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Winter apples are at their prime and these tart, crisp varieties are perfect for cakes, crisps and pies. Joyce McClanahan brought an Upside Down Apple Cake to a recent potluck meal and it garnered several requests for the recipe. Joyce found the recipe on http://www.relish.com, a great site for seasonal recipes.

Recipe directions call for preparing in a cast iron skillet to caramelize the apple layer. I used a heavy non-stick skillet with oven safe handle instead and it worked fine.

Upside Down Apple Cake

Apple layer:

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup sorghum or molasses

3 to 4 crispy, tart apples or pears, peeled, cored and cut into wedges

Cake layer:

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

To prepare apples, melt butter in a 10-12 inch cast iron skillet over low heat. Add sugar and sorghum to pan and stir. Place apple slices, wedge side down in pan. Don’t pack them too tightly, but try not to leave large gaps. Cook over medium-low heat while you make the cake batter, about 15 minutes.

To prepare cake, beat butter and sugar using an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Mix in vanilla and eggs. Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add buttermilk and flour alternately to butter mixture and mix until well blended.

Remove skillet from heat. Carefully spoon batter over the apples and spread evenly. Place in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until cake is golden brown and bubbly. Let cake cool in skillet 5 minutes, then invert onto a serving plate, arranging any apple slices that may fall off the cake or remain in the pan. Serve warm or cooled. Yield 8-10 servings.

Note: I used light molasses and buttermilk, and did not peel the apples when testing the recipe. Also, some readers may not be familiar with adding ingredients alternately. Generally, unless otherwise specified, this means to add about 1/4 of each at a time beating well after each addition.

Joyce also brought Crescent Roll Hot Dish to the same meal, a recipe she found in The Happiness Magazine, given out by Odessa Drug. This is a great recipe to add to your “Go To” repertoire for last minute meal preparation, as ingredients are convenient to keep on hand.

Crescent Roll Hot Dish

1 pound ground beef

1 medium onion, diced

1 jar (28-32 ounces) spaghetti sauce

2 cans refrigerator crescent roll dough

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella

Brown and drain ground beef and onion. Add spaghetti sauce and simmer.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, press one can of crescent roll dough into a 9x13 inch pan. Top with the cooked ground beef mixture. Add cheeses. Roll out remaining can of refrigerated crescent roll dough and place on top of mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Jazz it up by adding a can of well drained mushroom slices, garlic or what ever you like. To reduce fat, substitute lean ground beef or ground turkey, low fat cheeses, and reduced fat crescent rolls.

This recipe was submitted to The Happiness Magazine by Joan Melhouse of Cannon Falls, Minnesota.

I plan to try this recipe again, substituting pizza sauce, adding sliced olives and some pepperoni slices for a quick deep dish style pizza. This recipe is ideal for incorporating what ever ingredients you have on hand.

Fall harvest also brings a bounty of winter squash. Large Hubbard and banana type squash can often tip the scales at over 15 pounds, more than most families can eat in one meal. Extra cooked squash can be mashed or pureed for use in recipes calling for squash or pumpkin. Winter Squash Shepherds Pie is a versatile dish that lends itself to ingredients on hand. I developed this recipe in 2011 after seeing a recipe in a gourmet cooking magazine that called for ingredients not available locally, nor economical to purchase. Prepare the recipe with ground beef, or black beans if you prefer a meatless dish.

Winter Squash Shepherds Pie

2 cups cooked, mashed squash

Salt and pepper to taste

1 beaten egg

2 cups chopped, cooked broccoli or cut green beans

1 cup chopped onion

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup chopped, green or red sweet bell pepper

1 can (4 ounces) sliced mushrooms, drained

1 beef bouillon cube

1/3 cup dried cranberries

2-3 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained or 1 pound ground beef, browned and drained

1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts.

In a small bowl, season squash with salt and pepper. Blend in egg and set aside.

In a large skillet, sauté onion and peppers in olive oil. Stir in broccoli, mushrooms, bouillon cube and flour. Cook and stir until thickened. Stir in cranberries.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large round casserole dish (2 1/2-3 quarts), layer beans or ground beef, sautéed mixture, then spoon the squash mixture over the top. Sprinkle with walnuts. Bake 35-45 minutes until edge begins to brown and squash is set. Yield 4-6 servings.

Clear and glass drink dispensers have become common at large gatherings. Plastic ones may become cloudy from mixing spoon scratches, and both types are heavy when filled, and cumbersome to move. Make mixing and filling easier, by placing dispenser where you want to serve. Use an 8 cup measure or a 2 quart pitcher and place all the drink mix or concentrate in it at once. Fill with cold water and mix until dissolved. Pour into positioned dispenser. Then add the additional cold water and ice, 2 quarts at a time, to the full amount, usually 3 gallons and stir gently avoiding touching the sides with the spoon. This will save you lots of lifting and keep your dispenser sparkling clear.

Another word about dispensers, plastic or glass. Sugar free sweeteners will leave a filmy residue, so be sure to wash thoroughly with hot soapy water and rinse well before drying and storing.

Share your favorite winter recipes and tips by sending them to: Welcome to My Kitchen, c/o The Odessa Record, P.O. Box 458, Odessa, WA 99159, email to: therecord@odessaoffice.com or drop them in the Welcome to My Kitchen mail tin in The Odessa Record office. Go ahead, jump in at least one pile of your raked leaves before mulching the garden with them.