Multibean Salad with Fresh Herbs

1 C green beans, trimmed
1 C cooked black beans
1 C cooked chickpeas
1 C cooked kidney beans

Vinaigrette:
1/2 small read onion, finely chopped
1/2 C EVVO
1 T red wine vinegar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 T chopped fresh basil
1 T chopped fresh parsley
1 T prepared mustard
Ground black pepper

Combine beans. Bring 4 cups water to boil, pour over beans and let sit 1 minute. Drain, rinse under cold running water and drain completely.

In separate bowl, whisk together all vinaigrette ingredients. Pour over beans, toss to coat and serve.

Traditional Hummus

1 garlic clove
2 C cooked chickpeas
3 T EVVO
2 T lemon juice
1/4 tsp sea salt
water

With food processor running, drop in garlic clove and process until minced. Turn off processor, scrape down sides and all ingredients. Restart processor and slowly add water, making hummus slightly thinner than desired, as it will thicken when refrigerated. Chill to combine flavors before serving.

Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes

CUPCAKES

1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

¾ teaspoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1 cup sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin

3 large eggs

¼ cup (about 1 ¼ ounces) crystallized ginger cut into 1/8 to ¼ inch pieces

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 12 muffin tin cups with paper liners.

Sift first 6 ingredients into a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using electric mixer on low-medium speed, beat the melted butter, sugar and pumpkin until smoothly blended. Mix in the eggs and crystallized ginger. On low speed, mix in the flour mixture until it is incorporated. The batter will be thick.

Fill each paper liner with a generous ¼ cup of batter, to about ½ inch below top of liner. Bake just until the tops feel firm and a toothpick comes out clean, about 25 minutes.

FROSTING

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups powdered sugar

This makes about 3 cups so I usually half it or 3/4^th it!

In a large bowl using an electric mixer on low speed, beat the butter, cream cheese and vanilla until smooth and thoroughly blended, about 1 minute. Add the powdered sugar, mixing until smooth, about 1 minute, then beat on medium speed for 1 minute to lighten the frosting further.

Frost the cupcakes saving ¼ cup of icing for the design. Mix the ¼ cup icing with 1 teaspoon cinnamon (add more if you want darker color) and 1-2 teaspoons milk (until you get consistency thick but pourable). Spoon into ziplock bag and cut small hole to squeeze out. Pipe a dot of the frosting in the center and 2 circles, one inside the other, around the dot. Using a toothpick, and beginning at the center, draw the tip gently through the frosting toward the edge of the cupcake. Move the toothpick about ¾ inch away and, beginning at the edge of the cupcake, draw it toward the center. Continue pulling shallow lines, alternating the direction of the toothpick, around the top of cupcake to form a web pattern.

*THANK YOU Eden for the delicious recipe!

Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients
* 1 1/2 pints vanilla ice cream, softened
* 3 eggs
* 1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree
* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 2 (9 inch) unbaked pie shells

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place ice cream near the warm oven to soften. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs. Stir in the pumpkin puree, sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Mix in soft ice cream until smooth. Pour filling into two 9 inch pie shells. Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake an additional 30 to 40 minutes, or until filling is set.

Note
To use fresh pumpkin, preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Wash, and halve pie pumpkin(s). Scoop out seeds. Place pumpkin halves cut side down in baking pan. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until pumpkins are soft to the touch. Remove from oven, and let cool. Scrape out pumpkin meat, and puree in food processor or blender. (This can be done several weeks in advance and the puree stored in the freezer.)

Sugar Cookies - ideal for cookie cutters

2 c. sugar
1 c. butter
1 c. milk
2 eggs
7 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. b.s.
4 tsp. b.p.
2 tsp. vanilla
Preheat oven to 375-400 degrees
(it just depends on the oven — experiment)
Roll out to about 1/4 inch thick on floured surface.
Bake for 5-6 minutes (on greased cookie sheet) until very pale
(do not overcook — this also takes some experimenting).

Here is the buttercream frosting recipe:

3 c. powdered sugar
1 c. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
Beat with electric mixer for approx. 5 minutes, until light and fluffy.

Broccoli, Potato, and Cheddar Soup

4 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2 cups broccoli (about 8 oz)
1 T butter
1 T olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cumin
1 1/2 T dijon mustard
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 cups potato/broccoli water
2 T flour
1 cup half and half
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese

Steam potatoes for 10 minutes, until tender. Set aside (reserving the water). Steam broccoli 3 minutes, until tender. Set aside (reserving the water).

Heat olive oil and butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until tender about 8 minutes. Add potatoes, salt, cumin, dijon, pepper and 1 1/2 cups reserved water. Combine remaining 1/2 cup potato water and 2 Tablespoons flour. Add to pot. Simmer about 20 minutes. Add half and half and 2/3 cup cheese. Simmer about 15 minutes more.

Preheat broiler. Using four oven-proof bowls or ramekins, fill with chowder and sprinkle with cheese on top. Broil for 2 minutes, until golden on top.

*Courtesy of Eden

The Dixon's Famous French Bread

2 ½ cups warm water

2 Tbsp. yeast

3 Tbsp. sugar

¼ cup oil

2 tsp. salt

6 cups flour

Dissolve sugar in warm water and then add the yeast and let sit about 5 minutes to dissolve. Add oil and salt. Add half the flour; mix and add rest of flour. Knead dough; let rise until double (a trick I learned is to put the dough in a bowl and place that bowl in another bowl of hot water, cover with towel and let rise), then shape into loaves and place on cookie sheet. Before placing it on the sheet spread olive oil on the pan, drizzle with corn meal and then with sugar. Slit top of loaf and let rise. Cook at 375 for 30 minutes OR another quick rise trick is to turn on the oven to 375; when it get to that temperature turn off the oven, place the bread inside on the top rack and then on the bottom rack place a bowl full of hot boiling water. Let the bread rise about 5-8 minutes. Take out the bowl of water, leave the bread in and turn back on the oven to 375 and cook for 25-30 minutes.