Ham and Bean Soup

For supper tonight on this overcast blustery day in late December...

Ham and Bean Soup
From Diana Rattray,Your Guide to Southern U.S. Cuisine.
A recipe for ham bean soup with Great Northern beans and chopped vegetables.
Prep Time : Cook Time : 2hr Type of Prep : SimmerCuisine : Southern, U.S. RegionalOccasion :
INGREDIENTS:
8 cups water
1 pound Great Northern beans or navy beans
2 cups cubed ham
1 ham bone or ham hock, optional
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon pepper or to taste
1 bay leaf
1 carrot, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped or sliced thinly
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce

PREPARATION:
Bring water and beans to a boil; boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand 1 hour.
Stir in ham, ham bone or hock, pepper, bay leaf, carrot and celery. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer until beans are tender (skim foam from top), about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. If soup is too thick, add a little water.Remove ham bone or ham hock (if used) and trim meat from bone. Return meat to soup with tomato sauce and salt; simmer for about 15 minutes longer. Remove bay leaf.Ham and bean soup serves 6.
More Bean Soup Recipes

http://southernfood.about.com/od/beansoups/r/bl30621l_p.htm

Best Ever Potato Soup

Best Ever Potato Soup
From Lovell Chronicle 2/5/04 Clara’s column
(Matthew called this clam chowda without the clams.)

4 bacon strips,diced
3 Cups cubed peeled potatoes
1 can (14 ½ oz) chicken broth fat-free
1 small carrot, grated
½ C chopped onion
1 Tbs dried parsley flakes
½ tsp each celery seed, salt, and pepper
3 Tbl flour
3 C milk
8 oz processed American cheese, cubed
(I used cheddar cheese)
2 green onions, thinly sliced (for garnish)

In Dutch oven, cook bacon until crisp; drain. Add potatoes, broth, carrot, onion, parsley, celery seed, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

Combine flour and milk until smooth. Add to soup. Bring to a boil and stir for 2 minutes.

Add cheese; stir until cheese is melted and the soup is heated through.

Garnish with green onions, if desired. Makes about 8 servings.

Valentines Day treat!

Here's a simple Valentines desert for your sweeties... big and small!

Picture this..
On a pretty plate is a heart shaped piece of chocolate cake topped with sprinkled powdered sugar and a few whole raspberries... but surrounded in a pool of pureed raspberries.

The combination of sweet chocolate cake and tartness of the raspberries is just wonderful!

Here's what to do...

• Bake a chocolate cake using parchment paper on the bottom of the pan. Let cool.
• Sprinkle powdered sugar on top of the cake.
• Using various sizes of Heart Shaped cookie cutters, cut out heart shapes and plate the cake for your sweeties.
• Thaw out some frozen strawberries if you can't find fresh... Save some of the more shapely ones for topping this treat. The others can be pureed in the blender.
• Pool the pured raspberries around the heart shaped cake on the plate.
• Top desert with shapely raspberries and ENJOY!

Let me know how you like it! Toni