Joy in the Kitchen!

Soups are some of my favorite meals! They're filling and inexpensive, easy to throw together for a nutritious meal. White Bean Chili is one of our favorites. Chicken, great northern beans, chili's and onion blend into a satisfying dinner. Enjoy! (I'm serving mine tonight with freshly made french bread. White Bean Chili 1 lb Great Northern beans Water Rinse beans and place in large pot with enough water to cover a few inches above the beans. Bring to a oil. Reduce heat & simmer a couple of minutes. Turn off stove, cover, and let soak for 1 hour. Drain off water & discard. In the same pot, combine: 6 cups water 1 large onion chopped 2 small cans diced green chilies 1/3 C granular chicken bouillon or 6 cubes 1 T. chili powder 2 cloves minced garlic (or 2 T. garlic flakes or 1 tsp powder) 2 tsp. oregano 1 tsp onion salt 1/4 tsp pepper 1/4 tsp cayenne (optional - I don't like it that hot) Bring to boil and then simmer for about 2 hours. Stir in: 2 boneless c...

I'm not sure who's recipe this was, but I got it from my Freshman Home Ec class. These are soft and delicious and the perfect blend of chocolate and peanut butter. Definitely need a cold glass of milk to go along with these. 1 ¾ cup flour ½ cup brown sugar ½ cup white sugar ½ cup peanut butter ½ cup shortening 2 TBSP milk 1 tsp baking soda ½ tsp salt 1 tsp vanilla 1 egg Mix ingredients & chill dough 1 hour. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in sugar & bake on greased cookie sheet for 7-8 min. Put HERSHY kiss in center of each cookie immediately after done baking. Let stand 1 min then transfer to cooling rack.

An abundance of zucchini brings a lot of creativity! I got this recipe from my sister Peggy and have used it for years. It seems more like cake than brownies but really moist and ooey-gooey. Mmmm!  I'm pretty sure you need an ice cold glass of milk to wash these down. We can count this as a serving of vegetable or fruit, right?  The kids will never notice if you fine shred the zucchini.  Sneaky, sneaky, SNEAKY! Ooey-Gooey Zucchini Brownies 2 C. shredded zucchini 2 C. flour 1 tsp. salt 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1 1/2 C. sugar 1/4- 1/2 C. cocoa powder 1/2 C. oil 2 tsp. vanilla 1/2 C. chopped walnuts (optional) Mix together well, pour into a greased 9x13 pan, and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. Cool & frost with chocolate frosting. (I just generally mix a couple of cups of powdered sugar, a few tablespoons of cocoa, melt a 1/4 C. of butter & mix - adding milk a little at a time until it is the consistency I like - add vanilla as well if y...

These cookies are soft and chewey and delicious. Each time I bite into one I am taken back to my Great Grandma McKinnon's kitchen. One of the few memories I have of her. Cream Together : 1 Cup Margarine 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar 3/4 Cup Sugar Add 2 beaten eggs and beat well on high speed of mixer. Dissolve 1 tsp baking soda in 6 tsp very hot water; add to creamed mixture with 1 tsp vanilla. Add 3 Cups of flour mixed with 1/2 tsp salt and mix well on medium speed. Add: 1 Cup Chopped Walnuts (optional - I always opt not) 1 Cup Chocolate Chips (not optional to get chocolate chip cookies :P) Drop by heaped teaspoons on cookie sheet and bake 12 minutes at 350 degrees F. Let stand one minute then remove to cooling rack. Stand by to swat kids' hands as they try to sneak them while they're still hot.

There is nothing better on a slice of toast than strawberry or raspberry freezer jam. This is not open to debate. LOL! I love the ease of freezer jam and especially I LOVE the fresh from the garden look and taste. I prefer to use MCP Pectin. I've tried others & MCP is just what I'm most comfortable with. I've used it so much I could almost make jam in my sleep. I just follow the insert in the box of pectin, but in case you need to know amounts before you run to the store, I'll post those here. You need: 3 1/4 C. of crushed berries (I just take the tops off, rinse, and then mash them with a potato masher if they're from the garden - if I bought berries from the store, I use my pastry blender to cut them up) 1/4 C. fresh lemon juice (I don't always put this in - but the jam sets up firmer if you do) 4 1/2 C. sugar 1 C. light corn syrup 1 pkg MCP pectin The directions are easy... mix your berries & lemon juice in a LARGE bowl. Add your...

We have been busy playing this month, but it's time to stay home now as the garden is on! The past 2 days the kids have help me freeze 12 cups of peas, 4 quart bags of snow peas, can 6 quarts of green beans, and 7 quarts of dill pickles. We've been busy! :) Our Dill Pickles are a recipe from my Mom. They are an old recipe and as such, use less vinegar than is suggested now for canning. My whole family has made these for years without problems. The directions.... wash freshly picked pickling cucumbers. Slice, cut into spears or leave whole and place in clean canning jars. Put a pinch of powdered alum into each jar and then a good sized head of fresh dill. (I add more sliced cucumbers on top of the dill to squish it down in there good. In 3 quart pan, bring to boil, 3 C. of water, 1 C. vinegar and 1/4 C. salt. Boil 2 minutes and then pour into jars up to the fill line. Clean top of jar to be sure no salt remains, add lids & rings, process in a boiling water ...

Several months ago, my friend AnnaRuth from church, brought over a couple of beautiful loaves of french bread she had made. They were wonderful! My family kept reminding me I needed to get her recipe and try making it myself. I finally did it! This bread was so easy to mix up. I used my KitchenAid mixer, but it could easily be done by hand. I have a 6 quart bowl & heavy duty mixer so I doubled the batch so I'd have a few loaves to share and it turned out perfect. If you have the smaller model KitchenAid, a single batch will work fine in it. Your total flour on a single batch will be around 6-7 cups. AnnaRuth tells me she got this recipe from Marilyn Dye, who got it from her mother. I'd consider that a time tested recipe. Mother’s French Bread Mix: 2 ½ C. hot tap water 2 T. sugar 2 tsp. salt Then put in 2 T. yeast (I used instant yeast & just decreased it by ½ tsp.) and ¼ C. of oil and mix again. Add 5 C. flour and mix on low speed 5 minutes or s...