Now that Punxsutawney Phil has predicted more winter for us, I thought you might enjoy this hearty lentil-barley soup. Good on a winter's day and good for you.
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup chopped onion
6 cups water
3/4 cup lentils
1 can tomatoes, pureed
3/4 cup barley
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin (I actually use a little more because I love the taste of cumin.)
1/2 tsp garlic
1 medium sized carrot, finely diced
1 cooked chicken breast, cut into small pieces (optional)
Directions:
Sauté onion in olive oil until translucent. Add water and lentils and cook for 20 minutes. Add tomatoes, barley, carrots, and seasoning and simmer for 45 minutes. The last ten minutes of that, add your chicken breast.
Serve with French bread.

As many of you know, I usually come up with a fun recipe to accompany whatever new book I have out. This one for Crispy Gumdrop Cookies is bound to be a hit with your family. And Santa will thank you if you leave out a plate of them for him!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups flour
2 cups crispy rice cereal
1/2 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup gumdrops, cut up
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flaked coconut
Directions:
Cream butter and sugars; add egg and vanilla and cream until fluffy. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into creamed mixture. Stir i cereal, coconut and cut up gum drops. Shape into 3/4 inch balls (Mine wind up more about an inch and I prss them down a little so they'll be flat when they come out). Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 10 minutes at 350 or until lightly browned. Cool slightly, then remove from the sheet. Makes about 5 dozen (unless you make the balls bigger or you eat a bunch of the dough- both of which I do!)

This is one of my all-time favorite fall soups! Hope you'll enjoy it.
Ingredients:
1 medium butternut squash
1 Tbsp butter
1 cup coarsely chopped onion
2 cans chicken broth (I actually make my own  broth, collecting it each time I bake chicken. Once I have a large yogurt container full I know I'll have enough broth for soup.)
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp thyme
salt to taste
Directions:
Peel squash and cut into pieces. Simmer them in the broth in a large pot over medium heat. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pan and sauté the onion. Once that's sauteed you can add it to the pot. Simmer until squash is tender, then set it aside to cool slightly. Put it in a food processor or blender and mix until smooth. (I use a blender, doing the soup in small batches and then putting it into a large bowl. After that I transfer it back to the pot. Someday, I'll get a real food processor and save myself some steps!)
That's it. Easy and delicious. Freezes well, too, so you can put some aside to have on hand for a blustery day.

Here's a salad I concocted while dieting. Yummy and easy to make. Serves 4 - 6.
Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
1 batch of asparagus from your local grocery store's produce department
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup chopped onions
a handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
mustard to taste
Directions:
Bake the chicken, cool and then slice into cubes. Steam the asparagus but don't overcook - leave a little crunch in it. Drain and cool and cut into bite sized pieces, then add to the chicken along with mayo, chopped onions, tomatoes, and mustard. Store in fridge.
That's it.  Perfect for summer.

THIS IS A YUMMY LUNCH TO SERVE TO EITHER FAMILY OR COMPANY
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
1 package containing 4 croissants
1 12 oz package of frozen extra small (cooked) shrimp
1/4 cup mayo
1 large celery stalk
1/4 cup chopped onion
dill to taste
Lettuce
Directions:
Thaw shrimp and blot dry. Finely chop onion and celery and mix together with shrimp and mayo. Sprinkle on dill and mix again. Cut croissants in half and load on the shrimp salad. Add lettuce leaves and serve.

Usually, I like to post apple recipes in the fall. Somehow, I associate this tasty fruit with the season of nippy air and fires in the wood stove. But apples are available all year round and always good in a recipe. And, in honor of my new book, HOME ON APPLE BLOSSOM ROAD, it seemed only right to post a recipe using apples. So, here you go!
Applesauce Cake
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup thick sweetened applesauce
1 large egg, well beaten
1 cup raisins
Directions:
Cream together butter and sugar. Add egg and mix. Sift together dry ingredients and add alternately with applesauce. Add vanilla and raisins. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Cool and frost with buttercream icing.

This is my new favorite snack! So easy to make and so yummy. Perfect for parties or a holiday movie night. All you need is:
1/2 cup popcorn (pop it in your air popper or on the stove top in 2 Tbsp oil)
1 package of white candy melts
3/4 cup ground peppermint (grind it in your blender)
Directions (so easy!): After you've popped your popcorn, pour it into a large bowl. Melt the candy melts according to package instructions and then pour over the popcorn and mix. Add the crushed peppermint and mix then pour onto a large cookie sheet to harden. After the chocolate has hardened break into pieces and store.
I made mine the day of our family's part so it would be nice and fresh but this will also keep for several days at room temperature. If you like you can add roasted peanuts to the mix also.
Happy eating!

PUMPKIN CASSEROLE
Here's a fun dinner casserole you can make for your family or for company. I just made this for our foodie group the other night. I'm sad to confess that I pre-cooked my pumpkin a little too much, which is why it looks so sad in this picture. I'm sure you'll do better if, unlike me, you follow the directions!
Ingredients:
1 whole pumpkin 8 - 10 inches in diameter
2 1/2 cups onion, finely chopped (you can also use 1 cup of onion and be fine)
1 green pepper, chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 large cloves, mashed
2 tsp oregano (I used one this last time and that was plenty so experiment with this)
2 tsp capers (this can be optional)
3/4 cup raisins
1/3 cup pimento stuffed green olives
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
2 lb lean hamburger
3 eggs, beaten
Directions:
Cut a five inch top from the pumpkin. Scoop out the seeds and scrape the inside clean. Place in a large pan of salted water and boil until the meat on the sides is tender (30 minutes). Pumpkin should be firm enough to hold its shape. Remove and drain.
Filling: In a large pan fry the hamburger, onions and green pepper. Mix together your spices and add to the meat along with the raisins, olives, capers, and tomato sauce. Cover pan and cook with meat for fifteen minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Mix in the eggs thoroughly and then stuff your filling in the pumpkin, packing slightly. Cover loosely with the pumpkin lid and bake in a shallow greased baking pan at 350 for 1 hour. Unless you happen to have over-boiled your pumpkin like I did. Than half an hour should do it. If you like, before serving you can rub butter around the upper edges and then sprinkle with granulated sugar to simulate frost.
One final note. If, like me, things like garlic and pepper are no longer your friends, not to worry. You can omit the garlic and pepper in this and use a yellow pepper and still have a very tasty meal with little risk of heartburn.
Happy Halloween and happy eating.

Don't you love summer and all the fabulous fruits that come with those long, hot days? Watermelons are ripe now and so good for us - a great source of Vitamin C, beta carotene, and magnesium. And it's also a mild diuretic.
Here's a ridiculously easy little goody that will take you all of five minutes to whip up. Fun to serve at a brunch. Makes 4 servings.
Ingredients:
1/2 a small watermelon, cut into pieces
1 cup strawberry flavored Greek yogurt (I love the Greek Gods brand!)
1 Tbsp coconut syrup
Directions:
Mix well in blender for a minute, then chill. You can serve garnished with a mint leaf or just plain as I did.
Happy summer!