time. Pears, honey and orange combined make for a perfectly cozy fall dessert, but I love that this one doesn't require baking in order to taste seasonal comforting goodness. A simple peel and poach and you're good to go. It's elegant enough for a dinner party and it looks so pretty on the table, but it's just as wonderful scaled down for a date night at home for two. The recipe does say to slice the pear halves after poaching, but I think they look prettier plated up in halves. But it's all about how you choose your presentation that matters. These pears, if you're thinking that far ahead, would make a lovely addition to your holiday menu. From date night, to dinner parties, to holiday gatherings, these poached pears will delight in any setting! 

 

Ingredients

4 cups water

1 cup SOUTHERN BLOSSOM HONEY

4 strips orange zest

4 pears, peeled, cored, halved

chocolate syrup

1/2 pint heavy cream, whipped

4 large strawberries, halved

1 bunch mint leaves

 CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

 

 

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

   

What are some of your favorite ways to cook/bake with pears?