A Comfort On A Cold Gray Day

Sausage And Navy Bean Soup

Sausage and Navy Bean Soup

It’s rainy and cold this morning. I had planned to share a cookie recipe today  … a breakfast cookie! But this can wait until tomorrow. I am going to put together a rich soup instead. And because it is last minute I won’t be soaking the beans overnight. The soup is a bit Italian. What a comfort it will be! Pair this with a country bread and it’s a complete meal. If you like add a small glass of red table wine.

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A Visit To Vermont

Sour Cream Pancakes With Blueberry Maple Syrup

Sour Cream Pancakes and Blueberry Maple Syrup

Vermont always comes to mind this time of year. If it isn’t the taste of their maple syrup it’s the picturesque view of their snow covered villages or ski slopes in mind’s eye that take me there. The love of this country was conveyed to me many times by a friend who skied these beautiful snow covered slopes in the 60’s … a magical time to say the least. Ella Fitzgerald, can’t forget her Moonlight In Vermont. She gets me there too.

Today I’ve made moist pancakes that can be eaten without syrup. Yep, my best friend, Marg, (Marg’s excuse-her father was a dentist) and my daughter prefer them that way! But for those who want to imagine themselves snowbound in a Vermont cabin overlooking fields of glistening snow I have a syrup for you. OK, you can tell I live in sunny California!

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A Recipe Change Up

Chicken and Dumplings My Style

Chicken and Dumplings My Style

My mother is from Arkansas. In 1939 she travelled to her new home in California. She brought with her a southern style of cooking which included recipes for fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, fried potatoes, and chicken and dumplings. Vegetables and fruits were mainly canned to preserve. This seems to be in vogue again today!

As a child I had a very difficult time eating chicken. I was generously given the drumstick … Every child’s favorite it seemed. But I could see every vessel and tendon … Even more so with stewed chicken and dumplings. The taste was delicious but…. I was being a kid!

What I have done here is create more of a shepherd’s pie with chicken. Rather than placing the biscuits or dumplings, mother used the same recipe for both, into the chicken dish I have included them separately. I loved my mother’s biscuits! She liked to make them thinner than most would, pressing the dough thin before cutting. This created a biscuit that was less cakie. If baking biscuits separately not as a topper, she would dip each in bacon drippings, lightly coating both sides before placing into a baking dish and popping into the oven. Yep! Still love this taste today. But for those who are not bacon fans butter works.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Not Just a Leftovers Dish

Turkey, Sausage and Rice Dish

Here is a dish I put together with leftover Thanksgiving turkey. It received a 9 out of 10 rating from family … 10 being equivalent to the Thanksgiving turkey meal. I say that is a pretty good rating! Wouldn’t you?!

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