Caramel Apple Pizza

Let's talk favorites here for a minute.  Have you ever been to a favorite things party?  Tonight I attended my second one ever.  They are great.  Let me tell you about them just in case you haven't been.  Each party-goer picks something that is their favorite, then purchases 5 of that item.  Our limit tonight was $5, but it could be set either higher or lower.  Then each person puts their name into a box 5 times.  The box is passed around the room to each person and when it arrives in your lap, you explain a little about your favorite item, draw out 5 names and hand over your favorite thing to each of those 5 people.  So each person leaves the party with 5 different things!  So fun!  I left with some real treasures tonight!  If you haven't been to one of these parties, you should totally throw one yourself.  They are a blast!  So I took some fun Ikea kitchen tools as my favorite items tonight.  But another favorite that I have is pizza.  Even after working at 2 different pizza restaurants for a combined total of nearly a decade, I could still eat it just about everyday!  I have another favorite...sugary sweets.  I am truly a sucker for anything packed with sugar.  This caramel apple pizza, though not your traditional pizza, fits the bill for both of my favorites.  Its a little twist on a classic favorite.  I made this for the favorite things party tonight.  You should make it for yours...that I know you are going to throw...because by now I have convinced you of how fun they are and you are dying to do it...right?!

Caramel Apple Pizza

*If you are like me and do not keep pastry flour around the house, fear not, you can easily substitute all purpose flour.  Just place 2 tablespoons of cornstarch into a 1-cup measuring cup.  Fill the rest with all purpose flour.  Sift the mixture into a bowl or onto a plate and then take your 1 cup of flour from that. That simply replaces the 1-cup whole wheat pastry flour, so make sure you still add the 3/4 cup all purpose flour as well, giving you a grand total of 1-3/4 cup flour.  Also, as I was taking this to a party I wanted to make sure my apples didn't turn brown.  There are a variety of ways to stop that from happening, but I just soaked mine in some lemon water and that worked perfectly.

Crust

3/4 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

2 Tablespoons canola oil

1 Tablespoon light corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Topping

1 package (8 ounce) cream cheese

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 medium granny smith apples, thinly sliced

1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping

1/4 cup chopped unsalted dry roasted peanuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 140-inch pizza pan.  In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg, oil, corn syrup and vanilla.  In a medium size bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.  Gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.  Press dough onto a the pizza pan.  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool on a wire rack.  In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla until smooth.  Spread over crust.  Arrange apples over the top.  Drizzle with caramel topping and sprinkle with peanuts.  Serve immediately.

Recipe Source:  Taste of Home Appetizers

I'm linking up at these parties!  Go check them out!

Orange Juice Fruit Salad

How did ya'll enjoy the Superbowl?!  Was it just me or did that game last F-O-R-E-V-E-R?!  If you say it was just me, I will believe you because its true that I am not the biggest fan of the old football games. That might be a tad bit of an understatement actually.  My husband, however LOVES football!  So even though I don't adore the Super Bowl , I do adore good food, and there was plenty of that to be had over here at our house.  It was a smorgasbord of unhealthy, yet deliciously satisfying treats, both savory and sweet!  Though I loved every bit of it today, there might be a bit of regret tomorrow!  In which case, I should whip of a big bowl of this beautiful, healthy, and tasty fruit salad.  And you should too...you know, if you are feeling a little guilty over your football-party binging as well.  And if you aren't feeling guilty (either because you have much much more self control than I do when faced with the likes of pizza, caramel popcorn, and cake, or because you just don't care), you should still make a bowl of this beautiful and tasty fruit salad...because its good, really good.  I have served this both as a breakfast dish and as a side dish at dinner, and it works well either way.  You can't go wrong with a good bowl of fruit salad, and this is just kicked up a notch with the addition of a sweet orange juice reduction...I love it and I think you just might too!

Orange Juice Fruit Salad

*So the fruit in this is very adaptable.  I have used pears in place of the green apple, nectarines in place of the peaches, strawberries in place of the blueberries, bananas in place of the oranges...you get the idea.  Use whatever you feel like or whatever you might have on hand.  Just make sure they will go together...obviously watermelon doesn't pair well with bananas...in my humble opinion.  But to each his own!!:)

2 medium red apples, cubed

1 medium green apple, cubed

2 medium peaches, cubed

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1 cup orange juice

1/3 cup sugar

2 medium navel oranges, peeled, sectioned and chopped

2 cups of fresh blueberries

Place the cubed apples, peaches and lemon juice in a large bowl.  Cover with water and set aside.  In a small saucepan, combine the orange juice and sugar.  Bring to a boil and cook until the liquid is reduced to about 1/2 cup.  Drain apple mixture.  Add to the apples and peaches, the oranges, blueberries, and orange juice mixture.  Toss salad to coat with orange juice reduction.  Serve at room temperature or cold.

Recipe Source:  Taste of Home

I am linking this and other tasty recipes up to these wonderful blogs!