Cinnamon apples--a photo recipe

I love to cook. If you know me well you know that already. I cook dinner most nights of the week. It's one of my joys to provide for my family in this way, and I enjoy finding new foods to try and new ways to cook old favorites. As with anything that you love, you want to find ways to share it with others! Recently I have come across a website called The Pioneer Woman Cooks. This lady is amazing--she does these detailed photographic recipes which I love to read. She is an amazing photographer, and while I am no where close to that, I was inspired to try to take some pictures of a recipe while I make it. I'm throwing in some pictures of the entire dinner so you can see how it all came together!

The menu for the night was BBQ Pork, mac and cheese, cinnamon apples, and various leftover veggies.

First I got the pork seasoned and in the oven. I had picked up this pack of 4 boneless pork steaks for $4 at the butcher shop. I rubbed them with Corky's dry rub. Doesn't raw meat look appetizing? NOT!


Next I started on my apples. Normally I would use all granny smiths, but in this case I only had one, plus two Braeburn apples, and with grocery prices the way they are, I made due. No need wasting food! I love how pretty the apples looked on the counter, except for my ugly old cutting board!


Now I'll give a lesson in cutting an apple. I learned this from Rachael Ray. I used to try to use one of those apple corer/slicers every time I needed sliced apples, but what a pain that was! Way easier to just use the knife. Start by quartering the apple:


Lay each quarter on the cutting board and cut out the core at a 45 degree angle. Simple simple!

Take each quarter apple and slice it into 4 pieces. From one apple you'll get 16 slices. Sometimes I slice a quarter into 5 slices, if I want them smaller.


Melt some butter in a pan--I think I used about 5 tablespoons. Toss in your apples and stir them around to get the butter all over them. Some people would use more butter than this--I've seen recipes that call for a whole stick--but I think it's just as tasty with less.


Cook the apples for a while, until they get kinda tender and look like this. Don't overcook them or they get mushy and fall all apart. Oh, and that is also why I leave the skins on the apples--they hold together better. I'm not making applesauce here!


Next sprinkle on some sugar--I think I used about 1/8 cup--and some cinnamon. I don't really measure--just do it until it looks right. Don't overdo the cinnamon or you'll get that dry, bitter taste and you can't take it out!


These apples look just right, and looking at this picture makes me wish I had some right now!


Back to the rest of the meal--before the pork was all the way done, I poured some BBQ sauce over the top and cooked it a little while longer. If I had to guess I'd say the pork cooked about 25 minutes or so total.


What a colorful meal I had! Leftover green beans and creamed corn from the night before, plus some homemade carrot raisin salad (one of Aaron's favorites and my new specialty--maybe I'll share that recipe next!). I cooked up our standard Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, for a well-rounded meal! I put the apples in a cup next to the plate as our "dessert".



Mmmmm...butter, apples, and sugar! YUM!


Dig in!