Butternut Squash & Ginger Soup

Nothing feels more like autumn than a warm bowl of soup. I made this one up based on a few others I read – and added ginger and orange juice – this one is a keeper!

Ingredients:

1 large butternut squash, peeled and cubed

4 tbsp. butter (or oil if you prefer)

1 medium onion, chopped

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 “thumb size” chunk of fresh ginger, grated

3 tbsp frozen orange juice concentrate

2 tbsp sugar

salt / pepper

1 carton chicken stock

1/4 cup heavy cream (optional)

Method:

Melt butter over medium heat in saucepan and add onion, garlic and ginger  until translucent (5 mins or so). Add cubes of squash and stir until coated with butter. Add salt and pepper, orange juice concentrate, sugar and chicken stock. Cook over medium-low heat (uncovered) until squash is very soft (25-30 mins or so).

Working in small batches (1-2 cups, depending on the size of your blender), and with the vent hole opened on the lid, blend soup until smooth. Return to pot and add cream.

Serve with crusty bread!

“Moon” Donuts

I cannot claim the glory for these donuts – they are a family recipe from a friend of mine. But we have made them many a time at the cottage. They are, in fact, PERFECT cottage food – and we TRY not to make them at home due to their serious sugar and fat content – but sometimes, we cannot resist!

Ingredients:

1 jar raspberry jam (we have tried other flavours, but raspberry is, by far, the BEST!)

1 loaf white bread

Box of pancake mix (we have also made our own pancake mix, from scratch, which works equally well) – prepared as directed.

Vegetable oil for frying

Icing sugar for dusting

Method:

Make a jam sandwich & cut it into quarters.

Dip each quarter into pancake batter and fry in oil until golden (flipping once.)

Cool 15 mins on wire rack & dust with LOTS of icing sugar.

Make coffee and/or tea … and yumm!

Patsy’s Apple Pie

My gramma was a fantastic cook and baker. She taught me how to make her wonderful apple pie when I was about 25 so I could “take over” the pie baking in the family. This recipe is always a hit with friends and family. Do not be intimidated by making pastry. It is one of the simplest things to make – there is only one rule – don’t fuss over mixing it too much – some lumps of lard are a good thing – the less you handle it, the better it will be : )
PASTRY
6 cups cake & pastry flour (or 5 ½ cups all purpose flour)
1 tsp salt
1pound lard (Tenderflake)
1 tbsp malt vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 egg
Ice-cold water

1. Mix together flour and salt in a large bowl

2.Cut cold lard (store lard in your refrigerator until you are ready to make the pastry) into ¼ inch cubes and add to flour mixture. Rub flour into the lard with your fingertips until you have a “pea-sized” meal.

3. In a 1-cup measure, combine brown sugar, vinegar, and egg. Add ice-cold water to make 1 cup. Gradually stir liquid into your dough mixture. Add only enough liquid to make dough cling together.

4. Gather into a ball and divide into 3 portions.
Wrap each portion in wax paper, (and foil if you are freezing the pastry), until needed.
Each portion equals one double piecrust.

5. Divide your portion into 2 equal parts and roll out onto a well-floured surface. Fold the piecrust in half on your surface, then in half again to make a triangle – transfer to a 9-inch pie plate.

FILLING
6 cups cored, peeled and thinly sliced apples
(Empire, Macintosh or any other tart cooking apple with good flavour)
6 tbsp white sugar
6 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
1/3 cup flour
6 tbsp heavy (whipping) cream (not whipped)
¼ cup butter

Peel and slice apples thinly into a large bowl. Add all other filling ingredients except butter and mix until coated. Pour into bottom pie shell. Top with knobs of butter and cover with top piecrust. Cut 4 or 5 vent holes in the top of the piecrust and place into a 425-degree oven for 8 mins. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue cooking for 34-40 mins or until apples are cooked.

Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 – 30 mins. Serve warm with good vanilla ice cream.

NOTE:
I usually use 1.5 batches of filling to fill one pie (more or less depending on the depth of your pie plate) – it mounds the filling up high – but once it cooks down and cools, your pie is perfect and doesn’t turn out “indented”.