Fall favorites with ingredients of the season

Fall is here, the time has changed and my recipe choices turn to all of those wonderful dishes we reserve for just this time of year. Turkey, cranberries, apples and peppermint are ingredients in today's recipes -- all for your enjoyment and new for your recipe files.

Turkey Vegetable Soup with Stuffing Dumplings

Carcass from one 12-14 pound roasted turkey, picked clean

• 2 large onions, one quartered and one chopped
• 4 peeled carrots, 2 coarsely chopped and 2 sliced
• 4 ribs celery, 2 coarsely chopped and 2 sliced
• 6 garlic cloves, 4 smashed and 2 chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 10 whole black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 large eggs
• 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more as needed
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 cups leftover stuffing
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 cups shredded leftover turkeys meat
• 1 cup leftover corn kernels

Put the turkey carcass, quartered onions, coarsely chopped carrots and celery, smashed garlic, bay leaf, and peppercorns in a large stockpot and add enough cold water to just cover, about 2 quarts. Bring the water to a boil, and then reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook for 1 hour. Remove from the heat and strain the solids from the broth. Pour the liquid through a fine mesh strainer and reserve; you should have about 10-12 cups of broth.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the eggs, flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and some black pepper together until smooth. Add the stuffing and mix until well combined; cover and reserve.

Wipe the stockpot clean with a paper towel. Heat the oil in the pot over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and garlic and cook until soft and translucent, about 6 minutes. Add the sliced carrots and celery, thyme sprigs and reserved broth and bring to a simmer; cook vegetables until they are just soft, about 10 minutes. Roll level tablespoons of the dumpling mixture into balls with wet hands (see note) and drop into the simmering soup; cook until dumplings float, 3-4 minutes. Gently stir in the turkey meat, corn and season with salt and pepper, and simmer until heated through. Serve immediately.

Note: Moistness of stuffing can vary; if the dumpling dough is too soft to roll, add flour a teaspoon at a time until it is firm enough to hold its shape while rolling. Yield: 6 servings.

Caramel Cranberry Bars

I love cranberries and this recipe sounds delicious to me. I will be making them very soon.

• 1 package (12 ounce) fresh or frozen cranberries, thawed
• 1 package (8 ounces) chopped dates
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans
• 2 tablespoons plus *½ cup sugar, divided
• 2 1/3 cups flour, divided
• 2 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup butter, melted
• 3/4 cup caramel ice cream topping

In a small bowl, combine the cranberries, dates, pecans and 2 tablespoons sugar; set aside. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, and the remaining sugar. Stir in butter; set aside 1 cup for topping. Press the remaining crumb mixture into a greased 9x13-inch baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the remaining flour in a small bowl. Stir in caramel topping until smooth; set aside. Sprinkle cranberry mixture over crust; drizzle with caramel mixture. Sprinkle with the reserved crumb mixture. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Chocolate Pecan Sticky Buns

• 1 (15 ounce) can coconut-pecan frosting
• 1 cup pecan halves
• 2 tubes (12 ounces each) buttermilk biscuits
• 20 milk chocolate candy kisses

Spread frosting over bottom of a greased 9-inch square baking pan. Arrange pecans over frosting; set aside. Flatten each biscuit to 1/4-inch thickness. Place a chocolate kiss on one side of each biscuit. Fold edges of dough over kiss; pinch edges to seal. Arrange biscuits, flat side down, over pecans. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack for 5 minutes. Invert onto a serving plate; serve immediately. Yields 20 biscuits.

Caramel-Cranberry Apple Pull-Aparts

I had not thought about putting caramel and cranberries together, but over the weekend I received two new recipes pairing caramel and cranberries. They sound really good and very rich.

• 4 Nature Valley pecan crunch crunchy granola bars (2 pouches from an 8.9-ounce box), crushed (3/4 cup)
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 cans (17.5 ounces each) Pillsbury Grands Flaky Supreme cinnamon rolls with icing
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1 medium Granny Smith apple, peeled, coarsely chopped (about 1 *¼ cups)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12-cup fluted tube cake pan. In a small bowl, mix crushed granola bars, pecans and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Sprinkle mixture evenly over bottom of pan. In a large bowl, mix whipping cream, brown sugar and remaining *½ teaspoon cinnamon. Separate cans of dough into 10 rolls; set icings aside. Cut each roll into quarters. Stir roll pieces, cranberries and apple into whipping cream mixture to coat. Spoon mixture into pan; spread evenly. Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until deep golden brown. Immediately place heatproof serving plate or platter upside down over pan; turn plate and pan over (do not remove pan). Cool 5 minutes. Remove pan; scrape any remaining topping in pan onto coffee cake. Cool 5 minutes longer. Drizzle with icings. Serve warm.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Mix in large bowl:

• 1 2/3 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• *¼ teaspoon baking powder
• *¼ teaspoon salt
• Mix in a small bowl:
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup pumpkin
• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Add wet mixture to dry mixture and fold together with a rubber spatula. Pour batter into muffin tins or paper lined tins. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Makes 12 muffins or mini-muffins and bake 10 to 12 minutes for a yield of about 40 to 45 mini-muffins.

If you do not have pumpkin pie spice, you can substitute 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves for the 1 teaspoon spice blend.

Peppermint Ice Cream Dessert

I like having frozen desserts in the freezer to have on hand for drop-in company or late night snacks for the kids. This recipe fills that need perfectly.

In a 9x13-inch pan, place crushed vanilla wafers on the bottom.

For the fudge layer: melt 1 stick margarine and 2 1/4 squares semi-sweet chocolate. Beat 3 eggs and pour a small amount of hot chocolate mixture into eggs. Mix and return to remainder of chocolate. Cook a few minutes. Add 1 cup powdered sugar. Pour over crust and freeze.

Layer 1/2 gallon of peppermint ice cream over chocolate layer; top with thawed frozen whipped topping; shaved chocolate and curls and chopped nuts. Before serving, allow to set out of freezer a few minutes.

Have a great week, and until next time, happy cooking.