Romantic Potatoes

Romantic Potatoes a.k.a. Fleming's Steakhouse Potatoes (from the RecipeZaar)

My husband has made these potatoes for our Valentine's dinner for the last three years. I love it!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt, flakes
• 2 teaspoons finely ground white pepper
• 1 small jalapeno, seeds removed and minced
• 3 ounces leeks, chopped (white part only)
• 3 cups grated good quality cheddar cheese
• 4 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Spray bottom and sides of a 9x12 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Place cream, half-and-half, salt and pepper in a heavy sauce pan and bring to a simmer over medium high heat.
4. Place jalapeno, leeks and cheese in a large mixing bowl, add cream and mix thoroughly.
5. Add potatoes and mix.
6. Spread potato mixture evenly in prepared baking dish, cover tightly with foil and bake 45 minutes.
7. Remove foil and bake 15 minutes or until browned and potatoes are tender.

Applesauce Muffins

Something about these cold snowy days has made me think of lots of excuses to turn the oven on. Today I decided I wanted to try to new recipe, but I wanted something easy. I found this recipe on Rebecca Cooper's blog and thought it sounded good, Applesauce Muffins. I had all the ingredients on hand already, so no need to run to the store. I thought they were really good.

This is her photo:

Here's her recipe (with a couple of edits):

Applesauce Muffins

1/2 cup room temperature butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cups applesauce
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

topping

1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon (I like cinnamon, so I actually used a full tsp.)

Cream butter & sugar. Beat in eggs until fluffy. Add applesauce. Sift in dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Scoop batter into 12 muffin papers, or greased muffin tin. Bake at 350f until tops are golden brown, about 15-18 minutes. While muffins are still warm, dip tops in melted butter and then in cinnamon sugar mixture.