Pumpkin White Hot Chocolate, by Cheryl

The ingredients for this came together randomly as I just started adding things to the mix. It turned out really well and they blended deliciously together. It was a great way to start the day! Yum!

Ingredients:

1 cup whole milk (I added some water to the cup in order to fill the mug)

1 tablespoon cocoa

1 cup pumpkin puree

2 or 3 tablespoons white chocolate chips

cinnamon 

Directions:

1) Heat the milk in a saucepan. Add the cocoa and the white chocolate chips. Stir until fully mixed. 

2) Add the cinnamon and pumpkin. Mix. 

3) Enjoy! 

Elaine's Carrot Kugel, by Diane

Definitely orange!

This recipe is a family recipe made by my cousin Elaine each Thanksgiving. We all devour it!! It's good either warmed or cold, or even at room temp. The recipe is pretty basic, but I made a few changes like adding in a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg, and using butter instead of margarine. I also used gluten free flour (brown rice flour) since I made this for our orange-themed Halloween bookclub this week!

Ingredients:

1 lb. bag carrots
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 pinch salt
3 eggs
1 cup flour
1 stick margarine


Directions:

1. Chop carrots and boil them until softened. Mash carrots by hand or with a food processor until smooth.

2. Add carrots to remaining ingredients and mix well.

3. Bake in a greased 9x9 pan at 375 for 45-60 minutes (kugel should be slightly browned on the outside and done in the center).

Chicken Zoodle Soup, by Diane

It's been colder here, so my next two posts are my lunches and dinners for the week in an attempt to warm up! This first recipe is from one of my favorite blogs, The Body Book, and is a healthy comfort food that is packed with nutrition. Using bone broth instead of regular store bought chicken broth really helps to amp up the nutritional factor as well. The zoodles are zucchini noodles, and I made them really thin here so the whole bowl taste like pho. I also added in cilantro, which made it taste even more authentic!


Ingredients:

2 organic chicken breasts
2 tablespoons organic butter
1 tsp herbs de provence
1/2 onion
3 carrots
2 cloves garlic
4 cups homemade chicken bone broth (I used my recipe)
1 cup frozen peas
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 zucchini
Optional: chopped basil


Directions:

1. Cook chicken as desired and shred
2. Chop onions, carrots and garlic
3. Heat pan and melt butter in large soup pot or dutch oven.
4. Saute onions, carrots until onions are clear, then add garlic and herbs and sauté until fragrant (few minutes)
5. Add broth, peas and simmer until vegetables are soft (10-15 minutes)
6. Meanwhile, use a spirlizer to make the zucchini noodles
7. Add shredded chicken and zucchini noodles
8. Let simmer for 10 more minutes
9. Add lemon juice, zest and basil (optional)
10. Season with salt and pepper and additional lemon wedge

Spicy Beef and Potato Curry, by Diane

This recipe actually came from an email I got sent out by Whole Foods. They wrote an article on cooking with turmeric, my favorite spice, and I had to see some of the recipes. They were all amazing, but this is the first one that caught my eye and I've been dying to make it for weeks now. It tastes just like it looks, warm and filling! The whole house smelled amazing too. The chiles didn't wind up being spicy at all, so I added cayenne for a slight kick.


Ingredients:

1/2 onion, chopped
2 serrano chiles (remove seeds for a milder curry)
3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon peanut or expeller-pressed canola oil
1 3/4 pound sirloin tip steak, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste
1 cinnamon stick
1 1/4 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 can light coconut milk
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 pound red potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/3 cup packed cilantro leaves 

Directions:

1. In a blender, combine onion, chiles, garlic and 1/2 cup water and blend until smooth. Set aside.

2. In a large skillet with a tightly fitting lid, heat oil over high heat. Sprinkle steak with salt. Add half the steak pieces to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer to a bowl with a slotted spoon; repeat with remaining steak. Set aside.

3. Return the skillet to medium-high heat and add cinnamon, coriander, cumin and turmeric; stir for 10 seconds and then add the onion and chile mixture. Simmer for 1 minute and then stir in coconut milk, tomatoes and sugar. Add the beef back in, cover the skillet, and simmer 40 minutes. 

4. Stir in potatoes and continue to simmer until beef and potatoes are very tender, about 20 minutes more; remove the lid during last 10 minutes of simmering if you would like a thicker sauce. 

5. Remove cinnamon stick; taste curry and add more salt if desired. Serve garnished with cilantro.  

Pumpkin Soup, by Cheryl

Better picture? Still needs work. 

This is something I whipped up when I realized that I had pureed pumpkin and heavy cream on hand in the kitchen. The rest just fell into place! This is a sweet and savory soup that's filling for a light lunch with a salad, an appetizer, or for a snack in the middle of the day when a Kind bar just won't cut it. I used a chopped onion, but only because I didn't have shallots on hand which I think would give it a better flavor. Ginger would also be good to add in. I topped it with some crispy bacon, but toasted pumpkin seeds would be great as well. Yum!

Ingredients:

1 can pumpkin puree
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 cups vegetable broth
1 shallot, chopped
salt

Directions:

1) Saute chopped shallot in a pot with some olive oil. Add the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon. Mix.

2) Add the vegetable broth and mix together. When combined, add the heavy cream. Mix. Let sit on low heat for about 10 minutes.

3) Use an immersion blender to combine everything into a nice soup. Spoon into bowls and top with bacon, or whatever you want!

Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies, by Cheryl

This might be my turning point... I vow to take better photos! 

Ok, yes this photo looks like our old ones back in the day and I think Diane might kill me after seeing it, but I swear I was going to take a better picture after I broke the cookies up! The only problem was that the cookies were sooooo good that we just kept breaking off bits and pieces each time we passed by them and eventually after a mere 24 hours all of the cookies were GONE! If you're like me and you like your cookies CRISPY then these are the cookies for you. I might just have to make another batch, like now! Yum!

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1.5 cups sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350. Mix flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

2) In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in the egg, then stir in the vanilla. Mix in the dry ingredients until blended. Stir in the chocolate chips. Roll the dough into 2 inch balls and place them three inches apart (obviously I did not do this) on a greased cookie sheet.

3) Bake for 20-23 minutes. Allow cookies to cool before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Fall Roasted Brussels Sprouts, by Diane

This was the final side dish that I made for our fall-themed bookclub. I basically combined all the fall flavors I thought would go together and roasted them in the oven. This was so delicious and will definitely be on my regular rotation. You can add or sub any fall ingredient here, like butternut squash, as well. This would be an excellent Thanksgiving side dish too!


Ingredients:

1 lb fresh brussels sprouts, halved
1 cup dried cranberries (fresh would work too)
1 small apple, diced
1/4 cup pecans
2 tbsp EVOO
2 tbsp balsamic vinaigrette
2 tbsp maple syrup
Salt and pepper 
1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except the cheese and spread evenly on a baking tray.
3. Roast for 15-20 minutes or until the sprouts are fork tender.
4. Serve warm, sprinkled with blue cheese.

One Pot Butternut Squash Alfredo, by Diane

This looks like soup, but was a very thick alfredo sauce!

This was the main course for our fall-themed bookclub, and was also a crowd favorite. The butternut squash made a really delicious sauce for the pasta, and I added in chicken to make it a more hearty meal. The only problem with this recipe was that it came out way too thin, so I had to thicken it with a rue. In the future I would make this without the 2 cups of water, and add those in at the end only if the sauce needs to be thinned out. I also subbed in chicken broth for veggie broth and for the water, which gave the whole dish a very comfort food feeling!

Recipe credits from Buzzfeed Tasty.

Ingredients:

- 3 cups diced butternut squash (about half a squash)
- 1 cup of vegetable stock.
- Butter (4 Tbsp.)
- One small onion (1 cup diced)
- Rosemary (1 Tbsp.)
- Sage (1 Tbsp.)
- Low-fat Milk (4 cups)
- Parmesan (1 cup, plus more for topping)
- Brown Sugar (2 Tbsp.)
- Nutmeg (1/4 tsp)
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
- Water (2 cups)
- Fettuccini noodles (1 16oz box)

Directions:
Melt 4 Tbsp. of butter. Add 1 cup of diced onion, 1 Tbsp. of Rosemary and 1 Tbsp. of Sage. Cook for 3 minutes on medium heat until onions soften. Then cook on medium-high heat until the butter begins to brown (be careful not to burn it). Add in 3 cups of diced butternut squash and 1 cup of vegetable stock, stir, then cover and cook for 15 minutes (until butternut squash is softened).

Uncover and mash with a potato masher until you’ve squished all the squash. Add 2 cups of milk and stir. Then, add 1 cup of parmesan and stir. Add 2 Tbsp. of brown sugar, 1/4 tsp. of nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste and stir until well blended.

You can either cook your pasta beforehand in the pot and set it aside, or cook it in the sauce! Break fettuccini noodles in half and place in the sauce. Carefully cover the noodles with sauce. Then, pour in 2 more cups of milk and 2 cups of water and stir. (Add more water, if needed, to smooth out the sauce.) Stir the pasta continuously (to make sure it doesn’t burn on the bottom of the pot) and cook for 15-20 minutes (or until pasta has reached desired texture).

Top off with salt and pepper, parmesan cheese, rosemary garnish, and cayenne pepper (if you’d like a little extra spice). Enjoy!

Salted Caramel Apple Cream Cheese Spread, by Diane

Another fall bookclub appetizer! This was really good, and tasted like a delicious caramel apple you would get at the fair. I modified this a bit by changing the caramel sauce to salted caramel sauce and adding pecans because, why not.

Recipe from http://shewearsmanyhats.com/easy-caramel-apple-cream-cheese-spread/


Ingredients:

1 block cream cheese
Salted caramel sauce
Toffee bits
Chopped pecans
Apple slices (or pears, pretzels, or any other dippers you like!)


Directions:

1. Place cream cheese in the center of the serving dish. Top with warmed caramel sauce, toffee, and nuts.
2. Serve surrounded by apple slices or your preferred dippers.

Mulled Apple Cider Sangria, by Diane

 This recipe was the perfect drink for our fall bookclub, and made the place smell amazing as it cooked. It was a massive hit!! It would be fine as a nonalcoholic drink as well with some sparkling cider. I reduced the cider to 1/2 gallon because, what can I say, we like wine a lot. :)

Ingredients:

1 quart apple cider
3 tbsp mulling spices
1 muslin bag or cheesecloth
1 bottle white wine
Apple slices
Cinnamon sticks for garnish
Directions:

1. Pour apple cider into a slow cooker on slow or small sauce pan on low heat.
2. Wrap mulling spices in cheesecloth or muslin bag and drop into apple cider.
3. Heat on low for 3-4 hours.
4. For warm sangria, add white wine to mulled cider, serve with apple slices and a cinnamon stick for garnish.
5. For chilled sangria, let mulled cider cool then move to the refrigerator.
6. Once cider and wine are chilled, combine and serve over apple slices with a cinnamon stick for garnish.
7. Enjoy!