Split Pea with Sausage Soup

• 1 pound dried split peas
• 10 cups water
• 1 pound smoked sausage of your choice, sliced
• 5 cubes chicken bouillon
• 1 1/2 cups chopped carrot
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 onion, chopped
  

1. In a 5 quart slow cooker, combine the peas, water, sausage, bouillon, carrot, celery, potatoes, garlic powder, oregano, bay leaves, and onion.
2. Cover, and cook on High for 4 to 5 hours. Remove bay leaves before ladling into bowls.

May also be simmered on the stove for several hours, stirring occasionally.

Apricot Bars

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups oats
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 3/4 sticks (regular, salted) butter, cut into pieces
1 10-12 ounce jar Apricot Preserves

Mix all ingredients except Apricot Preserves. Press one half of the mixture into a buttered 8″ square (or small rectangular) pan. Spread with a 10-12 ounce jar of apricot preserves. Sprinkle second half of mixture over the top and pat lightly. Bake at 350 for 30 - 40 minutes or until light brown. Let cool completely, then cut into squares. Eat as many as you want because they don’t have any chocolate in them and therefore, they’re totally healthy and non-caloric.

Pear Coffee Cake with Ginger Pecan Crunch Topping

This recipe is originally from The Inn on Sea Street, a bed and breakfast in Hyannis, MA. I found it on Recipezaar when I was searching for something to do with pears. It is very easy and delicious.

2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup oil
2 cups chopped ripe pears
1 slightly beaten egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

Topping
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9x13 pan with PAM or similar cooking spray.

Mix together the flour, both sugars, salt and nutmeg. Stir in the oil to incorporate thoroughly; then set aside 1 cup of the mixture in a smaller bowl for topping.

Fold the pears into the remainder of the flour mixture. Stir in the egg, buttermilk, baking soda and baking powder. Pour into prepared pan.

For the topping, add the ginger and pecans to the 1 cup of reserved mixture. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 40 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean.

Notes:
1. The original recipe called for dark brown sugar, but I made it with light, as that's what I had on hand.
2. Also, I didn't have buttermilk, so I just added lime juice to sweet milk.

Peanut Butter Cookies

The brilliance of these cookies is that they have include two different formats for peanuts–three if you use chunky peanut butter. They’re crisp on the outside, and almost cakey on the inside. Bake a batch and then hide the results in the furthest and most forgettable reaches of your kitchen. You’ll thank me later.

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter at room temperature (smooth is what we used, but I am pretty sure they use chunky at the bakery)
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (for sprinkling) sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, the baking soda, the baking powder, and the salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and the peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix well. Add the milk and the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat thoroughly. Stir in the peanut butter chips. Place sprinkling sugar on a plate. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls into the sugar, then onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving several inches between for expansion. Using a fork, lightly indent with a crissscross pattern (I used the back of a palette knife to keep it smooth on top), but do not overly flatten cookies. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overbake. Cookies may appear to be underdone, but they are not.

Cool the cookies on the sheets for 1 minute, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Egg Muffins

I made these today. Tasty!

15 oz. part-skim ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded cheese of your choice (I used cheddar)
1 pkg frozen chopped frozen spinach thawed and squeezed dry
4 eggs, beaten
1 small onion diced
salt/pepper to taste
a little Frank's hot sauce

(optional: diced peppers, ham, bacon, shredded zucchini, mushrooms, sausage etc).

Mix all the ingredients together.

Pour into greased muffin tin.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Baked Oatmeal

I made this for breakfast today:

3 c oats
1 c skim milk
2 eggs (or eggbeaters)
1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp maple syrup
handful of raisins

Mix all ingredients together. Put into 9x13 pan sprayed with Pam. Bake at 350 20-25 min or until done.

My Mother's Brisket

Serves 8 to 10. a 5- to 6-pound first-cut beef brisket 3 tablespoons vegetable oil 3 large yellow onions, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 5 cups or 3 pounds) 2 or 3 large garlic cloves, or to taste, minced 1 teaspoon paprika, preferably Hungarian 3/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper Preheat oven to 375°F. In a Dutch oven or other heavy baking pan large enough to hold brisket heat 1 tablespoon oil in oven 10 minutes. Pat brisket dry and season with salt and pepper. Roast brisket in pan, uncovered, 30 minutes. While brisket is roasting, in a large heavy skillet cook onions in remaining 2 tablespoons oil over moderately high heat, stirring, until softened and beginning to turn golden. Reduce heat and cook onions, stirring occasionally and reducing heat if necessary, until deep golden, about 20 minutes more. Stir in garlic, paprika, salt, and pepper and cook 1 minute. Stir in 3 cups water and bring to a boil. Spoon onion mixture over brisket and bake, covered, with lid 1/2 inch ajar, 3 1/2 hours, or until brisket is tender. (Check pan every hour and if necessary add more water.) Remove brisket from oven and let cool in onion mixture 1 hour. Remove brisket from pan, scraping onion mixture back into pan, and chill, wrapped in foil, overnight. Spoon onion mixture into a 1-quart measure and chill, covered, overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Discard fat from onion mixture, add enough water to mixture to measure 3 cups total, and in a blender blend gravy until smooth.

Slice brisket against the grain (thick or thin, as you prefer). In a large ovenproof skillet heat gravy until hot, add brisket, and heat in oven 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F.