Black Bean and Pumpkin Soup.......

This was so delicious and so easy.  I topped my bowl off with sliced avocado and low fat Greek yogurt.  Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

4 Tablespoons olive oil
1 cup onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 small can diced green chilies
3 cans black beans (15 oz each), drained and rinsed
1 can (14.5 oz) diced zesty tomatoes
1 can (16 oz) pumpkin puree
1 cup roasted corn ( I get mine at TJ's)
4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Salt to taste



Instructions
1. In a large pot heat the oil. Add the onion, garlic, cumin, chilies and salt, cook until the onion has softened. About 3 to 4 minutes.

2. In a food processor puree the beans and tomatoes. Add the puree, pumpkin and broth to the pot.

3. Simmer uncovered until thick, add third can of black beans and corn, stirring often while scraping the bottom, about 30 minutes or until desired thickness. Add chopped cilantro and serve.

Cranberry Nut Bars...

If there is one thing I enjoy this time of year its my fireplace.  I have the kettle on and as soon as my tea is brewed I am going to sit down in front of the fire and enjoy my tea and these delicious cranberry bars.  Here's the recipe adapted from Food.com

Ingredients:

2 eggs (beaten)
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup chopped nuts
2 cups cranberries chopped (fresh or frozen)

Orange rind from one orange

Directions:

Beat together eggs, butter, sugar and vanilla.

Add flour and baking powder and mix well.

Fold in nuts, orange rind and cranberries.

Pour into greased 9 x 12 cake pan.

Bake@ 350 degrees 40-45 minutes .

Cranberry Vodka....

Before I buy my fresh bag of cranberries this year I needed to use up the two cups of frozen cranberries left over from last year.  I have wanted to make cranberry vodka for a long time.  It is ridiculously easy and fun to make.   Martinis are also all the rage and I thought I could use it at Christmas time.  Here is the recipe.

1. One 750 ml. vodka ( good quality)
2. 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
3. Rind from 1 large orange
4. 1 cup super fine sugar

Throw all of the ingredients in a large jar with a lid.  Stir until sugar is dissolved.  Let sit for at least a week. When the week is up strain the vodka through a sieve and pour it back into the original bottle.  I am going to keep mine in the fridge until Christmas.  
Before the week was up  I decided to opened the jar and squish some of the cranberries against the side of the jar with a large wooden spoon.  Squishing the cranberries really deepen the color of the vodka.  Enjoy!     

Waiting Game......

Just last weekend I was out and about enjoying the historic working Grist Mill in Sudbury MA. The skies were clear and blue and the temperatures were in the low 70's. There wasn't a hint in the air of what was going to be bearing down on the Northeast Region in only a week.
We have been preparing for a hurricane that is looming towards us here in the Northeast.  A monster storm that is more than a 1000 miles wide.  We will most likely have major power outages. There is not much to do other than sit and wait.  I will be bringing in lots of wood from the wood pile while it is still dry and safe to do so.  We have a line of pine trees that border our back hill and huge oaks that surround our house on three sides.  We are hoping all the trees stay in the ground where they belong. 
Good luck to all the people in New Jersey and New York who will be taking a direct hit from Hurricane Sandy. 

Harvest Time at the Cranberry Bog...

How exciting it was to watch the cranberry harvest in full swing this afternoon.  Some of you might remember that I live just a few minutes away from a gorgeous cranberry bog.  Here in Massachusetts our cranberries are usually harvested around this time of year.  The most common way to harvest cranberries is to water harvest them. The cranberry beds are flooded and the cranberry is beaten off the vine using a specialized harvester. The floating cranberries are then corralled and loaded onto trucks for delivery to where ever they go to be processed.  Wet harvested cranberries are used only for processed cranberry products like sauce and juice. Dry harvested fruit is combed from the vines using a mechanized picking machine.  There is no water  involved during this process. The dry cranberries are loaded into huge bins, washed and then packaged.

Here they are with a section of the corralled cranberries.  As you can see from my photos, I was fortunate enough to watch the wet harvest this afternoon.  I seem to always miss the dry harvest.

 Look at the size of the truck they just loaded.  That's a lot of cranberry sauce, wouldn't you say.

Take a look at how beautiful they are floating in their beds.  I had all I could do not to jump in and help.  The workers made it look so easy and fun.    I will be patient and wait to purchase my dry harvest bag of cranberries across the street at Great Brook Farm.  

Maple Salmon with Cider Glazed Onions

 
Another easy salmon recipe. The hardest part was waiting for it to finish cooking on the grill.
Slice a red onion and saute for five minutes in a little olive oil, salt and pepper.  Add one cup apple cider to the onions and cook until the cider has evaporated. While the onions are cooking, salt and pepper you salmon fillets and pour one tablespoon of maple syrup over each fillet. Wrap the fillets in a double layer of aluminum foil and grill for ten minutes.  When ready to serve, top the salmon with the cider glazed onions.

I served the maple salmon with a fall inspired brown rice.  Dried cranberries, chopped broccoli and slivered toasted almonds were added into the pot of cooked brown rice.  Delicious!

Pumpkin Time...

I enjoy a good micro-brewed seasonal beer.  Now that fall has arrived you can find all kinds of specialty beer on the shelves.  There have been some good ones over the years, but this pumpkin beer is one of the best I have had.  I first dipped the glass in soda water and then sugared the rim with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar.  Delicious!

Somewhere out there in party land there is a recipe that adds a shot of vanilla vodka to the beer.  I'm not that adventurous.  The warmth of the cinnamon and sweetness of the sugar were enough to hold my attention.
I chose to purchase a New England regional beer from the Shipyard Brewery out of Portland Maine, but I'm sure there are loads of local breweries near you that have a delicious pumpkin beer available.  Pumpkin beer is a flavorful way to welcome in fall.  Cheers!