Sweet Potato and Apple Sausage Bake

Tonight we enjoyed a dish of sweet potatoes, shallots, and organic apple-chicken sausage (from Target). I put all of this into a casserole dish, added some sherry and apple juice to the bottom of the dish and covered it with first parchment paper and then foil. I then baked it in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes. Oh my goodness it was wonderful! The sweet potatoes tasted great. It was served with our own garden succotash, and apple butter on homemade bread. Eating from the garden is just sweet in every way!

Shepard's Pie with Ale

Harvest time makes us head back to comfort food, and this baked meat pie is so good and so flexible. It's a great one to use with leftover meat, gravy, mashed potatoes and veggies. If you aren't into the beer, substitute beef stock.

Shepard's Pie with Ale
1 lb. ground turkey (or substitute another meat)
1 medium onion or a combo of onion and shallot, chopped
olive oil to coat pan
2-3 C chopped vegetables of your choice
1 bottle dark beer
1 pkg. gravy mix of your choice (I used brown.)
few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste, plus any other herbs that sound good to you
4-6 servings mashed potatoes for the topping - fresh, leftover, or instant
1/2 C grated cheddar or other cheese

Heat oven to 350. Brown meat and onion/shallots in olive oil in a medium pan. Add vegetables and a little of the beer. Cover and cook until veggies are crisp tender. Then add remaining beer, gravy mix, Worcestershire, salt and pepper and any other seasonings. Cook for a few minutes until the gravy mix begins to thicken the filling a little. Pour into a greased casserole dish, spread mashed potatoes on top, sprinkle with the cheese, and put into oven for 30-45 minutes. Place a cookie sheet under the dish to catch any run over. Watch for light browning on your potatoes and the filling bubbling up. Hope it warms you through and through!

Orange Dip for Pears

My uncle has a pear tree and is such a good sharing gardener! We thoroughly enjoy getting these little pears and here is one of the ways we enjoyed them. This was a dish I took to a women's fellowship meeting. It makes a lot of dip, so for a smaller group you may want to make half this much.

Orange Dip For Pears

2 Tbs. lemon juice
1/3 C sour cream
1/3 C mayonnaise
3 Tbs. orange juice concentrate
zest and juice of one orange
1 tsp. ground ginger
Drizzle pears with lemon juice. Reserve a little zest to garnish dip and whisk all other ingredients together . Serve fruit and dip chilled.