I would like to wish everyone a happy and loved filled holiday surrounded by family and friends.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

These sweet roasted almonds with a hint of cinnamon make a delicious and easy gift for the holidays but make sure you keep enough to snack on yourself.  The recipe comes from allrecipes.com.  These almonds are delicious!

Ingredients:

2 egg whites 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt 5 cups unsalted whole raw almonds 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2.	Beat egg whites and vanilla extract in a large bowl (just until frothy); add almonds and toss to coat. Mix brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, and salt and stir into almonds until blended. Spread almond mixture into prepared baking dish.
3.	Bake in preheated oven, stirring every 15 minutes, until coating is dry, about 75 minutes.

A DAY OF REMEMBRANCE

Vanilla - Almond Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

Today was a nice day with my daughter and mother-in-law as they came over and decorated Christmas cookies.  Frosted cookies are a favorite of ours.  Every year I go searching for the perfect recipe and  I'm  excited to say  I finally found the recipes I will use for cut out cookies and royal icing for now on.  I found the recipe on the blog Bake at 350.  The dough is easy to roll out and it doesn't have to be chilled first.  The icing uses meringue powder instead of egg whites (purchased at Michael's Craft Store), it's easy to work with and sets up nicely on the cookie. Most importantly they taste good with a touch of almond flavoring.  You'll have to check out the amazing blog, Bake at 350,  it's written by Bridget.  She has great step by step instructions about decorating and baking cookies.  Also here is a video showing Bridget making the cookie dough, video on University of Cookie.

Vanilla-Almond Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

3 c unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 c sugar
 2 sticks (salted) butter, cold & cut into chunks
 1 egg
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp pure almond extract

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine the flour and baking powder, set aside.

Cream the sugar and butter. Add the egg and extracts and mix. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat just until combined, scraping down the bowl, especially the bottom.

The dough will be crumbly, so knead it together with your hands as you scoop it out of the bowl for rolling.

Roll on a floured surface to about 1/4" to 3/8" thick, and cut into shapes. Place on parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes. Let sit a few minutes on the sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack.


Royal Icing
(This will cover 2-3 dozen)

4 TBSP meringue powder
1/2 c. water
1 lb. powdered sugar
1/2 - 1 tsp light corn syrup
few drops almond extract

Combine the meringue powder and water. With the paddle attachment of an electric mixer, beat until combined and foamy.


Sift in the powdered sugar and beat on low to combine. (Do NOT skip the sifting!)


Add in the corn syrup and extract if desired. ( The corn syrup helps keep the icing shiny.)

Increase speed to med-high/high and beat for about 5 minutes, just until the icing is glossy and stiff peaks form.

Do not overbeat.

Cover with plastic wrap touching the icing if not using right away or divide and color using gel paste food colorings.

This "stiff" icing is perfect for outlining and detail decorating. To fill in your cookies, add water to your icing a teaspoon at a time, stirring with a rubber spatula, until it is the consistency of stiff syrup. This technique of filling a cookie with thinned icing is called "flooding.


I didn't use piping decorating bags but instead I used squeeze bottles (purchased at Michael's craft Store) to decorate.  If using squeeze bottles don't use the "stiff" icing but thin out a little but not too thin.  With the squeeze bottles you can't do the fine detailed work but  otherwise work GREAT! 

Asian Zing Wings

Have you ever had the Asian Zing Sauce at Buffalo Wild Wings?  Well I've been craving their Asian Zing Wings and tonight  I'm a happy girl as I made them at home.   These wings were just what I was craving.  I found the recipe here Food.com.  These are spicy (but not too spicy) with a touch of sweetness. 

Sauce Ingredients:

2 tsp cornstarch
4 tsp rice wine vinegar

1/2 cup corn syrup
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup chili garlic sauce (find this in the Asian section)
1 tbsp (low sodium) soy sauce
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
1. Mix cornstarch and rice wine vinegar, set aside
2. Mix everything else in a sauce pan and heat on medium until steaming, add the cornstarch and vinegar mix.
3. Heat to a boil, stirring often.  Take it off the heat.  It will thicken as it cools.  Once it cools, use or store in the fridge until ready to serve.  *Best made ahead as it thickens as it cools.

Wings:
3lbs Chicken Wing Sections

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven 400 degrees.
2.  Grease a baking sheet (with sides) lightlyt with vegtable oil.
3.  Lay wings on the baking sheet in a single layer.  Bake 30 minutes. 
4.  Remove from oven, increase oven temperature to broil. Move oven racks closer to broiler (but not too close) Broil both sides until golden brown.  Only takes about 3-5 minutes per side, watch closely so not to burn.
5.  Transfer cooked wings to a large bowl and toss wings with the Asian Zing sauce. 

Serves 3-4

Pecan Tartlets

It's that time of year to make cookies and these are requested by my husband every year.  They freeze well so I can make them now and have them ready all month long.  This recipe comes from my Mom. They are like eating a miniature pecan pie.  Makes 24 but I  doubled the batch so I can share these with friends. 

INGREDIENTS:
3 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour

Filling:
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
dash salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees

2. To Make Crust: In a medium mixing bowl blend softened cream cheese and 1/2 cup butter or margarine until thoroughly combined. Add flour and mix well. Place in refrigerator to chill. (1 hour is enough)

3. Shape dough into 24-1 inch balls. Press into bottom and up sides of ungreased nonstick miniature muffin tins. Pour in filling, distributing evenly between all cups. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.

4. In a medium mixing bowl combine brown sugar and 1 tablespoon butter. Add egg and vanilla, and blend well. Stir in pecans.



Hint: You should use nonstick miniature muffin pans for these to come out perfect.

I have this neat tool that I got from Pampered Chef.  I dip the end in flour and push down and twist out to make dough cup.  Makes this step a lot easier but you can do this by hand because they are worth the effort.

Fill cups with filling almost to the top.  Being careful not to get filling on the pan.   If the filling gets all over the pan, the cookies won't come out easily, they'll stick to the pan.

Using a  non-stick pan they will pop right out. 

Every Thanksgiving I make a different cranberry sauce recipes hoping to find a keeper.  I made some recipes that use so many ingredients it didn't taste like cranberries anymore.  This year I found the one and it's simple.  Simple to make and simple in taste as you actually taste the cranberries.  So my search is over, this is a keeper.  The recipe comes from allrecipes.com, Cranberry Sauce.

Ingredients:
12 oz. fresh (or frozen) cranberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup orange juice

In a medium sized saucepan over medium heat, dissolve the sugar in the orange juice. Stir in the cranberries and cook until the cranberries start to pop (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat, let cool and place sauce in a bowl.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.

      

Pumpkin Bread

I have to post this recipe again because it's that time of year for everything pumpkin.  I LOVE this pumpkin bread, it is spiced with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves.  So much flavor and is perfectly moist.  Recipe comes from Allrecipes.com - Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread.  I make 6 mini loaves, that way I can share the loaves or freeze what we're not going to eat right away.

Ingredients:

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree 4 eggs 1 cup vegetable oil 2/3 cup water 3 cups white sugar 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour six  5.75 in x3 in (mini) inch loaf pans.
2.	In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
3.	Bake for about 40-45 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

The Madison Club

Tuesday night a friend (Margaret) invited me to The Madison Club (Madison Wisconsin) for a Harvest Cooking Class.  I didn't know what to expect but was pleasantly surprised as it wasn't cooking 101 but instead we got to experience cooking like a Chef at a fine dinning Restaurant.  The class was taught by Executive Chef Andrew Wilson.  The recipes we made were Steam Shellfish with Roasted Squash Curry Soup, Roasted Beet Salad with Duck, Oranges and Goat Cheese and Mustard Encrusted Venison Loin with Sauerkraut Spaetzle, Roasted Apples and Braised Cabbage.  Chef Andrew took us through each step of every recipe.  We were all given a whole duck to cut up.  I'll admit I don't even cut up chicken much less a duck but it was fun to learn. It was fascinating to learn about new ingredients and how to prepare them. After the class we all sat in the dining room where we were served what we had just learned to cook.  It was an amazing meal!  One recipe I will be making at home is the Roasted Squash Soup because it wasn't too difficult (recipe below).  I think I can find all the ingredients except maybe the galangal but will just use extra ginger.  It was delicious with the shellfish but was also delicious on it's own.  As far as the other recipes, I will leave those to Chef Andrew because I'm not sure where I would purchase  duck breast or a venison loin.  Thanks Margaret for the invite, I had a wonderful time.  Also to the other ladies in the class I enjoyed meeting all of you.  And Thanks to Chef Andrew, I left  with a full stomach and a smile on my face.

Steam Shellfish with Roasted Squash Curry

Roasted Beet Salad with Duck, Oranges and Goat Cheese

Mustard Encrusted Venison Loin with Sauerkraut Spaetzle, Roasted Apples and Braised Cabbage.

    Roasted Squash Curry Soup

1/4 cup canola oil to saute
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 stalk lemongrass, chopped
2 Tablespoons ginger, chopped
2Tablespoons galangal, chopped (see note below) (use extra ginger if you can't find)
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 Tablespoons red curry paste
1 Tablespoons tomato paste
2 Tablespoons fish sauce
1 butternut squash, peeled and roasted (roast 350 degrees for 45 minutes until soft)
juice of 2 limes
3-4  (14oz) cans coconut milk
3 cups chicken or shrimp stock (or combo)

Directions:

Heat a large soup pot with the canola oil. Add garlic, ginger, galangai, lemongrass and onion.  Lightly caramelize over high heat until very fragrant.  Add tomatoes, fish sauce and sugar and cook to almost dry.  Add tomato and curry paste and toast lightly.  Deglaze with lime juice and stock.  Reduce stock by one third and coconut milk and roasted squash.  simmer briefly until everything is combined and soft.  Working in batches, puree curry in blender and strain through fine mesh sieve if desired.  Return curry to pot, thin with more stock if necessary and check seasoning.  Serve immediately.

Serve as is or add shellfish (steamed mussels, clams, shrimp or pan seared scallops)

Note:  Galangal
A close relative of ginger, galangal is an important and popular ingredient in the foods of Indonesia and Southeast Asia, especially in Thailand. Ground Galangal (formerly called Laos powder) is easier to work with than whole Galangal and is commonly called for in recipes. The flavor is similar to ginger, but more flowery and intense. Use small amounts when starting out. Its flavor combines with ginger and lemon grass in Thai cooking, and with white pepper and/or cayenne for seasoning fish, meat or poultry. From Thailand.

 

  I usually don't start making caramel corn until closer to the holidays  because once I start I can't stop!   I started early this month making it for my monthly activity for allrecipe.com ambassador program as one of the brand partners is Karo Syrup.  I've made this several times this month and every time it gets devoured quickly.  Warning.....It's very addicting.  The recipe for classic caramel corn on allrecipes.com is very good but I have an all time favorite recipe that I got from - Amateur Gourmet.  Both recipes are good so if you love caramel corn, make it at home, you won't be sorry.

6 quarts of Popped corn (place popped corn in a large roasting pan)

1 cup butter
1/2 cup light Karo corn syrup
2 cups brown sugar (use only C & H brand *see important note)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla (I used 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp maple extract)
1/2 tsp baking soda

Heat your oven to 250F.  Place popped corn in large roasting pan in preheated oven while you make the caramel.   (Keeping the popped corn and pan warm will help coat the caramel)  In a large sauce pan melt the butter, stir in the corn syrup,  brown sugar and salt.  Stir until the mixture comes to a boil (medium high heat). Boil (medium high heat) without stirring for 5 minutes (making sure to use a timer because you don't want to go longer as it will burn).  Remove from the heat, stir in the soda maple and vanilla (Careful! it foams!). Pour over the popped corn and mix well in roasting pan.  (Don't be too concerned about coating all the popcorn as it will coat evenly when you are stirring every ten minutes that it's in the oven.)   Bake for 40 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to evenly coat (making sure to mix all the caramel that forms on the bottom of the pan.   Let it cool and eat! 

*Important note:  Use only C & H Pure Cane Sugar.  Cheap grocery store brand brown sugar just doesn't have the same flavor and quality.  The caramel comes out velvety smooth, whereas the other types of brown sugar produces a grainy texture. 


It's also interesting to note that when you add the baking soda and vanilla the consistency becomes very strange--it almost looks like caramel shaving cream.  I have to admit the first time I made this never fail caramel corn I failed!   The problem I had is that I boiled the caramel on high heat and it burned.  I corrected that to medium high heat and it turns out amazing.  

I use this 2 quart bowl to measure out popped corn.  Recipe calls for 6 quarts.

 

Use a large roasting pan to mix and bake caramel corn.  As it bakes you will stir every 15 minutes, this helps to coat all the popped corn into caramel goodness!

Lay out to cool on a piece of parchment paper.  Be warned......once you start eating this you may not be able to stop!

Here are a few other Karo syrup recipes that are keepers.

This is the best pecan pie, it's a keeper.  Here's the link to the recipe on allrecipes - Premium Pecan Pie

These are a family favorite.  Here's a link to the recipe on allrecipes.com - Chocolate Scotcharoos

 

I am an Allrecipes Allstar Brand Ambassador(a voluntary position) and I’m not compensated for my work with Allrecipes.com. Products received from advertisers are only used for experienced-based reviews on my blog. The reviews, content and opinions expressed in this blog are solely my own.

Stuffed Bell Pepper Soup

 I love this time of year and soup always delivers the warmth and comfort I'm looking for.  Here is an easy soup that tastes like stuffed peppers.  The soup is stuffed with ground beef, bell peppers, onions, rice and a rich tomato beef broth.  A full meal in one bowl, great with some warm bread.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1 cup chopped onion

2  cups green or red bell pepper, chopped (I used both)

6 cups beef broth (48 oz)

1 (14.5) can tomato sauce

1 (14.5) can petite diced diced tomatoes (undrained)

2 Tablespoons packed brown sugar

1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice 

1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:

1. In a large pot brown beef and onions over medium high heat. Drain off any fat.

2. Add the peppers to the browned meat and saute for 3 minutes.

3. Stir in the beef broth, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes with juice, brown sugar, rice, salt and pepper.   Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 50 minutes.  

Serves:  8-10

Caramelized Salmon with Savory Mango Salsa and Cilantro Rice

I will admit I'm not a salmon lover mainly because I haven't found a good source to get good salmon.  My brother told me to try the fresh salmon they sell at Sam's Club.  So I did.  I was sceptical but once I opened the package I noticed it smelled fresh, not fishy and it was already skinned, no waste.  I cut it into 8 nice size portions.  I just needed two portions for my husband and I so I just froze the rest.
This recipe is so good.  Since I only needed two servings I halved the recipe with no problem.  The cilantro rice, mango salsa and the caramelized salmon just go together perfectly.  This entire meal can be ready to serve in less than 30 minutes.   Start the rice first, then chop and assemble the salsa ingredients so the flavors have time to meld while the salmon cooks.   The original recipe comes from Bella Online, Karen Hancock.  Thanks Karen for this amazing recipe!

Caramelized Salmon with Savory Mango Salsa & Cilantro Rice

6 Servings

Cilantro Rice:

1 cup Rice
2 cups water
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons lime juice
2-4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Savory Mango Salsa:

1 1/2 cups diced mango, (about 2 medium)
3 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
1/4 medium green bell pepper, diced
1 medium Roma tomato, diced
1 small jalapeno pepper, cored, seeded, and diced
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Thai sweet chili sauce
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Caramelized Salmon:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 pounds salmon fillet, 1/2-3/4 " thick, cut into 6 serving pieces

1. Place the rice ingredients in the pan and cook according to rice instructions.


2. Meanwhile, mix the salsa ingredients in a small bowl and set aside for the flavors to blend.


3. Heat the vegetable oil in a large non-stick skillet; medium heat.


4. Mix the sugar, salt, and pepper on a large plate; dip the salmon on both sides in the mixture.


5. Place the salmon in the heated skillet and cook until the salmon is caramelized on the underside.


6. Turn and cook until the other side is caramelized and the salmon is cooked through. The time will depend on how thick the pieces are. Do not overcook.


7. To serve, place a bed of rice on each of six serving plates, top with a piece of salmon. Scoop a spoonful of salsa over the salmon.   

Zucchini Fries with Caramelized Onion Dip

Made these zucchini fries tonight for a side dish to go with burgers.  I found the recipe on Pinterest from the website King Arthur Flour.  I didn't make a full batch as it was just Kevin and I but the recipe was easy to half.  We loved these and will making these again soon!

Ingredients:

Dip:
1 Tbsp butter
1 medium onion, peeled and sliced
2 Tbsp cider vinegar
2 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp mustard (I used  1/2 Tbsp Dijon)
1 cup mayonnaise
Salt and pepper to taste (use very little)
 * In a saucepan, melt the butter and sauté onions on medium until onions are soft and carmelized.  Be patient, this will take between 15-20 minutes as you want the onions to be caramelized and brown in color.  Remove from heat and put onions into a mini food processor.  Add  in the cider vinegar, honey and mustard and process until smooth. Let cool before you add the mayonnaise.  Then  fold in mayonnaise and season with salt and pepper.  Spoon into container and store in refrigerator until ready to use.

 Zucchini Sticks:
3 medium zucchini, washed, ends cut off and cut each into 16 pieces
salt
1 cup panko
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan (I use the grated can Parmesan)
(original recipe calls for 1 Tablespoons pizza seasoning but I didn't use as the caramelized dip has so much flavor the Parmesan crust is perfect with out the extra seasoning)
Olive Oil cooking spray
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
 Directions:
* Place zucchini in a colander and sprinkle with salt.  Drain for 30 minutes to an hour. This will help release the liquid in the zucchini and help to crisp up when baked.
* Pat dry with paper towels (this will remove excess salt).
* Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
* Line a large cookie sheet with aluminum foil (or parchment paper), spray with olive oil spray.
* Combine panko and parmesan in small bowl.
* Dip the zucchini in egg, and then toss in the panko mixture.  So that the dry ingredients don't get soggy make sure you do one zucchini stick at a time.  Takes time but this way the panko doesn't get soggy with egg.  Line the zucchini on the baking sheet.
* Bake 12 minutes and turn zucchini over.  Bake another 10-15 minutes or until golden/medium brown.
* Serve with a side of carmelized onion dip

Source: Inspired by King Arthur Flour

Chuck Roast Chili

I found this recipe in the "Morton's The Cookbook".   I like that this recipe has tender chunks of beef instead of ground beef.  The texture and beefy flavor makes this a keeper!

This recipe calls for 4 cups of chopped onions so I love to use my onion chopper.  The onions are chopped in a snap!

 My other shortcut is chopping the 18 cloves of garlic, I use my mini food processor.

Cutting the chuck roast takes time but it's worth it.

Serves 12 (half the recipe for 6 servings)

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 pounds yellow onions, chopped (about 4 cups)

1/3 cup minced garlic (about 18 cloves) (use mini food processor to mince garlic)

3 pounds boneless chuck roast, trimmed some of the fat and silver skin, cut into 1/4 inch dice (I get 4 lbs chuck roast) (this takes time but so worth it!  Don't worry about some fat just cut off large pieces of fat)

1/4 cup chili powder

2 tablespoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper (I used only 1 teaspoon)

Four 14 1/2 ounce cans diced tomatoes with juice (I used petite diced)

Four 16 ounce cans spicy chili beans (I only use 3 cans)(also, if you don't want it too spicy just get mild chili beans)

2 cups water

Two 8 ounce cans tomato sauce

2 tablespoons beef base (bases are available in supermarkets in the soup isle)

2 bay leaves 

Salt (I didn't use any salt)
Garnish:
shredded cheese
chopped onion
jalapeno peppers
sour Cream

1.  In a large stockpot, heat the oil over medium low heat.  Add the onions and garlic and cook for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions start to soften.
2.  Add the beef, raise the heat to medium high, and stir for about 5 minutes as it begins to lose its pink color.  Add the chili powder, cumin and pepper and cook for 1 to 2 minutes to let the flavors develop.
3.  Add the tomatoes and their juice, beans and their juice, water, tomato sauce, and beef base.  Stir to mix well and then add the bay leaves.  Stir gently.
4.  Reduce the heat to low and let the chili simmer gently for about 2-3 hours, or until the meat is tender.  Stir frequently so the the chili does not stick to the bottom of the pot.  Adjust the heat up or down to maintain a slow simmer.
5.  Thin the chili with water, if necessary, and add salt to taste (I don't use any salt).   Remove the bay leaves and serve.  Serve with shredded cheese, chopped onion, jalapeno peppers and sour cream.
6.  The chili can be cooled and refrigerated for up to 3 days and frozen for up to 1 month.  Reheat it gently, stirring frequently.

 With the leftovers we added some extra cheese on top and had chili nachos (sour cream and guacamole on the side).  Lets just say, not one spoonful went to waste, it's that good.

Edwards Apple Orchard (Poplar Grove, IL)

It's that time of year again, time to go to Edwards Apple Orchard  (Poplar Grove, IL).  This place is what an orchard should be.  I've been going to Edwards annually since my kids were little and  I look forward to going every year.  My kids are grown now but if you have young kids Edwards has a lot to offer,  pony rides, a farm animal petting zoo,  playground, and even a farm museum.  Even though my kids are grown I still love going with friends.  My favorite is the barn with the gift shop.  There are many goodies for purchase.  Some of my favorites are apple butter, pumpkin butter, corn salsa, salad dressings and I always purchase a bag of apples.

I look forward to these apple spiced doughnuts and hot cider!  The doughnuts are warm and flavorful and along with the cider, I'm in apple heaven!

These are what apples are suppose to taste like.

 Here is one recipe that I make (several times!) when it's apple season.  It's so yummy!  

Apple Caramel Dip

1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup caramel sauce (I used Mrs. Richardson's Butterscotch Caramel)
1/4 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
1/2 cup Heath English Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits
apples, sliced

1. Beat the cream cheese with brown sugar until smooth. Spread onto a small to medium serving dish (with sides). I used a 3 cup Pyrex glass dish.

2. Heat the caramel slightly (about 10 second in microwave) to make spreadable. Spread on top of cream cheese.

3. Sprinkle the nuts and toffee bits all over the top. Serve with sliced apples for dipping.

I found this recipe on Janetishungry.blogspot.com but I made a few changes.