Curry Scented Butternut Squash Soup

1 butternut squash, 2 1/2 lbs (6 cups cubed)
2 large sweet apples (fuji or honeycrisp)
3 medium onions
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp curry powder
6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 8 oz container mascarpone cheese
2 tsp salt
sour cream and snipped fresh chives (optional)

*Peel squash and apples. cut into 1 inch cubes and dice onions.
*Melt butter in large pot over medium low heat. Add onions. Cook 5-6 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add squash, apples, brown sugar and curry powder. Cook and stir 1 minute or until curry powder is fragrant. Add stock and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer 24-26 minutes or until squash is very soft. Remove from heat.
*Carefully ladle about one-third of the squash mixture into blender container. Cover and blend until smooth. Pour blended soup into a large bowl. Repeat two times with remaining squash mixture.
*Return soup to pot and whisk in mascarpone and salt, until mascarpone is completely dissolved. Return to simmer over medium heat and remove from heat. garnish each serving with sour cream and chives if desired.

Peach Coffee Cake

We've made this with an apple filling as well as peach. I love it because it's not overly sweet for breakfast. And the topping has just the right amount of crunch. So yummy!

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recipe from the Better Homes and Garden cook book
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filling:

2 cups sliced, peeled peaches - fresh or frozen

1/4 cup water - a little less if using frozen

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

cake:

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1 egg

1/2 cup buttermilk*

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

topping:

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

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For filling, combine peaches and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer covered for about 5 minutes. Combine the sugar and cornstarch in a little bowl, add to fruit. Cook and stir over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more; set aside to cool.

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In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Cut in the 1/4 cup butter until the mixture is crumbly. Set aside. In another bowl combine the egg, milk, and vanilla. Add egg mixture to the flour mixture. Stir just until moistened. Spread 1/2 the batter into a greased 8x8 baking pan. Spread on the filling. Drop remaining batter in small mounds onto filling.

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Now, onto the topping. In a small bowl stir together your flour and sugar. Cut in the butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over coffee cake. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

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*If you don't have buttermilk on hand, substitute sour milk. Pour 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice in a glass measuring cup. Add enough milk to make 1/2 cup and let sit for 5 minutes before using.

Mango Strawberry Crush

Totally Kid Friendly! And the best part? They think it's dessert! You'll be the coolest mom on the block when you let them eat it for breakfast!

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2 large, ripe mangoes, peeled, seeded and chunked

10 strawberries, hauled

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3 tablespoons sugar

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Put all your ingredients in a blender and blend it up until think and smooth. Pour into 2 ice cube trays. Freeze until hard. Place fruit back into the blender. Blend, stopping to scrape down the sides of the blender, until crushed. Spoon into bowls and serve. 4 servings

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You can pretty much do this with 4 cups of any juicy fruit.

Peach Butter

I saw this recipe on Zupas.com and figured I should be able to substitute peaches for the apricots. I did and it turned out perfectly.

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This makes 3 pints or 6 8-ounce jars
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10-14 peaches - peeled, halved, and pitted
1/2 cup water
3 cups sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
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Put the peaches and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, until peaches are soft, about 20 minutes.

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Pour peaches and juice into a blender and puree it using the pulse button....do not liquefy it. Measure out 6 cups of puree and pour it into a clean pot. Add sugar and lemon juice. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, until mixture thickens. This could take anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes. You can test it by placing a glass plate in the freezer for a few minutes then drop some peach butter on the plate. If it spreads then it's not quite done. You want it to hold it's shape.

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Prepare your canner, jars and lids. Ladle hot butter into jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Wipe rim and place on lids. Place jars in canner. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove jars, let cool and store.

Banana Peanut Butter Chip Bread

So last week Larry had me buy him some bananas for his lunches, so I bought a bunch of six. This week guess how many brown bananas were on my counter? Four! Good thing it was cooler today since I had to turn on my oven. Here is the recipe I used (I had an idea to add the peanut butter chips because I love peanut butter and banana sandwiches even if I can't eat them right now).


Ingredients:



1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened**
2 eggs, room temperature
4 medium ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
12 ounces peanut butter chips, divided


Directions:


Preheat oven to 350 degrees placing rack on the next to the lowest position. Grease and flour the bottoms only of one 9-inch loaf pan or 2 8-inch loaf pans or 4 mini loaf pans; set aside.


In a large bowl cream together the sugar and butter. Add one egg at a time until well incorporated. Add the milk, vanilla and bananas and beat well.


In a smaller bowl sift together the flour, salt and baking soda. Add in small increments to the banana mixture. Make sure you do not over mix as the dough will become chewy. Once well incorporated hand fold 8 ounces of the peanut butter chips into the batter.


Divide dough depending on the pans you are using. Sprinkle the top of the pan(s) of dough with the remaining chips. Bake 9-inch loaf for approximately 1-1/4 hours, 8-inch loaves for about 1 hour and the 4 mini loaves for around 45 minutes. Cool 5 minutes then loosen the sides and remove from pan(s). Cool completely before slicing or storing.