Your recipes look awesome stwin. That first one looks especially tasty. I might have to try it sometime. I have a recipe that I've made for the last couple winters that I just LOVE. Your recipes reminded me of it, and then DiGs asked me to share it.

Italian Peasant Soup

1lb Italian sausage links, casings removed and cut into 1" pieces
2 medium onions, chopped
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" cubes
2 cans (15oz each) cannellini or white kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 cans (14.5oz each) chicken broth
2 cans (14.5oz each) diced tomatoes
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
6 cups fresh spinach leaves, chopped
Shredded Parmesan cheese, optional

In a Dutch oven or soup kettle, cook sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Add onions and garlic; saute until tender. Add chicken; cook and stir until no longer pink.
Stir in the beans, broth, tomatoes, basil, and oregano. Cook, uncovered for 10 minutes. Add the spinach and heat just until wilted. Serve with Parmesan cheese if desired. Yield: 11 servings.

Oh Fantasia! That sounds so wonderfully hearty! So many veggies and I can only imagine how the fat/juices from the chicken and the sausage would flavor that broth!

I was really at a loss for what to cook for dinner tonight, but I think I might have to try this! Will let you know if I do (and if it turns out decently!)

I made double chocolate chip cookies yesterday. That's my absolute favorite cookie recipe. The dough is so good!

And I took some pictures of our tomatoes and peppers.

Our neighbor brought us some more blackberries, so I'm going to make a couple of pies.

SnowAngel

Rachel, I made that soup today and (as I told you on facebook) it was absolutely amazing! A real hearty soup that goes just as well with a warm summer day as it would on a bitterly cold winter evening. It was so quick to whip it up, and took very little effort!

The only alteration I'd make to your recipe would be to add an extra can of tomato and an extra can of chicken stock (perhaps some more oregano and basil to compensate). This is more of a "stoup" as Eli calls it, rather than a soup.

Either way, it's absolutely magnificent, and I have no doubt that it'll be a favourite in our household for years to come!

My sister and I got into the Olympic spirit.

The recipe is just a basic white bread recipe.

Love it Twigs That is such fun.

I have a question for everyone. I'm looking for a simple tomato sauce recipe as I am buried under a mountain of tomatoes and need some more ideas on what to do with them. What I want is something that duplicates the tomato sauce that you'd buy off of a shelf in a grocery store, certainly nothing fancy. I found one recipe here...
http://www.pickyourown.org/canning_tomatosauce.htm
... which is REALLY simple and it's my top contender at the moment, but when I looked at the ingredients of the canned sauce I have, it has things like garlic and onion powders, salt, green peppers, etc. Anybody have any recipes like that?

Cool, Twigs!

We never have enough tomatoes to do anything other than freezing them for soups, etc. We use so many in the fall/winter. Sorry, fantastia. I hope you find a recipe.

My older sister made vanilla cake doughnuts today. So good! I was going to take a picture of them, but they didn't last long enough for that. Mom had gotten a mix for an Amish store near here, so no recipe to post this time either.

SnowAngel

I've been trying different things in the kitchen lately. I've been making some homemade steak fries, which have turned out quite nicely, although they require a long time to bake and a TON of seasonings. And I made homemade hummus. I didn't have all the ingredients (it required paprika and cumin) but I had the basics:

a 15 oz can of chick peas, 1/4 cup olive oil, (although I needed more,) 3/4 tsp salt, 2 tbsp of lemon juice and 1 clove of garlic. Blend it all up and serve!

Turned out pretty nice, I put some on a tortilla with vegetables; turned out to be a healthy veggie meal! It's fun to cook...

Would anyone be willing to share a tried-and-true white bread recipe?

Would anyone be willing to share a tried-and-true white bread recipe?

I'll have to talk to my mom and see if she's willing to share her recipe. Are you good with a yeast bread or do you want a quick bread?

Our pears on the farm ripened beautifully. Last night I made a quick Pear Cobbler which was pretty tasty but not the absolute best I've ever had. I still have a big bag of pears sitting in my basement ripening (and going bad) fast so I'm trying to come up with some ideas on what to do with them. Does anyone have any good recipes that include pears? Doesn't have to be a dessert.

fantasia, my mother-in-law had pear trees for years and made lots of pies from them, as did I. They tended to be a bit runnier than apple pie, but other than that, quite similar. We used the same (apple pie) recipe for both, possibly adding a tad more cornstarch to the pear filling recipe to counteract the juiciness. And the pies freeze well, from what I remember.

I made lemon chicken, drop biscuits, and green beans for lunch today. Normally I would make rice with this meal, but I haven't got the hang of using the pressure cooker on the electric stove. My brother was disappointed that I didn't make rice, but I figure it was better safe than sorry. I have burn the rice once moving here (that was my only attempt so far).

We have a couple of whole wheat bread recipes, AslansChild, I think you could use white flour inplace of whole wheat. If you would like, I will post them.

We have never really cooked with pears, so I don't have any recipes for you, fanastia. But based on what johobbit said, you could probably use them in most apple recipes with minor changes.

SnowAngel

Would anyone be willing to share a tried-and-true white bread recipe?

I'll have to talk to my mom and see if she's willing to share her recipe. Are you good with a yeast bread or do you want a quick bread?

Thank you very much fantasia_kitty, I was looking more for a quick bread. I'd appreciate it if your mum would share it, please tell her thank you if she does decide to do so.

SnowAngel, you bread recipe would be great, I'm willing to try both yours and f_k's. Also, your lemon chicken sounds nice, what did you do for it?

Today I made homemade steak fries (as a side for our supper). Again.
They're addicting.
The garlic salt and cayenne, (amongst other things) make it.

AslansChild, I cannot find the bread recipe right now. I think I can find it online, so I will try to get it for you soon.

Here's the lemon chicken recipe. It's so easy and delicious.
Lemon Chicken
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 bag of chicken (I prefer tenders to breasts, but either works fine)

Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add lemon, pepper, salt, garlic, and dry mustard. Mix well and heat for 1 minute. Place chicken in a greased glass baking dish. Pour sauce over chicken. Bake at 300F for tenders 1 to 1 1/2 hrs and for breasts 1 1/2 to 2 hrs.

SnowAngel

Here's a link to the bread recipe, AslansChild. I hope you like it. It's a really good recipe. You can do so many things with it.

SnowAngel

Thanks very much SnowAngel , for both the bread and chicken recipes. I'm especially looking forward to trying the chicken soon, looks delicious!