Cooking and Baking Archives - Page 41 of 52

Soup for Lunch

October 29, 2009 jennifer Main Dishes

Picture this: my 3 little ones have eaten and gone upstairs to play. The baby is asleep and my husband is working from home. I like moments like this, when there is a brief pause in the hubbub of a busy day. The sun is shining, but it’s cold and windy outside.

On most days, I don’t eat much of a lunch. Oh, I don’t mean for it to happen that way, but more often than not, it does. I get the food ready for everyone, and while they eat I sit down in the other room to feed the baby, and when she’s done eating I go back to the now empty kitchen and clean up. A couple of weeks ago I was so hungry around 8 pm and couldn’t figure out why. After all, I’d spent much of my day in the kitchen preparing food for everyone! Then I realized that when the food was being eaten I was in the other room with the baby and I hadn’t had a bite to eat all day!

Well, this day is different. My pause was spent making lunch for my husband. Leftover soup from last night, with crispy quesadillas made with provolone and cheddar cheese. It was so nice to sit in the sunshine and eat!
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It made me happy just to look at it… the soup in my lovely blue bowl, one of my favorite vintage place mats, the color of the soup with the spices and a sprinkling of cheese on top… what is it with me and color?

The soup was made last night using mostly what was in my fridge. No recipe, just a little of this and a little of that… but it tasted really good! This is basically what I used:

Leftover Soup 1 cup chopped cooked chicken (it was originally cooked in lemon seasonings for a different recipe) 1 cup chopped steamed carrots (carrots were steamed with a little bit of butter and some green onions) 1 cup sweet corn 1 cup chopped celery 1 large russet potato, peeled and chopped 2 cups cooked fettuccini noodles, cut into 2 inch long pieces 1 can great northern beans 1 can evaporated milk 1/2 cup sour cream 1 1/2 teaspoons rosemary 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1/2 teaspoon basil 1 tsp. salt 3 tsp. chicken bullion 3 cups water I brought the water to a boil, added the bullion, potato and celery. Cooked until potato was tender.
I then added everything else except the milk and sour cream. I heated it through and added the evaporated milk. Heat and add sour cream. Ladle into bowls and serve. Garnish with a tablespoon of shredded cheddar cheese.

Apple Slices

October 28, 2009 jennifer Snacks and Appetizers

We woke up this morning to the wonderful smell of apples.

Dehydrated apples. So good!
Yesterday my seven year old daughter took charge of the apple peeler/corer/slicer and filled my dehydrator with apple slices. She sliced a large bag of apples that were a little past the crisp, crunchy stage. If you have a dehydrator, don’t forget to use it to preserve fruits that are just past the point of eating fresh. When it’s a little on the ripe side, the natural sweetness of the fruit will be even better.

I love to dehydrate fruit. I don’t put anything on it. We’ve never had a problem with the fruit browning too much. Just peel, slice and turn it on. Sometimes I don’t even peel the fruit. I always get wonderful results. When I dehydrate fruit, I slice it up before we go to bed and it’s ready when we wake up in the morning.

It’s such a tasty, natural snack. And today, it was a great snack to nibble on while we watched the first snowfall of the year.

Apples, anyone?

Cinnamon Pear Jam

October 27, 2009 jennifer Preserving and Freezing

This jam is my all-time favorite! I fiddled with the recipe last year, gave it away for Christmas, and had about a dozen phone calls this fall for the recipe. This jam is truly delicious. And it’s gorgeous, too. The cinnamon in it gives it the loveliest color.

To make it, you need ripe pears (fresh off the tree is best!), pectin, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and vanilla.
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Begin by washing the pears. Be sure to pause a moment and appreciate their beauty and aroma!
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Peel, core and finely chop pears until you have 4 cups of chopped pears.
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Add 1/3 cup of lemon juice to the pears IMG_7775 (Large) and 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon.
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Stir it up! Looks yummy, doesn’t it?
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Put this in a large pot with 7 1/2 cups sugar.
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Stir it up, and begin heating it on your stove.
I like to add a teaspoon of butter to my jam to reduce foaming.
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Bring the jam to a rolling boil, and then pour in 1 packet of pectin (I use the Ball liquid 3 ounce pectin) IMG_7781 (Large) Return to a rolling boil, and then cook 1 more minute.
Remove from the heat and stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
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Skim the foam, and ladle into sterilized jars.
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Fill jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
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Wipe jar rims with a clean, damp cloth. Place lids and bands on jars and process in a hot water bath 10 minutes.

Enjoy!
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Hopeful Homemaker’s Cinnamon Pear Jam 4 cups peeled, chopped pears 7 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1/3 cup lemon juice 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 packet pectin (I use Ball liquid pectin. Each pouch is 3 ounces) 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 tsp. butter (optional, to reduce foaming) Peel, core and chop pears. Add lemon juice and cinnamon. Place in large pot and add sugar. Stir together, add 1 teaspoon butter if desired, and bring to a rolling boil. Add pectin. Return to rolling boil and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in 1 tsp. vanilla. Skim foam off jam. Ladle into sterilized jars. Place lid and band on jar and process in hot water bath for 10 minutes. This recipe yields 6-7 half pint jars of jam.