whipped cream

1 pt heavy whipping cream

8 splenda

1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Whip ingredients until peaks appear. Better to do w/ electric mixer in chilled bowl, but works fine with whisk and room temp bowl, because really, laziness wins.

New England Clam Chowder with croutons

4 slices turkey bacon, diced

3-4 scallions, chopped (or 1 1/2 cup onion)

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1 large piece celery, chopped

4 cups cubed potatoes (5ish med. potatoes)

2 10-oz cans clams, drained (and chopped if whole/baby clams) with liquid kept

4 tbsp butter

3.5 cups fat free half and half

3-4 tbsp flour

pepper, salt, dill, parsley, etc

1 scallion, cut into tiny circles

shredded sharp cheddar

loaf of crusty bread, sliced

Put oven at 400.

Cut up bacon and put it in unheated stock pot. Cook until a bit crisp, add onions and garlic and about 1 tbsp butter (don't need butter if use real bacon, probably). Cook about 5 minutes, stirring with spatula occasionally. Add potatoes, carrots, and celery. Pour liquid from clams over vegetables, and add water until they are just barely covered. Add seasonings. Bring liquid to a boil and cover, cooking until potatoes are tender (15 min or so).

Prep bread with cheese on baking sheet. Put in oven once potatoes are done, and should be ready when soup is.

Add clams, half and half, butter, and enough flour to thicken soup. Don't boil, but cook about 5 more minutes, until everything heated, stirring to keep flour from clumping.

Serve garnished with a little cheese and scallions, with bread for dipping.

Makes 4-8 servings.

Acorn Squash

1 Preheat oven to 400

2 Cut squash in half lenthwise and clean it. Score insides. Place in shallow pan with at least 1/4 inch water in bottom.

3 Coat the inside of each half with butter. Add 1/2 tbsp butter to well of each half. Add 1/2 tbsp brown sugar and a bit of maple syrup.

4 Bake 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes

escargot

For the escargot from Chelsea markets:

pre-heat oven to 425.

place escargot in brownie pan.

cook 9 minutes.

carefully remove with tongs, not spilling the butter.

Apple Pie with Crumb Topping

Ingredients:

1 (9 inch) pie shell
6 cups thinly sliced apples (about 5 apples, peeled)
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.
Place sliced apples in a large bowl.
In a small bowl, mix together white sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Sprinkle mixture over apples. Toss until apples are evenly coated.
Spoon mixture into pastry shell.
In a small bowl mix together 1/2 cup flour and brown sugar.
Cut in butter or margarine until mixture is crumbly.
Sprinkle mixture over apple filling. C
over top loosely with aluminum foil.
Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes.
Remove foil and bake an additional 25 to 30 minutes, until top is golden brown.


Let cool completely to avoid runniness

From Apple Crumb Pie by Jackie Smith

Pasta Primavera

Ingredients:

Little less than half a box of rotini or similar
1/2 a yellow squash
1/2 a zucchini
2-3 carrots
1/4 green pepper
bunch of green onions
half a bulb of garlic, chopped
whatever other green veggies are available (string beans, peas, asparagus, etc)

some skim milk (1.5 cups, maybe? just eyeballed)
1/2 stick of butter
few tablespoons of flour
several tablespoons Parmesan cheese
Italian spices

Directions:
Slice veggies into bite-sized chunks roughly the length of the pasta.
Start water boiling.
Saute little more than half the garlic in a large pan.
Add veggies, keeping heat low and stirring frequently so stay firm.
When vegetables are within 8 minutes of being done, add pasta to water and start cooking cream sauce.
Use some of the butter to saute remaining garlic in a sauce pan, being sure to avoid too much browning.
Mix milk, flour, remaining butter, Parmesan and Italian seasonings in bowl, and add to saucepan, stirring constantly to avoid clumping, but allowing time for sauce to thicken. If too thick, add milk, too thin add flour.
Strain pasta then transfer to large bowl.
Add veggies, and toss with cream sauce.

Can add grilled chicken or sausage to pasta.

Ham, Bacon, and Swiss Quiche

Ingredients:

1 (9 inch) pastry shell (use the frozen 2-pack kind rather than the thin pie crusts)
About a large handful/little less than half a normal-sized hamsteak of diced ham(1 cup)
a few strips of bacon, crumbled
A handful and a half of shredded swiss or cheddar (1 cup), plus some more to sprinkle on top of quiche
About a teaspoon of chopped onions? like a quarter-sized area of onions
2 eggs
1 cup skim milk
bit of black pepper (bit of salt if make a meat-free or turkey version).
(Can add veggies, different meat, etc)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400
Line unpricked pastry shells with a double thickness of heavy-duty foil.
Bake at 400 for 5 minutes. Remove foil; bake 5 minutes longer. (Experiment w/ avoiding air bubbles)
Turn oven down to 375
Add ham, bacon, cheese and onion to the shells, evenly distributed.
In a bowl, whisk eggs, milk, and pepper.
Pour into shell, pushing down any bits of ingredients not covered.
Sprinkle bit of cheese on top.
Cover edges with foil and bake at 375 for 35 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean - don't over cook on first day, since needs to be reheated.
Let stand for 5-10 minutes before cutting.

Time: bit more than an hour start to finish, but long cooking time.

Good w/ mesclun salad with radishes, cucumber, goat cheese and walnuts.

Reheating: 15 minutes at 375.

Modified from Ham-N-Cheese Quiche by Christena Palmer