French Onion Soup Recipe.

French onion soup is a favorite around here with my husband, two-year-old, and myself (of course). The other kids don't even care to try it yet. It was so funny the other day watching the baby violently and with much love slurp her soup up while her sister sat next to her eating a lollipop. I really need to start making larger quantities of it. I'm certainly not a professional chef so I'm not sure about the "right" way to make french onion soup, but I know what I like and this tastes good to me. My original recipe is as follows.

French Onion Soup Recipe.

INGREDIENTS.

3 white cooking onions
32 oz. beef broth
1/4 cup red cooking wine
1/8 cup milk
bay leaf
1/2 Tbs parsley
1/4 tsp basil
salt and pepper to taste

Peel and cut onions in half and then make long slices along the grain. Sautee onion in 2 Tbs butter until soft. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot.

Cover and reduce heat to to medium. Once the soup begins to simmer reduce heat to low and cook for about 30 minutes, or until flavors fuse.

Toast bread of your choice and top with a slice of your favorite melty cheese. Put it in the bottom of your soup bowl and pour the french onion soup on top. Enjoy!


Recipe makes about 4 servings.

Butternut Squash + Bartlett Pear Soup Recipe.

I love comfort food. When the days cool down and the nights are crisp, there's just something about a mug of hot soup. Following is my original recipe for Butternut Squash and Bartlett Pear Soup.

INGREDIENTS. 

large butternut squash (mine was about 6 pounds)
1-2 bartlett pears
2 onions
clove of garlic
1/2 cup of milk or cream (plus extra for pureeing squash)
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
2 Tbs. parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 375. Wash and cut the squash into quarters. Remove the seeds. Place on a baking sheet or bar pan skin side up and bake for 30 minutes. Flip squash, cover with foil, and bake for another 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool until it is cool enough to be handled.

Meanwhile, wash and peel the pear(s) and the onions, and then chop. Mince the garlic. In a large soup pot, saute the pear, onion, and garlic in 1 Tbs. of butter until soft. Turn off the heat. Remove from pot and place in a blender. Blend until pureed. (It may need more fluid to be able to blend smoothly; if so add a bit of milk.) Return to pot.

When the squash is cool enough to be handled, cut away the skin. Chop the squash and put it in the blender to be pureed. Due to the size of the squash it will likely need to be pureed in batches and not all at once. Add a little bit of milk as needed to the blender to help it process the squash.

Add the pureed squash to the pot with the pear and onion. Also add the stock, milk, seasoning, and cheese. Salt and pepper to taste.  

Cook over medium heat until warmed through and the flavors meld. Serve hot! I'm not sure, but my best guess is that this recipe should serve 6-8.

This soup pairs well with crusty bread and apple cider. Happy Autumn!

In the Fridge :: Butterkase Cheese

This cheese is in my fridge right now. SO delicious, buttery, and smooth. I'm a cheddar girl at heart, so this was my first time trying Butterkase cheese. Wow. If you'll excuse me I think I need to go spend some quality time with my refrigerator. What? Cheese doesn't do that to you?

Molasses Cake Recipe.

It's that time of year when baking cakes in a non-air-conditioned house becomes enjoyable again. Yay for Fall! One of my favorite cakes is Molasses Cake. It's moist and rich, and it's a nice change from chocolate (although I like that too). Topped with crumbs, it doesn't need any too-sweet icing and it goes great with tea, hot apple cider, or coffee!

Molasses Cake.

Ingredients. 

4 cups flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 pound butter

2 cups boiling water

2 tsp baking soda

1 cup molasses 

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 13" x 9" cake pan, set aside.

Mix flour, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a large bowl. Cut in the butter. Set aside 1 cup of mixture for topping.

In another bowl, stir together boiling water, baking soda, and molasses. Add this to the dry mixture, stirring well. Note that the hot water and baking soda will fizz a bit, so make sure your bowl is big enough that it won't overflow.

Pour cake batter into the greased and floured 13" x 9" pan. Sprinkle the 1 cup of topping that was set aside evenly over the top. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cheers! I hope you enjoy this cake as much as I do!