Summer Food: Cream Cheese Pastry Blueberry-Apple Cobbler and Traditional Blueberry Cobbler

        The Advocate photo: HEATHER MCCLELLAND 

From Denny:  Blueberries.  The awesome blue food we all love.  So, I went hunting for something interesting in the cobbler department for us this week.  The first recipe is from our local newspaper, a blueberry cobbler made with a cream cheese pastry and a filling that consists of a combination of blueberries, apple and lemon.  A cream cheese pastry always tastes great with a fruit filling, especially blueberries!  It's a simple and straightforward pastry recipe with flour, salt and butter but also with cream cheese and a bit of orange juice added to the pastry to spike up the flavor.

The filling calls for fresh blueberries, an apple and lemon juice and lemon zest.  While this recipe calls for sugar I often substitute brown rice syrup or agave syrup in its place for a lower glycemic index than refined white sugar.  Try it half sugar and half agave as an idea, whatever you like at your house, just try experimenting until you find that sweet spot Goldilocks zone for your taste buds!

The second recipe is a traditional blueberry cobbler made in a 9-inch square baking pan like you do for brownies and is from a local Louisiana blueberry grower.  When a recipe calls for margarine, well, I'm no fan of margarine, so I use clarified butter.  If you don't have the time to make your own clarified butter it's now available in grocery stores as I saw a jar in Trader Joe's just last week.

Also note that I use "Tablespoon" and "teaspoon" as an easier read so you don't get confused by small type - by writing it out instead of an abbreviation and also capitalizing Tablespoon.  There have been those moments when I was busy and scan read a recipe only to make a mistake with too much or too little of an ingredient so I changed all my recipes to reflect what I do here on my food blogs.  The whole point is to enjoy a good food experience!

Oh, and the Denny Lyon Gifts ads are from my Cafe Press store.  The profits go to my two favorite charities:  the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank that feeds half of Louisiana and St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital that has helped thousands of children on the Gulf Coast.  After all, should anyone go hungry in America?  Should any parent have to emotionally stress and experience financial ruin because their child got sick?  Thank you to those of you supporting my gift store effort!...

Maggie Name Dog Tags

Human or pet Ms. Maggie deserves her own personalized jewelry too!

Loads of other products and names available so check back often as new ones added.

Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new!  

Maggie Name Woven Throw Pillow

Human or pet Ms. Maggie is in the house and deserves her own special pillow!

Loads of other products and names available so check back often as new ones added.

Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new!  

Easy Fall Recipe: Sauteed Red Cabbage With Apples

Photo: Heather McClelland @ 2TheAdvocate.com

From Denny:  Red cabbage is both a pretty color for the table and an easy vegetable to cook up quickly.  Red cabbage, like regular green cabbage, is great for your skin, an added health benefit!  Who wants wrinkles?  Dine regularly on chicken and cabbage and you sure won't need to bother with silly botox injections or face lifts.  We really are what we eat.  It helps when it tastes good too!

Now that many varieties of apples are in season you can enjoy your favorite apple paired with red cabbage.  All you do is first steam the cabbage. Then saute the apples with some onions in butter, adding the steamed cabbage.

Ahead of time I like to clarify the butter to remove the artery clogging milk fats and it also makes it easier to store at room temperature if you desire, once filtered of the milk fats.  I use a small tea strainer once it's cooled enough to go into a storage container.  I also prefer cooking with Vidalia sweet onions or red onions, sometimes called purple onions or Bermudas, but that's just my personal preference.  This recipe calls for yellow onions.  You decide what your family enjoys best.  Once the cabbage is just cooked through then stir in the cider vinegar and brown sugar mixture.

By the way, be sure not to use an iron skillet for this recipe as it tends to darken the cabbage and apples.  Yeah, it's the vinegar that creates that reaction.  (You could use an iron skillet that is coated with enamel so you wouldn't get that chemical reaction.)

Red Cabbage differs a bit from the common green cabbage.  How?  Well, the leaves are crunchier and the flavor a little bolder.  Some people cook down this cabbage until soft as it tends to get sweeter like in German cuisine.  It's really more healthy if you choose to saute it quickly or lightly steam it just until it's properly cooked through.  Again, it's all about your family's personal taste.  After all, the whole point of cooking is to enjoy the eating, right!? :)

Also, please remember that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, keeping these women in your thoughts and prayers.  Here's my latest Denny Lyon Gifts design (at Cafe Press) to honor all the fabulous women and their supporters fighting this disease.

This design first started off as one of my photos of those favorite hot pink azalea blooms, in addition to many other filters, employing a kaleidoscope filter to create this abstract medallion effect. This design reminds me of how our beauty is always there, no matter what form it takes.  Of course, here in Louisiana, we take creative "French" license with English spellings. :)  The thought bubble is to remind others to support these women on their journey to wellness.  Lots of other styles of t-shirts and other products to enjoy too.  The link takes you to the page of all the products featuring this design.  Thanks for visiting!

Geaux Wear Pink! Women's All Over Print T-Shirt

Help support breast cancer awareness and hope for the cure!

Apple Cobbler Cinnamon Roll Style

From Denny:  This is an interesting twist to the old-fashioned apple cobbler.  The dough is rolled out into a rectangle like for a jelly roll sheet cake, then the apple-cinnamon filling is spread on top.  You roll up the rectangle lengthwise and then slice into rounds.  After placing the slices into the baking dish - they look like spirals - a sugar syrup is poured over the entire pan.

This recipe is based off of the idea of how to make a Swedish tea ring.  The beauty of it is that you don't work with yeast dough or have to wait for it to rise before baking!

The sugar syrup is absorbed by the dough while baking.  Fair warning: this is a sweet dish! :)  It's definitely eye candy to match the sweet taste and would make a special dish for a holiday brunch or breakfast for the Christmas season or just when family and friends visit. For the holidays you could be really decadent and offer up a small dollop of some fresh whipped cream to top it at the table or on the side for individual servings...

Celebrate Chocolate Rectangular Canvas Pillow

Celebrate Chocolate every day as a holiday!  Many more products available in this fun design!

Caramel Frosted Apple Sheet Cake

From Denny:  You know me; I just have to rummage through a favorite product's recipe database to root out some interesting items to share.  Journalists like to research.  Martha White flour is a favorite at our house, more so than Gold Medal (which we also buy) when it comes to making tasty breakfast items like biscuits and scones.  Though Martha White really could use some help in the naming of their recipes so they made more sense to a reader and a search engine.  (The original name is below with the recipe.)

No, I don't represent Martha White or any of these companies.  Oh, that they would pay me! :)  But no, all my 24 blogs are done for the love of sharing and the love of writing as I can squeeze in the time.  Google AdSense ads are the only piddly income.  It pays for snail mail stamps and keeps me in copy paper...

Mod Blue Swirl iPhone 5 Case

Mod Blue Swirl: Get your retro mod fashion going on quick with this wow design! Design available for more phones and also as bedding, blanket, clocks, area rugs, pillows and curtains!

* * *  Support Warriors Pearl Foundation - contributing to fund efforts to help homeless female military veterans come home.  Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new!  

Bavarian Apple Torte in 3 Layers

From Denny:  Autumn apples are arriving soon and here is the perfect recipe to try out for the season. The only step that takes time is slicing fresh apples quite thin.  This recipe is faster with the use of the apple cinnamon flavored muffin mix from Martha White.

Their flour is the absolute best for baked goods and is a favorite here in the South.  Just in case you are not living in the South or not familiar with this brand I've linked the muffin mix from their site.  Their prices are quite reasonable online or in the store.

It's ALL good Bright Lights iPhone 5 Case

It's ALL good reminds us of the sweetness in life!

The Healing Waters: Summer Slow Cooker: Warm Chicken Pita or Lettuce Wrap

The Healing Waters: Summer Slow Cooker: Warm Chicken Pita or Lettuce Wrap: From Denny:  The beauty of slow food is you can forget about it for awhile after it gets going on the stove.  Then you are free to run a few short errands close to the house, go grocery shopping or clean around the house.

Since I'm no fan of long hours of house cleaning like it's a Saturday marathon I clean in short spurts for 10 to 15 minutes several times a day or week, depending upon how long a project takes.

I've even educated my husband how you can load the dishwasher in the amount of time it takes for commercial TV breaks to scream at you around the corner.  Fortunately, this year Congress passed a law forcing the advertisers to turn down the volume.

Chocolate Heart Nook Sleeve

Eat heart healthy, eat CHOCOLATE!

* * *  Support Warriors Pearl Foundation - helping homeless female military veterans come home.  Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  - see what's new!

Comfort Food From Louisiana: 2 Recipes: Coffee Cake and Apple Cake Topped with Pecan Streusel

Comfort Food From Louisiana: 2 Recipes: Coffee Cake and Apple Cake Topped with Pecan Streusel: From Denny: Lots of tasty pecans throughout this dense coffee cake, perfect for breakfast or an afternoon snack with a great cup of dark coffee. Here in Louisiana we love Bergeron pecans! Find the freshest pecans you can and buy them in large pieces as they will still retain more of the flavor.

Of course, we cake folk all know how delightful it is to use sour cream in any cake or muffin. The tenderness and full flavor can't be matched by anything else except maybe a high quality yogurt.

While searching for a photo to go with this post I happened upon a Rick Bayless recipe on flickr that is so unusual you just have to take it out for a foodie spin: Apple Coffee Cake with Pecan and Bacon Streusel.

Recipe: How To Make Chocolate Apples

How To Make Chocolate Apples - Now here's something we all should have thought of and didn't: Chocolate covered apples for Halloween or any time! So glad I ran across this wonderful recipe on HubPages.

Will set about converting the English measures to American. For those of you who already know how, enjoy this simple piece of chocolate heaven!

Update: here are the conversions

150 grams of dark chocolate = 5 1/4 oz. (oh, heck! just use 6 scant ounces!)

100 grams milk chocolate = 3 1/2 oz. (4 oz. sounds good to me!)

20 grams butter = 1 1/4 Tablespoons

Now that wasn't so bad now was it? To our British friends, thanks!

Recipe - Dennys Oatmeal Pancakes with Cherries

Dennys Oatmeal Pancakes with Cherries



Heart-healthy, easy to make and vegetarian!


Here is a wonderful and hearty recipe for cold weather days - and lazy Sundays! This recipe is heart-healthy with lots of oatmeal, cherries for the mineral iron and buttermilk as the American version of yogurt.

Photo by Denny Lyon