Pour 2 bottles red wine (I used a local merlot) and 1 cup 100% pear juice over Strawberries, lemons, limes, raspberries, and 1 pear cut into chunks.

Let meld in fridge for several hours.

Serve over ice with a splash of club soda.

My friend, Amy, got this recipe from her friend, Linde. It’s easy, super-fast and delicious. I made a sextuple batch for my Good Samaritan Clinic Staff Christmas party and served it in a huge, electric roaster and it was a huge hit. We added a few cans of cannellini beans to stretch it a bit further too.

I wait to season the soup til the end because the salt and spices from the sausage take a little time to release and it’s easy to get it too salty.

Cook time: about 15min. Serves 4-6

1lb. bulk spicy italian sausage
1 large onion, chopped
1 bunch swiss or rainbow chard, washed well and chopped
1 box low sodium chicken broth
2 cans artichoke hearts, drained and halved (not the marinated kind)

In a large stock pot, brown the sausage with the onion and drain the fat from the pan. Add the chicken broth, 2 cups water, and chard. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer until the chard is soft (this is where you can add a can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed). Season with salt and pepper and serve! The soup is even better the next day.

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup butter

2 Tbs peanut butter (I prefer crunchy)

2/3 cup popping corn, popped with hard kernels removed

Set popcorn aside in a large, heatproof bowl. Combine honey, sugar and butter. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until syrup reaches softball stage. Stir in peanut butter until creamy and smooth. Pour over popcorn and stir to coat. Transfer to a waxed paper lined baking sheet and let cool. Store in an airtight container.

1 Tbs olive oil
1 medium yellow onion chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, seeds and ribs removed, chopped
3 cups cooked, shredded chicken
1/2-1 cup diced, roasted green chiles (I use roasted green chiles that purchased from my local farmers market and froze, but canned would work well too.)
1 tbs ground cumin
1 tsp oregano
5 cups chicken stock
2 cans canellini beans, drained and rinsed
3 tbs corn meal
1 cup cilantro, chopped for garnish

(Notes: *I’ve found each pack of green chiles from the market to be varying in spiciness, so I add in a little at a time until I’m happy with the overall flavor of the soup. *A rotisserie chicken is a great, easy way to get cooked chicken. I like to buy them a day old from the grocery store already chilled. But you can also buy them hot ahead of time and chill them. I think it’s easier to shred when they’re chilled and easier to dispose of the fat that lies between the skin and meat. *1 can of white or yellow hominy, rinsed and drained would also be a fantastic addition to the chili.)

Heat olive oil over medium heat and saute onions until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and bell peppers and cook for 30 seconds. Add cumin and cook 30 seconds more, stirring constantly. Stir in chicken stock, 2 cups water, chicken, green chiles, oregano, beans and corn meal. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes so flavors combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve topped with a sprinkling of cilantro.

This is my favorite time of year as far as produce goes. Olathe sweet corn is in abundance, the garden starts to go gang-busters and peaches…oh the peaches! This year my tree gave me a pretty nice crop for being a baby – about 35 peaches. I just love everything peach: cobbler, margaritas, peaches & cream, dried peaches, pie!

Tonight I made brûléed peaches from some of my harvest. It was amazing, and SO easy.

Cut peaches in half, sprinkle 1/4 cup of sugar on a plate. Place the cut side of the peach in the sugar and press to get a good coating of sugar on the peach. Broil until the sugar is bubbly and golden brown 5-10 minutes. (watch closely!) Serve immediately with the very best ice cream. I like haagen daz or bryers.

My sister sent me with the directive to get all of Grandma’s good recipes, especially the fruit cake which is actually pretty amazing. (I found out because it has brandy in it. Can’t believe my grandma would go to a liquor store! She said she would go in and pray no one from church would see her!)

There were years that my grandma’s baking paid the bills – she is especially famous for her whole wheat bread. It’s quite delicious hot out of the oven with lots of butter. There would always be fresh bread waiting at Grandma’s house whenever anyone went to visit. The bread is a recipe I grew up on, and when I have time, I still make it. (I foresee a day of baking in the future to stock up on bread for the busier fall/winter season.)

This is a recipe that I don’t ever remember Grandma making, but I ate it for breakfast every day I was there – topped with whipped cream (for the calcium, you know.)

Grandma’s Healthy Jello
4 packages gelatin (I would use kosher)
4 cups fruit juice
1 can fruit cocktail (the kind in juice not heavy syrup)
3 bananas sliced
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Sprinkle the gelatin over 1 cup of juice and set aside. Meanwhile, bring the remaining 3 cups if juice to a boil. Add boiling juice to the gelatin mixture and stir until the gelatin is dissolved. Pour into an 8×8 baking dish and stir in drained fruit cocktail. Leave setting out until cooled and add nuts and bananas. Refrigerate until set.

More recipes to come.

I’ve been planning yummy salads every week in my menu, something I can make up and we can eat on for the whole week. Jim is not a huge fan of these salads, but the kids and I love them and we usually take them to our Wednesdays at the lake and I pack them for my lunches when I’m at work.

Since Jim was playing a show out of town last night, this was dinner.

1-2 cans Cannellini beans (I used 1 but would have preferred two.)
1 package turkey pepperoni
1/2 jar pepperoccinis
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 red onion thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 pint cherry tomatoes
olive oil and balsamic vinegar and pepper to taste

1 head cauliflower broken into small florets
1 small jar green olives, drained
1 can artichoke hearts, drained
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1 bell pepper, chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 package turkey pepperoni
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil

Combine all ingredients. Its better if it sets in the fridge for couple of hours.

So, there’s a few reasons why I decided to start making my own yogurt. 1. Yogurt is cultured in the cup, which means it’s cooked in a plastic cup for at least 5 hours at 110º. mmmm, that plastic infused yogurt has GOT to be good for you. 2. I can make it with local milk which helps the local economy, saves on transportation costs and is organic. 3. Less waste – we’re not going through 10-15 plastic cups a week that we can’t recycle.

So here’s the basic recipe I’ve been using.

8 cups milk (I used 2%)
1/2 cup plain yogurt, first time I used organic greek yogurt, second time I used brown cow cream top which isn’t organic
crockpot

*The recipe says to use full fat yogurt and milk but I’ve had good luck with 2% and lowfat yogurt.

Place 8 cups of milk in crockpot for 2.5 hours on low. After the time has elapsed, turn off the heat, leaving the lid on and let set for 3 hours.
At this point, if any skin has formed on the top of the milk, carefully skim it off. Next take about a cup of the warm milk out of the crockpot and mix thoroughly with 1/2 cup of plain yogurt. Return the mixture to the crockpot and mix well. Wrap the entire crockpot up with a towel or two and let sit for about 8 hours. (My last batch was 6 hours and it wasn’t quite thick enough for me. The first batch, I let sit overnight.) Make sure your crockpot is in a warmish place, so it can maintain it’s temperature for the 8 hours.

Homemade yogurt will be a little thinner than store bought because most store bought will have a thickener in it. So after the yogurt has cultured, I like to drain out some of the whey and make greek yogurt which is a thicker, creamier version of yogurt. I line a colander with a clean linen napkin, pour the yogurt in the colander, set the whole thing inside a big bowl to catch the whey. Cover the entire thing with plastic wrap so the yogurt doesn’t take on the flavor of the fridge as it sets. 3 hours of draining in the fridge will make greek yogurt, 18-24hrs will make sour cream. I’m letting my batch go 48hrs to try to make a soft yogurt cheese. If you find your yogurt gets too thick, just mix back in some of the whey.

And voila! you have yogurt! I like to store mine in a mason jar and sweeten it with honey or fruit as we eat it (I actually prefer plain anyway.) I think it’s so easy to make! More than anything making yogurt is a waiting game, rather than time consuming.

Last week my friend Amy and I got together, with the help of her cousin Sarah, to make Strawberry Rhubarb jam. Amy and I are known to go a teeny bit overboard when it comes to canning (like the cherry jalapeno jam making of ’09) and this time wasn’t any different. It started with Amy growing copious amounts of rhubarb in her garden. Thinking that strawberry rhubarb jam was the way to go, I got a rain check for $1/lb strawberries at the grocery store the other day when they were on sale. So last Thursday, I loaded up a grocery cart with 20lbs of strawberries and headed over to Amys. I lost count of how many jars of jam we made, but I think we all will be set for awhile. Here’s the recipe:

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
makes about six 1/2 pints

2 cups strawberries, mashed
2 cups rhubarb, chopped
5 cups sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 package pectin

Bring the fruit, lemon juice and pectin to a boil. Add the sugar and return to a hard boil and boil for 1 minute. Ladle into warm, sterilized jars leaving 1/4″ headspace. Cover with two part lids (boil the flats before using to sterilize and soften the seal) and turn upside down for 10 minutes. Turn the jars right side up and wait for them to seal. Process in a water bath for 10 minutes. (We now water bath everything.) Enjoy!

(The recipe says to give the jars a water bath for 10 minutes but we have great success with just turning the jars upside down to get them to seal.)

Thanks to Sarah for the pictures.