As we enter fall and the Holiday Season, the baking of fall favorites has already begun in our household. Smells of banana nut and pumpkin nut bread, peach or apple pecan crisps, pecan, pumpkin or sweet potato pies are already in the air.

Once fall makes its arrival, along with all the great baked goods we get to enjoy, there is also a drink we love to make in our house (sorry, this one is for those 21 and above). We call it a Caramel Apple or a Chocolate Caramel Apple. It is very versatile since there are several ingredients you can add or leave out altogether. However, even if you use only the two types of Crown Royal you will still have the basics of your Caramel Apple in a mixed drink.

Crown Royal (Chocolate) Caramel Apple

Ingredients

• 1oz Apple Crown Royal
• 1oz Salted Caramel Crown Royal
• Caramel syrup
• Chocolate syrup *Optionalseasonal
• Sprite, Sierra Mist, or Apple Cider * Optional
• Ice * Optional
• Rocks glass

Directions

1. Drizzle the inside of an 8 oz rocks glass with caramel and/or chocolate syrups to your taste and place ice in glass as desired. Pour Apple and Salted Caramel Crown Royal into glass, then top with soda or cider adjusting the amounts to your taste preference.

I can’t leave out those of you who cannot have alcohol for whatever reason. The Non-Alcoholic (Chocolate) Caramel Apple I give you below is a nice, tasty drink for those who are looking for a delicious non-alcoholic drink.

Non-Alcoholic (Chocolate) Caramel Apple

Ingredients

• Chocolate syrup*(optional)
• Caramel Syrup
• 8oz Apple Cider
• Stove or alternate way to warm your drink
• Coffee cup or alternate desired cup for hot drink

Directions

1. Put Apple Cider in pan on stove (or alternate way to warm) to warm to desired temperature
2. Drizzle Caramel and Chocolate syrup around inside of cup
3. Add warm Apple Cider and Enjoy!

Now that we have drinks covered, if there is one thing we like to do in our house, it is to eat. We are Italians, so we are a big, noisy group that finds any reason to get together to eat good homemade food. One of the things we love most in the fall and winter is this Loaded Baked Potato Soup my dad’s girlfriend makes. It is thick and hearty, ooey, gooey, cheesy, and covered in homemade bacon bits and chopped green onions.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup (Super Easy Crockpot Style)

Ingredients

• 1 bag frozen shredded hashbrowns
• 1 bag frozen broccoli florets
• 2-3 Chicken breast depending on size and shredded (you can also use a bag of frozen chicken bites)
• 1 16 oz bag of shredded cheddar (or pepper jack to spice it up)
• 1 8 oz bag of shredded cheddar (or pepper jack to spice it up). This is for your topping
• 2 cans Carnation 2% milk (may need to add more when cheese is added to get desired consistency)
• 1 lb. bacon (fried, drained and crumbled into small pieces)
• Chopped Green onions
• Seasoning to taste (Salt, Pepper, Garlic, Onion, Celery, red pepper or chili pepper to spice it up)

Directions

1. Add hashbrowns, broccoli, 1 can of the milk and chicken to crockpot. Cook on low to medium heat for 6-8 hours.
2. About 30 minutes to 1 hour before serving, cook the bacon so it has time to cool before crumbling.
3. You should also add the cheese and the last ½ can of milk to the crockpot, so it has time to get good and melted in. (This is one of a few recipes we make sure to buy the good cheese that will melt well).
4. If the soup is still too thick for you, feel free to add more milk until you reach your desired thickness. We like thicker soups, so we leave this soup like it is Our nickname for this is Dip because we dip it out of our bowls with ritz crackers. With the chopped green onions and homemade bacon bits that would be made right before serving and season to taste.
5. Enjoy!

We love this soup, especially on those chilly, windy days where you are chilled to the bone. This soup will warm you right up.

Another family favorite that we discovered last year is a Crown Royal Bourbon Vanilla Chocolate Pecan Pie. It is so good, even my dad ate nearly half the pie over Thanksgiving last year and he does not like pecan pie at all!

Crown Royal Burbon Vanilla Chocolate Pecan Pie

Ingredients

• 3 extra-large eggs, slightly beaten
• ½ cup granulated sugar, or equivalent if using sugar substitute (may use 1 cup of granulated or brown sugar sugar instead of ½ cup each)
• ½ cup brown sugar, or equivalent if using sugar substitute
• 2 Tbsp butter, melted
• 1 cup dark corn syrup
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• ¼ cup Crown Royal Vanilla
• ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (add more if you need them to cover the bottom of the pie crust)
• 1 ¼ cup pecan halves
• 10” deep dish pie crust

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Combine eggs, sugar (or substitute), butter, dark corn syrup, vanilla extract and Crown Royal Vanilla; Mix well. Add Pecans to mix
3. And mix well.
4. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the bottom of the pie shell.
5. Add pie mixture with pecans.
6. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes
7. Enjoy!

I have shared the full course of a meal for you, but I have saved our best treat for last. This is a recipe that has been passed down to my dad’s girlfriends’ family for several generations. It’s delicious and we love eating it warm with real butter spread over it. Don’t use margarin, or some other fake form of butter. Use real butter made from cream and salt. You will taste the difference. Use it on this Banana Nut Bread and you will fall in love with both!

Banana Nut Bread

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup butter softened
• 4 eggs
• 1 ½ cup apple sauce
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 6-8 bananas
• 4 ½ cups flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ – 2 cups Nuts (depending on preference of amount and taste)
• ½ – 1 cup chocolate chips (optional and depends on preference)

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl.
2. Pour into greased loaf pans (makes 2 loaves)
3. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees
4. *You can also use a 9×13 cake pan and bake as a cake, This can even be done by using a bunt cake for different twist. Drizzle with a simple icing made powder sugar, milk and butter icing (*optional add in some melted chocolate or chocolate syrup).

There you have it. All the recipes that I have shared with you are the must haves in our household now, thanks to my dad’s girlfriend. We usually eat them from fall until early springtime.

I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as my family does!

 

Credits To: George Beneke III, gbeneke@lc.edu