Winter Squash Soup by Courtney Baird

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon good olive oil
• 2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
• 1 (15 - ounce) can pumpkin puree (make sure it’s just the canned pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling.)
• 1 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled and cut in chunks
• 3 cups homemade chicken stock or canned broth
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup half - and – half  (I used heavy cream since I had some in the fridge)
• Creme fraiche, grated Gruyere, or croutons (see Note), for serving (optional) – I just use parmesan cheese  

Directions

Heat the butter and oil in a heavy - bottomed stockpot, add the onions, and cook over medium - low heat for 10 minutes, or until translucent. Add the pumpkin puree, butternut squash, chicken stock, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer over medium - low heat for about 20 minutes, until the butternut squash is very tender. Process the mixture through the medium blade of a food mill. (I don’t have a food mill.  I just used a potato masher.  You could throw it in a food processor or blender too.  I prefer mine to not be totally smooth).  Return to the pot, add the half - and - half, and heat slowly. If the soup needs more flavor, add another teaspoon of salt. Serve hot with garnishes, if desired.

Cook's Note: To serve with croutons, remove the crusts from 2 slices of white bread, cut them in 1/2-inch cubes, and saute them in 1 tablespoon of butter until browned. Season with salt and pepper.

Guacamole from Carol Sheppard (Jana Walker)

4 -  medium avocados  (diced)

2 -  medium tomatoes  (peeled and diced)

1 -  medium onion         (diced)

1 -  4 oz. can of diced green chiles 

¼  cup lemon juice  (to taste)

1 tsp. salt  (to taste)

Mix above ingredients together and enjoy!

HINTS:

After dicing the avocadoes, put lemon juice on to keep them from going brown

I do not blend this I just chop ingredients finely and stir together

Peeling the tomatoes is a must

You may or may not drain the can of chiles,  I used to but don’t anymore

I used to used concentrated lemon juice in the bottle, but now I use fresh  squeezed lemon juice, and also add lime sometimes

We enjoy it with the Hint of Lime chips

Fettuccine w/ pesto cream sauce by Courtney Baird

Ingredients
1 (16 ounce) package fettuccine pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
8 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1 pinch salt
1 pinch pepper
1 1/2 cups grated parmesan cheese
1 cup prepared basil pesto
mushrooms, chopped
grape tomatoes, cut in half

Directions
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion until tender and translucent. Stir in garlic and butter, and saute until garlic is soft and fragrant, about 1 minute. Dissolve flour in milk, then stir in. Season with salt and pepper, and simmer 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Add cheese, and stir until melted. Stir in pesto. Add mushrooms and tomatoes. Cook 4 minutes, or until heated through. Toss with pasta until evenly coated.

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.