Bean and Bacon Soup

I wish I was one of those cooks that "created" her own dishes. I'm not. Instead I peruse cooking blogs, magazines and cookbooks and I post my favorites. This one comes from one of my favorite cooking blogs. (www.fortheloveofcooking.blogspot.com) I made a few slight changes to it, but otherwise it's all hers. I decided to make this, because one of my favorite lunches in high school was a can of campbells Bean and Bacon soup with crushed ritz. This recipes brought me back to those days. It was delicious.

4 strips bacon (I used two and it was plenty)

2 large carrots, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 bay leaf (I used two)

3 cans white beans, drained

4 cups chicken broth

2 Tbsp fresh parsley ( I left this out)

In a pot fry the bacon until crisp, remove and drain on paper towels. Let cool and chop.

Over medium heat, saute carrots, onion and celery in bacon drippings. Saute aroudn 5-7 minutes then add garlic and stir for an additional 60 seconds. Season with salt and pepper.

Add two cans of beans, bay leaf and broth. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Let simmer 15-20 minutes or until celery and carrots are soft. Uncover and remove bay leaves. Using a potato masher (or my NEW immersion blender I got for Christmas!) partially mash bean mixture until it thickens slightly. Stir in last can of beans, parsley and bacon. Yum!

Secret ingredient

I've learned from my superb cooking skills (actually I should say eating skills), that cream cheese is always the "secret ingredient" to a yummy meal. When Delina gave my mom this recipe for Butternut Squash Soup, I was excited to find that indeed, cream cheese was in the soup. SO! I decided to try it out!
I began my cooking career 3 days ago with a sandwich thing with mushroom gravy. I kinda wanted to impress my boyfriend- and I hope it worked! The butternut squash on the other hand, was just for me to eat. Have you ever tried to cut squash? Ok, it's NOT easy- I had like 4 different knives going and was yelling and the stupid things and there were squash pieces flying everywhere! Later I learned that I should have actually peeled it with a potato peeler first. Maybe they should make squash-peelers, THEN I would have known. All in all it turned out lovely! The only thing was my cream cheese had those little lumps goin on - and I thinkg that was b/c my cream cheese wasn't room temp. BUT of course I didn't know that it should have been, until AFTER I was done. ok seriously, when I use recipe, EVER LITTLE DETAIL needs to be addressed. Here's the recipe and a pict-
oops! just found another piece of squash on the ground...................
Butternut Squash Soup

6 tablespoons chopped onion
4 tablespoons butter
6 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
3 cups water
4 cubes chicken bouillon
1/2 t. dried marjoram
1/4 t. ground black pepper
1/8 t. ground cayenne pepper
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese

In a large saucepan, saute onions in butter until tener. Add squash, water, bouillon, marjoram, black pepper. Bring to boil; cook 20 min, or until squash is tender. Puree cooked squash mixture in a blender of food processor in batches until smooth. Blend in cream cheese. Return to saucepan, and heat through. Do not allow to boil.
Cayenne pepper is optional, and the leftovers are great!

Creamy Chicken and wild rice Soup

This is one of our favorite soups. It's not the healthiest soup, but definately a comfort food, and delicious! I found this on Allrecipes.

4 c. Chicken broth
2 c. water
2 cooked and diced chicken breasts
1 4.5 oz quick cooking long grain and wild
rice with seasoning packet.(like uncle ben's)
3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. butter
2. cups heavy cream


In a large pot combine broth, water and chicken. Bring to a boil and stir in rice, reserving seasoning packet. In a separate bowl melt butter, stir in contents of seasoning packet, stir until bubbly. Reduce heat and stir in flour to make a roux. Whisk in cream a little at a time, until smooth. Cook until thickened. Stir cream mixture into broth and rice. Stir until combined. These are the directions from the website...I don't like to dirty too many bowls, so I make it all in one pot and it turns out great.

Pumpkin pudding & homemade gingersnaps

My friend Jennifer introduced me to this Rachel Ray pumpkin pudding. The pudding has a mousse-like c0nsistency. I love to make homemade gingersnaps and dip them in the pudding. I would have this over pumpkin pie anyday. This is one of my top five desserts!

1 14oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp ground cloves
1 5.1 oz pkg instant vanilla pudding
3 c. heavy cream

In a mixing bowl combine sweetened condensed milk, pumpkin, spices, pudding and a splash of water (about 1/4 c.) Mix everything together until smooth, about 2 minutes. In a separate bowl whip cream until stiff peaks form, gently fold into pudding mixture. Chill

Gingersnaps:I love gingersnaps...unfortunately my kids aren't big fans, so we make them once a year at Christmas. We love to dip half of the cookie in white chocolate, of course our other favorite way to eat these yummy cookies is to dip them in the pumpkin pudding. This recipe makes a lot!
2 c. margarine or butter
3c. sugar
3/4 c. molasses
3 eggs
cream: then add
6 c. flour
6 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ginger
3 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves

Mix well, roll into balls and roll in granulated white sugar . Bake at 350 for 7-10 minutes.

Kris' corn chowder

This recipe came from my friend Kris, who is a fabulous cook. I am a huge soup fan and am always looking for new recipes. This is a perfect soup for those cold rainy Oregon days! (Or cold rainy days anywhere!)

6 slices bacon
1 onion
1 large green pepper
2-3 tbsp flour
3 1/2 c. chicken broth
1 c. dry white wine or sherry
3 c. corn
1 large potato, cubed or grated
1 c. heavy cream or half-n-half

Fry bacon, remove from pan then add onion and pepper to the bacon fat and saute. Transfer to a large stock pot and sprinkly with flour. Add wine, reduce by half. Add broth and let thicken. Add potato and corn, cook until potatoes are done. Add bacon back in...add cream. Stir and enjoy.

Chalupas-a family favorite!

My family has been making this recipe for years, i'm not sure where it came from or why we call them chalupas, since they are more of a mexican casserole. But we love them. Whenever I ask Brent for meal suggestions, he always says Chalupas first. They are delicious

1 c. chopped onion

2 Tbsp melted butter

1 lb. ground beef

2 Tbsp flour

3 Tbsp chili powder

1 1/2 c. Tomato soup

1 1/2. c. light cream

salt

tortillas

1 1/2. c. Cheddar cheese

Saute the onion in butter until soft, add ground beef and cook until brown. Add flour, and chili powder and cook for 5 minutes. Add 1/2 c. water, and soup. Simmer until thickened, add cream (I have also substituted milk and it turns out fine, but the cream gives it a yummy richness, of course :)...simmer a few more minutes. Consistency should not be runny. In a greased 9x13 layers tortillas, meat mixture and cheese, (like a lasagna) Bake at 325 until cheese is bubbly.

caramel marshmallow treats

This came from a taste of home magazine!

5 cups rice cereal, roughly crushed

14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1 pkgs (14 oz) caramels

1 c. butter cubed

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 pkg (16oz) large marshmallows

Line two cookies sheets with waxed papers. Put rice cereal in bowl. In a double boiler melt butter, caramel and milk. Remove from heat and add cinnamon and vanilla. With a toothpick dip each marshmallow into caramel, coating entire piece. Press marshmallow bottoms into cereal.