Parmesan Corn Chowder

It's that time of year...when I want to make soup every night. It's so comforting. I love to cook it. It is as relaxing to me to cook it as it is to eat it. The ease of one big pot of soup, some bread and a simple salad and the meal is complete. That always makes me happy on a busy weeknight. I started making this one 15 years ago when Q and I were first married and it's been a regular favorite every year since. I remember when we were living in Ukraine, in '03 and '04, Eden was 4 years old and she loved this soup and she even started calling herself "soup girl". I can't make this soup now without remembering that and smiling. Then again, she's 12 now, and when I realize how fast the time has gone I can't help but cry. So, tonight I was smiling and crying and making this favorite soup. If you try it, maybe it will become a favorite of yours too.


adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Best Loved Community Recipes

Ingredients:

• 3-4 cups cubed peeled potato
• 3/4 cup thinly sliced carrot
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1 can Green Giant cream-style corn
• 1 can Green Giant (not reduced sodium) whole kernel corn drained

Directions:

1. In a large Dutch oven, stir together 2 cups water, the potato, carrot, celery, onion and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt butter. Stir in the flour. Add the milk and cream all at once. Cook and stir over medium heat until the mixture is thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more.

3. Add the cheese, stirring unto vegetable mixture. Stir in the til it is melted. Carefully add the cheese mixture corn. Heat the soup through, stirring occasionally. Do not boil.

B's Velvet Sweet Potatoes

The name was lovingly given by my friend Sue. I've won metaphorical awards at Marty family gatherings, and dinners with friends for these sweet potatoes. They are ever-present at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner on my side of the family made by my cousin's wife who is an amazing cook and baker. She started making them years ago with this wonderful praline topping. But over the years, I began to miss the marshmallow top I remembered enjoying so much as a young girl when my grandma used to make them. So my cousin started making a small casserole dish of marshmallow topped sweet potatoes just for me. It didn't take long though, and other family members joined in my nostalgia and helped themselves to my toasted marshmallow dream-come-true... and now Jean just makes two big casseroles...one of each kind.

...so, praline or marshmallow topped; you decide...or be like us and choose both...but topping or not, your mouth will think it died and went to sweet potato heaven when you taste this velvety goodness.

adapted from Jean's recipe

Ingredients and Directions:

• 6 cups baked* mashed sweet potatoes

clean the sweet potatoes and make an X in the top with a knife. place them on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 1 hour or until they are done. the baking time depends entirely on the size of your potatoes so check them frequently once they start to feel soft when squeezed. if you have varying sizes you can remove them from the oven as they finish baking. they will ooze and become almost carmelized. *Baking them versus boiling is the key to the amazingness of the finished product so give yourself plenty of time to make them or *BONUS* you can even make them the night before once they have cooled slightly you can easily remove the skins with a knife. To mash them a potato ricer works the best to get them extra smooth but if you don't have a ricer just use an electric mixer to mash them.

• 4 eggs beaten
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup melted butter
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

mix the remaining ingredients into the mashed potatoes and put into a pretty casserole dish 9x13 or any one with the appropriate capacity. you can make them ahead up to this point and refrigerate them. 
note: you may have to adjust the baking time slightly if they are cold when you put them in the oven.

praline topping:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 5 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 cup chopped pecans

mix together and cover the top of the sweet potatoes and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes

for the nostalgic marshmallow topping:

cover the top with large marshmallows for the last 15 minutes of baking time and cook until golden watching them closely.

Snappy Gingersnaps

I love gingersnaps! It's like fall disguised as a cookie. This is a great recipe that's morphed into the perfect gingersnap over my years of baking these. I always make these cookies when I make my pumpkin cheesecake dip.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger (or 2- 3 tablespoons fresh grated*)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• pinch cayenne pepper (optional) I like to add this to give them a little extra 'snap'
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. preheat oven to 350
2. cream butter and sugars
3. add egg and vanilla and beat well
4. stir in molasses and mix well *if using fresh ginger add it here
5. sift together flour and spices twice
6. add to molasses mixture and beat until dough forms
7. chill dough about 30 minutes
8. roll into small uniform balls (I use my kitchen scale to measure 15 grams per cookie)
9. roll in white sugar and place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet
10. flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass
11. bake in the preheated oven for exactly 9 minutes (longer if you like your ginger snaps more crispy)
12. remove to wire racks to cool completely

Pumpkin Cheesecake Dip

I got the idea for this recipe from Southern Living. This is so much fun to serve at a party in the fall and it's always a huge hit.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup  powdered sugar, sifted
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• dash allspice
• dash nutmeg
• dash ground cloves
• chopped pecans and brown sugar (optional)

Directions:

1. beat cream cheese till creamy 
2. gradually add sugars, beating well.

3. stir in pumpkin, and spices.
4. cover and chill.
5. garnish with a little brown sugar and chopped pecans just before serving

I love to serve this with my homemade gingersnaps and gingerbread cookies cut out in fun pumpkin and leaf shapes and little hearts. I also have a turkey shaped cookie cutter that's really cute. Apple and pear slices are a nice complement and they look pretty on the plate. This dip is good with a salty companion too like pretzel crisps.

Tart-Sweet Apple Crisp

When the air gets crisp, so does dessert. This has always been my favorite apple crisp recipe. It's my mom's...maybe that's why? It's the one I grew up on. The best part for me though...other than the fact that it doesn't involve oats, not that I have anything against oats, I just don't like them on my crisps and cobblers...is that the topping is sweet and the filling is just tart and cinnamon-y. There is no sugar in the filling so it's just the perfect complement to the topping...and the most perfect experience for your tastebuds.



Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter slightly softened
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 2  cups sugar
• 5 lbs (before peeling and coring) baking apples. I like to use a couple different varieties to enhance the flavor and texture.
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup water

Directions:

1. preheat oven to 350°     
2. generously butter bottom and sides of 9x13 pan.
3. In a medium bowl, cut together flour, butter, and sugar using a pastry blender or fork until crumbly. Set aside.
4. core peel and slice apples 
5. put the apples evenly into the buttered pan
6. sprinkle with salt and cinnamon toss with hands to coat evenly
7. pour the water over the apples in the pan
8. spread butter-flour-sugar mixture evenly over the apples.
9. Bake for 45 minutes or until top is golden and apples are fully cooked and bubbling.

Cool slightly but serve warm on pretty plates with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

B's Chili (Traditional)

This is my own chili recipe. After years and years of makin' chili and lovin' it and quite frankly, wingin' it... I was going to teach it at my cooking class in Poland.  I realized I didn't have anything really written down so I needed to gather my thoughts and decide once and for all "if I were going to make [and teach] the perfect pot of chili... what would I want in it? and what would the measurements be? What am I gonna tell these people?!!" ...and this is what I came up with...and they loved it! ...and now I don't have to 'wing it' anymore.


Ingredients and Directions:

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 lbs. ground beef
• 1 ½ cups chopped onion
• 6-8 cloves garlic

1. heat vegetable oil in a large soup pot over medium high heat.

2. add garlic and onions. cook until tender.

3. add ground beef and cook until meat is no longer pink 

• 2 large(28 oz each) cans diced/or crushed tomatoes (do not drain)
• 2-3 cans spicy chili beans in chili sauce
• 2 cans kidney beans drained
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 4 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons pepper
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 jalapenos seeded and chopped (or more to taste)
• 2 + cups tomato juice(like V8 or Campbell's)if you like your chili nice and spicy this is another ingredient you can use to heat it up by getting the hot and spicy tomato juice 

4. Reduce heat. Stir in tomatoes, chili beans, and kidney beans.
5. Season with salt, sugar, chili powder, pepper, cumin and cayenne pepper. Stir and simmer.

6. Add chili peppers and tomato juice(more or less depending on how thick or thin you like your chili). Simmer for 1 ½ hours stirring often. Be sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot.

Serve with:

• shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• sour cream
• chopped green onions
• beer bread or Dawnie's cornbread, and
• tortilla chips or Fritos scoops for dipping

Autumn Salad

Ingredients for Salad:

• lettuce (a tender leafy mix)...or whatever's in the fridge
• glazed pecans
• dried cranberries
• finely chopped (or very thin rings) red onion to taste
• granny smith apples diced with skins on

Directions:

To glaze the pecans: Heat a skillet over med-hi heat and put about ¾ cup sugar in the pan. When the sugar liquefies add the pecans and stir quickly to coat them. As soon as they are coated work quickly and remove to wax paper on a plate. Be sure to soak the pan immediately or the sugar will harden and be so much more work to clean off. Allow them to cool completely and then break apart or chop and put into the bowl with the other salad ingredients. I like to assemble this salad on individual plates for special dinner parties to make sure the ingredients are evenly distributed.

Ingredients for Dressing:

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3 heaping teaspoons prepared mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• small yellow or red onion coarsely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon celery seed (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup oil

Directions: 

combine first 7 ingredients in blender, then slowly add oil. Pour over salad and toss immediately before serving. Or pass the dressing in a pretty bottle or small pitcher to serve to individual plates.