Apple Bites

My Grands go into giggle fits over these

1. Just quarter and core an apple, cut a wedge from the skin side of each quarter, then press slivered almonds in place for teeth.

Tips:

If you're not going to serve them right away, baste the apples with orange juice to keep them from browning.

From Family Fun

Blueberry and Lemon Ices

Ingredients

• BLUEBERRY ICE:
• 4 cups blueberries
• 3/4 cup white grape juice
• 3/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• Pinch of salt

• LEMON ICE:
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 2/3 cup lemon juice (about 4 lemons)

Instructions

1. Blueberry Ice: In a blender or food processor, combine the blueberries and grape juice and pulse until mixed, about 30 seconds.
2. Working in batches, strain the mixture into a medium-size bowl through a medium mesh strainer. Add the maple syrup, lemon juice, and salt to the bowl and stir to combine.
3. Transfer the mixture to a 9- by 13-inch pan, cover it with plastic wrap, and freeze it for 1 hour. Remove the pan and scrape the mixture's frozen edges into the center with a fork. Freeze it another hour, then scrape the ice crystals into the center again. Return the pan to the freezer for at least 1 more hour, or overnight. If the mixture is too firm to scoop when you're ready to serve, scrape it to loosen the crystals. Makes 4 cups.
4. Lemon Ice: Bring the water, sugar, and salt to a simmer over high heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the lemon juice.
5. Pour the liquid into a 9- by 13-inch pan and let it cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes.
6. 
   Cover the mixture with plastic wrap, then freeze and scrape as you did for the Blueberry Ice. Makes 3 cups.

Bite Sized Cherry Pies

Recipe: Bite-size cherry pies

• Pie crust
• Cherry pie filling

1. Preheat your oven to 375˚F.
2. If you made your own crust (I’m impressed!), roll it out to about ⅛-inch thick. If you’re using refrigerated ready-to-bake pie crust, let it sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes, and then unroll it.
3. Use a round cookie cutter, biscuit cutter or cup (about 2.5 to 3 inches in diameter for a mini muffin pan) to cut circles from the dough. These circles will be your bottom crust. Gently push the circles into the wells of an ungreased mini muffin pan. (Here are some tips from Pillsbury on dealing with your crust.)
4. Spoon your cherry pie filling into the little pie shells. You’ll only need two or three cherries per shell. The more filling you add, the more of a mess it’ll make in the oven … but what a tasty mess!
5. Cut out your top crust. You can cut out circles to fully cover the top of the mini pies or make a lattice crust, like notmartha did. Or you can be lazy like me, and use your smallest cookie cutters to cut out little shapes that you just plop right on top of the filling. (Warning: This appears to be the messier option.)
6. Put your mini muffin pan into the oven; the pies are done when the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling. You’ll want to check them after 10 minutes just in case, but my pies didn’t start to get golden for about 15 minutes. Make sure to let them cool just a bit before popping them in your mouth.

Read more: http://sloblogs.thetribunenews.com/andallthetrimmings/bite-size-cherry-pies/#ixzz1EqRw8zo5

Presidents Day Fruit Recipes

http://www.mealsmatter.org/blog/post/2011/02/18/Presidential-Palate.aspx