Italian Wedding Soup by Courtney Baird

For the meatballs:

• 3/4 pound ground chicken
• 1/2 pound chicken sausage, casings removed (I used sweet Italian sausage, since that’s what I like)
• 2/3 cup bread crumbs
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves)
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the soup:

• 2 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1 cup minced yellow onion
• 1 cup diced carrots (3 carrots), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
• 3/4 cup diced celery (2 stalks), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
• 10 cups homemade chicken stock
• 1 cup small pasta such as tubetini or stars (I used elbow noodles)
• 1/4 cup minced fresh dill
• 12 ounces baby spinach, washed and trimmed

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the meatballs, place the ground chicken, sausage, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, Pecorino, Parmesan, milk, egg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a bowl and combine gently with a fork. With a teaspoon, drop 1 to 1 1/4-inch meatballs onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (You should have about 40 meatballs. They don't have to be perfectly round.) Bake for 30 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned. Set aside.

In the meantime, for the soup, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and saute until softened, 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the pasta to the simmering broth and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the pasta is tender. Add the fresh dill and then the meatballs to the soup and simmer for 1 minute. Taste for salt and pepper. Stir in the fresh spinach and cook for 1 minute, until the spinach is just wilted. Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle each serving with extra grated Parmesan.

Thirty Minute Rolls by Brenna Wildung

30 MINUTE ROLLS

INGREDIENTS

• 1 C plus 2 Tbsp warm water
• 1/3 C oil
• 2 Tbsp active dry yeast
• 1/4 C sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 3 1/2 C bread flour (seems to work better but all purpose flour will also work)

INSTRUCTIONS

• Heat oven to 400 degrees.
• In your mixer bowl combine the water, oil, yeast and sugar and allow it to rest for 15 minutes. Using your dough hook, mix in the salt, egg and flour.
• Knead with hook until will incorporated and dough is soft and smooth. (Just a few minutes)
• Form dough into 12 balls and then place in a greased 9 x 13 pan and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees or until golden brown.

Butternut squash soup by Hannah Thomas

-1 lrg butternut squash
-1-2 TB Xvir coconut oil ( should smell and taste like coconuts)
-1 sweet onion
-2 med apples , peeled, cored ,sliced( can add just one if want less sweet)
-veggie buillion to desired saltiness ( or chicken buillion or just salt)
-1/4 sucanat ( or brown sugar) or more if want sweeter or less if want
less sweet
-1 can coconut MILK (not cream of coconut, not coco water) I like Thai
Kitchen brand
water to desired consistency

Bake butternut squash (I slice in half, scoop out seeds and stringy
stuff and cook cut side down in a baking dish or deep cookie sheet
with about an inch of water in the pan. Cook in oven on 350 ( or even
400 if in hurry) until soft when poked with a fork- about 35-40 min.
You can do this part a day or so ahead. Let cool enough to not burn
yourself when scooping out the cooked flesh into your blender. I'm
sure you could buy frozen butternut squash too and cook that.

Sauté onion in coco oil for 5 min on med-med/high heat. Until half
cooked, add apples (mmmmm, smelling yummy in your house now:), now add
the sucanat/brwn sugar ( smelling even beter:-), let carmelize a bit,
maybe another 5-7 min. I like to do all of this in a big pot so my
eventual soup can al fit into that pot and less dishes.

Blend Apples and onion mixture in your blender with coco milk, some
buillion, and as much cooked squash as will fit. Pour back in still
warm pot, blend the rest of sqaush with some water, pour with rest of
soup, stir, taste, add more buillion/salt and sucanat/brwn sugar to
suit your fancy.

Serve with whole grain (or not) crusty on outside, soft in middle,
warm bread. So warming and delish for a autumn lunch or dinner!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars by Chrissy Evans

Ingredients
4 eggs
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
15-ounce can pumpkin
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
Icing:
8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 10-inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.

To make the icing: Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars.

Cafe Rio Pork by Chrissy Evans

3-4 lb Pork Roast
1 C salsa
1 C brown sugar
1/2 cup Coke or Rootbeer or Dr. pepper
Place this in a Crockpot on low for 8 hours or high 5 hours.
Cilantro Lime Dressing
1 pkg hidden valley ranch mix
2 Tbsp salsa verde (green salsa)
1/8 tsp tabasco
1/2 bunch cilantro (including stems)
2 medium cloves garlic
3/4 C mayo
3/4 C sour cream
juice of 1 lime

Mix ingredients in blender
add grated lime peel
Make ahead and chill several hours then thin with buttermilk.  (I've never done that....it didn't seem to thick to me.)
Cafe Rio Rice

4 c. water
4 t. chicken bouillon
4 t. garlic, minced
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 can green chiles
3/4 t. salt
1 T. butter
1/2 onion
2 c. rice

Blend cilantro, green chiles, and onion together in food processor.  Bring water to a boil and add all ingredients, simmer covered 30 minutes

Starbucks' Maple Pecan Scones by Jana Eliason

3 C all purpose flour

1/3 C sugar
5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
½ lb. (2 sticks) butter, chilled
¼ C pecans, plus more for sprinkling
1 large egg
¾ C Milk (the recipe calls for heavy cream - I'm sure it would be delicious)

Maple Icing

1 lb. powdered sugar
¼ C milk
4 Tbsp butter, melted
Dash of salt
2 tsp maple flavoring

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the cold butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Finely chop the pecans and stir into the flour mixture. Mix the egg & milk together and stir into the flour mixture until just combined. Turn the mixture onto a cutting board and push it together into a large ball. Don’t knead too much—only until it sticks together.

Gently roll the dough into a 10-inch circle and cut the round into eighths. I rolled the dough into multiple smaller circles to make smaller scones. 

Transfer your wedges to a baking sheet that has been covered in parchment paper or lightly sprayed and bake until golden brown (the time will vary depending on how big and thick you make your scones - I do about 10 minutes for the smaller scones).

Allow the scones to cool.

Meanwhile, mix your glaze together and pour generously over each scone. Garnish with a couple pecans and Enjoy!

Irish Boiled Dinner by Heather Goodman

1 5lb corned beef brisket

2 large onions

10 small white potatoes

5 carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 head cabbage, cored and cut into wedges

1. Rinse the beef brisket under cold water, and place in a large pot. Add enough water to cover the roast by 6 inches. If the brisket came with a seasoning packet, add that to the water.  Peel the onions, and place them in the pot with the roast. Bring to a boil, and cook for about 30 minutes at a rolling boil. Reduce heat to medium-low so that the water is at a gentle boil, cover, and cook for 3 1/2 hours. (Note: my brisket was only 2.75 pounds, so I boiled for 30 minutes and then cooked for 2 hours and it came out perfectly.)

2. Remove the lid from the brisket. Remove onions, and cut into wedges. Return them to the pot. Add carrots to the pot, then place the cabbage over the roast. Place the potatoes on top of the cabbage. Place the lid back on the pot, and cook for another 30-45 minutes, until potatoes are tender. The potatoes should be immersed in the water by now, but if not, keep the lid on so they can steam.

3. Remove the vegetables from the pot, and place in a separate serving bowl. Keep the corned beef in the pot until ready to slice and serve because it dries out quickly.

-- 

Martha Stewart Garlicky Roasted Asparagus by Courtney Baird

Ingredients

·     2 pounds asparagus, trimmed

·         2 tablespoons olive oil

·         4-5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

·         Coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions

1.     Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss asparagus with oil and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Roast until tender and browned in spots, 15 to 18 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Cook's Note

Cool asparagus completely; cover and refrigerate up to one day. Bring to room temperature before serving.