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What is your go-to meal for the winter? Soup? Pasta? Potatoes? We all have our favorite foods we gravitate towards when cooler weather hits. Every now and again, though, it’s nice to try something new. Thus, we’ve collected a little list of dishes we think will make a fabulous addition to your dinner table:
Nothing quite warms the soul like a hot cup of soup. And for those days when the cold cuts right through you, we recommend curling up with a bowl of Grandma Tanner’s Butternut Apple. To start, you will need the following ingredients:
Instructions: Cook squash, apples, onions, broth, greek seasoning and sage together until squash is soft. Blend all ingredients in a blender or use an immersion blender. Add butter and salt. Heat and enjoy!
Hot, cold, chunky or smooth—no matter how you like it, applesauce makes an excellent side or snack. And if you’re looking for one that’s as easy to make as it is delicious, then we’ve got the recipe for you!
Instructions: Put apple and lemon juice in a food processor. Process until very smooth. Stir in sugar to taste. Add cinnamon; mix well.
Every good cook knows that taste is only one part of a perfect dish. The other is presentation. This year impress your guests with a side that does both—our apple cranberry relish. Not only do the ingredients make for a delicious combination, but all the red and orange from the fruit will add a bright pop of color to your table. Here’s what you’ll need:
Instructions: Cut orange into quarters, leaving the peel intact; place in a food processor. Add cranberries and apples. Process until the fruit is finely chopped. Stir in sugar. Refrigerate until ready to serve.*
*Note: Apple Cranberry Relish tastes best when the fruit is at its freshest. Therefore, this recipe is a good one to come back to in the fall after apple picking at your local orchard.
What would winter be without wassail? This delicious citrus and cider beverage originated from an Old English tradition that involved visiting local orchards and singing to the trees. This was done in hopes of inspiring a bountiful harvest the following fall. During this ritual, participants could drink out of a communal bowl filled with hot mulled cider. Thus, the beverage known as wassail was born!
Today, many people all over the world consume this delicious drink around Christmas time. And if you visit Britain on the Twelfth Night, you can even find people still participating in the strange tradition it stemmed from! To make your own, you’ll need:
Instructions: Place all ingredients in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour, then on low for 4-8 hours. Serve warm. This recipe makes about 12 servings.
Who doesn’t love a good sweet potato casserole? As legend has it, this dish was originally created in 1917 by two brothers trying to boost sales for their marshmallow company. Now, over a century later, this sweet and starchy side has become a Thanksgiving staple. And there are about as many variations as there are families that eat them. Here’s one to add to your table:
Instructions: Preheat the oven to 350° F. Place potatoes in a medium saucepan. Add enough water to the pan to completely cover the potatoes. Stir in salt; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Continue boiling for 10 minutes or until potatoes are just tender. Drain. Place sweet potatoes in the bottom of an ungreased 13×9-inch baking pan; top with apples. Drizzle apples with corn syrup; sprinkle with brown sugar. Dot with butter; top with pecans. Cover the pan with foil. Bake for 35 minutes.
All of the recipes used in this article came from our Harvest Cookbook. This cookbook is available for sale in our Farm Market, and it features dozens more dishes where homegrown fruits and vegetables are the key ingredients. If you like how that sounds, then you’ll want to check out our Facebook, where we host a weekly cooking show called Cooking with Grandma Tanner. This show airs every Thursday at 3 PM, but if you forget to tune in, don’t worry! After filming each episode, we publish them to our page, so those who couldn’t catch us live can watch at their leisure.
We may be in the thick of winter, but here at Tanners, we’re already thinking about next fall. And when our apple orchard opens back up for the year, we hope to see you there! Unfortunately, that’s still a little ways off, but if you have any comments or questions in the meantime, feel free to reach out to our team. Call us at (309) 493-5442 or email us at info@tannersorchard.com. Thanks for stopping by our site!