Cinnamon Apple Rings: easy way to impress your friends

http://fortunegoodies.com/cinnamon-apple-rings/

Heidi sent this one in and I can't wait to make them. The one issue I have is that we are not fancy. The recipe calls for "different sized biscuit cutters." We don't have different sized biscuit cutters and I don't plan on buying them anytime soon. Because we are cheap, we use cookie cutters for biscuits. Unless they start making angel-shaped apples, we will be out of luck.

Also, I always like when a recipe comes with a story. It seems to make it more authentic somehow. Alas, this recipe didn't come with a built-in story, so I will have to make one up. Here goes:

One day, Heidi stumbled upon this recipe and decided to make it. Heidi and Haley were having an old-timey hoedown in the kitchen, which is their way.

Alas, Heidi spilled some of the buttermilk batter on Haley's new shoes. The shoes were spangled with stars and glitter, and every time she wore them she was the belle of the ball. A lesser woman may have been startled with fright, but Haley is a woman of considerable aplomb. She smiled and said "I now have the most beautiful AND most delicious shoes in all the land."

From that moment on they were known as "Haley's Shoe Apples."

The end.

Cheesy cauliflower

In the spirit of cooking and eating more veggies, I made this amazing cheesy cauliflower dish tonight that's basically mac and cheese but with cauliflower instead of pasta.

What you need:

• 1 head cauliflower (chopped into bite-sized pieces)
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp butter
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 bay leaf (unless you're afraid of bay leaves like I am)
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1½ cups milk
• 6 oz cheddar, grated
• salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard

Set the oven to 400 F.

Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat. Add the salt and the cauliflower, then cook for 4 minutes.
Meanwhile, butter or spray a glass/ceramic baking dish. Drain the water from the cauliflower and pour it into the baking dish.

To make the sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan on medium heat. Add the garlic (and bay leaf),
then cook for about 1 minute. Add the flour and stir quickly. Kurt and Hannah would like me to point out here that the flour-butter mixture is called a roux. They are the king and queen of the roux.  You want the roux to get just a little brown--this will probably take another minute. Slowly add the milk to the pot, stirring the whole time to incorporate the roux. Bring the sauce to a boil, stirring so you don't burn the milk on the bottom of the pan.  Once it comes to a boil, turn off the heat and stir in the cheese and mustard.  Add salt and pepper.

Pour the sauce over the cauliflower. You can sprinkle some breadcrumbs over the top if you're into that sort of thing, which I am. Bake for 40 minutes, or until the top is brown and bubbly.

Disclaimer: being the weird customizing part-time vegan that I am, I actually used almond milk and soy cheese and I'm delighted to say that it still turned out delicious although the sauce wasn't quite as creamy as it usually is because apparently fake cheese doesn't melt quite as nicely as normal cheese. But I'd still do it again because once it all bakes, it's still creamy and amazing.

Disclaimer #2: I got the recipe from this cookbook, which I love--she is amazing!