Shells and cheese with tomatoes and ham

I made this on Super Bowl Sunday. We were completely snowed in. Scott tried to get out twice-once we got stuck in our driveway, the other in the street. Thank goodness I had gone to the store on Saturday. Take a look at all the snow (right after we shoveled our garage area I might add):

Anyway, I was a bit nervous about this recipe because of the tomatoes. I've recently learned to get along and kind of like tomatoes, but trying them in new things concerns me. I love macaroni and cheese the way it is...cheesy, gooey and warm. Changing things up reminds me of a terrifying time in my childhood my dad tried to make Kraft Macaroni and Cheese with Vienna Sausages. It was absolutely terrible.

Whenever I make macaroni and cheese at home now, Scott always wants to know if I'm putting breadcrumbs on top to make it crunchy. I think that's a big deal to him. Since we really don't buy much processed items, I have no problem accommodating that.

In the end, three of us ended up finishing the entire pan of this stuff (yes, that's two servings each!). It was absolutely delicious, warm and just like a comfort food. It's easy and pretty quick to make too!

Shells and cheese with tomatoes and ham-adapted from Fall Baking by Better Crocker
Total time: 45 minutes
Serves 6

• 8 ounces uncooked medium shell pasta
• 1/4 cup salted butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 cups low fat milk
• 1 1/2 cups ham, cooked and diced
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, drained
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons salted butter, melted

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook and drain pasta as directed on package using the minimum cook time.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt 1/4 cup butter over medium-high heat. Cook garlic in butter, stirring until golden. Reduce heat to meduim and stir in flour, salt, mustard and cayenne pepper. Cook and stir until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Slowly add milk, stirring constantly, until the mixture boils and thickens, about 5 minutes. Gently stir in ham, tomatoes and pasta.

Remove from heat and stir in cheese until melted. Spoon into a greased 9x13 inch baking dish. In a small bowl, mix breadcrumbs and melted butter, then sprinkle over pasta. 

Bake uncovered for 20 minutes or until browned and bubbly.

Apple Crumble Bars

Even though this is generally a fall recipe, I didn't care. Apple crumble just sounded amazing, and I couldn't turn it down. Using the canned apple pie filling saves a bit of time and it still tastes great! The baking takes a bit of time, but you can sit and enjoy the company of others during that time! The prep doesn't take too long.

Apple Crumble Bar-adapted from Betty Crocker's Fall Baking
Total Time: 3 hours 40 minutes
Makes 24 bars

Crust

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling

• 2-21 ounce cans

Crumble

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 stick butter, cut into small pieces

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 13x9 inch pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, beat crust ingredients with an electric mixer on low until mixture looks like coarse crumbs and press into pan. Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool about 30 minutes and reduce heat to 350 degrees.

Spoon pie filling evenly over crust. In a medium bowl, mix 1 cup flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add butter and mix with a pastry cutter until crumbly. Sprinkle mixture over filling.

Bake 40 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool completely, about 2 hours. Cut into 6x4 rows.

Chocolate-Pumpkin Cake

I made this cake for my friend Shea's birthday and it was really good! I was most proud of the fact that the frosting actually turned out like the picture (see below)! We actually had an interesting time making this cake. I was preparing it at our house, and put it in the oven for the allotted amount of time. However, we decided we had to leave earlier, so it was pretty much par-baked, put in a car for an hour, and then finished getting baked. It still turned out well!

Chocolate-Pumpkin Cake

Chocolate-Pumpkin Cake-Adapted from Betty Crocker's Fall Baking

Total Time: 2 hours 25 minutes

Serves 16

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 can pumpkin
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/4 semisweet chocolate chips

Glaze

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

• Heat oven to 350°F. Grease tube cake pan with cooking spray. In medium bowl, mix flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
• In large bowl, beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating on low speed after each addition until blended. Add pumpkin and 2 teaspoons vanilla; beat on medium speed until blended. On low speed, beat in flour mixture alternately with 1/2 cup milk until smooth. Stir in 1 cup of the chocolate chips. Spoon batter into pan.
• Bake 55 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour. In medium bowl, mix all glaze ingredients until smooth and thick. Drizzle glaze over cake. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips.
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Almond Streusel Apple Pie

Apple pie isn't my favorite pie in the world. But caramel apple pie is close. The one from Perkins with the streusel on top was amazing when I used to work there. This pie perfected that recipe but with almond as the added toping. I actually think I might add almond extract to all my apple pies! It was great!

Almond Streusel Apple Pie-Adapted from Betty Crocker's Fall Baking
Total Time: 2 hour, 5 minutes
Serves 8

• 1 refrigerated pie crust
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 7 cups (about 7 medium) thinly sliced peeled apples

For the Streusel

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup cold butter, cut into pieces

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Place pie crust in 9-inch glass pie plate. In large bowl, mix all filling ingredients except apples. Stir in apples until coated. Spoon into crust-lined pie plate.

In small bowl, mix all streusel ingredients with pastry blender until crumbly. Sprinkle over apples.

Bake 35 to 45 minutes, covering entire surface of pie with foil for the last 15 to 20 minutes to prevent overbrowning, until apples are tender and juice is bubbly. Cool completely, about 1 hour.