Black Bean Soup

I used to buy a fantastic black bean soup mix at our local market, but it stopped appearing on the shelves a couple of years ago. So I tried to replicate the flavor at home yesterday, and we were quite pleased with the results.

We ate ours with some Cabot sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese mixed in, plus tortilla chips.

Black Bean Soup

Ingredients

• 2 TBSP Olive Oil
• 1 Onion, diced
• 1 Garlic Clove, diced
• 3 Carrots, diced
• 1 tsp Ground Cumin
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 tsp dried Cilantro
• One 8 oz. can Diced Tomatoes with Mild Green Chiles
• Two 14-16 oz. cans Black Beans (do not drain or rinse)

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in large soup pan over medium heat.
2. Add diced onion, garlic, and carrots. Saute 2 minutes.
3. Add cumin, cinnamon, and cilantro, then stir well. Saute 1-2 minutes more.
4. Add can of diced tomatoes, stir well.  Cook 5 minutes.
5. Add black beans and stir well. Cook until almost boiling (about 5 minutes.)
6. Reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Serve warm w/tortilla chips.

Serving suggestions

• Stir in Cabot Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese.
• Stir in a dollop of sour cream.
• Add to scrambled eggs along with some cheddar cheese.
• Fold into tortillas with cheese (and chicken if you like) to make quesadillas.

Ninja Ice Cream

Don't worry...this isn't a recipe for Ninja flavored ice cream (eeuuww!) but for ice cream made with our new Ninja NJ600 Blender.  Our previous blender, after 15 years of faithful service, started cracking and so we started researching for a new model.  After reading Consumer Reports ratings, and user reviews across several websites, we decided the Ninja was the best fit and value for our smoothie-making needs. We are thrilled with our new blender thus far, and pleasantly surprised that it came with a recipe for making ice cream.  We just made some scrumptious raspberry ice cream and are now frantically freezing more fruit!

Ninja Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 2 cups frozen fruit of choice (berries, peaches, etc.)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2-4 TBSP sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in blender
2. Blend on "3" or high until thickened (occasionally scraping down sides

Makes 3-4 servings

Waffles!

As a post-Christmas gift to ourselves, we bought a waffle maker from King Arthur Flour, and we couldn't be happier with these warm, heart-shaped treats. 

Below are two recipes that came with the maker. We've only made the "Quick Waffles" but they were great!

Quick Waffles

Ingredients

• 3 Eggs
• 1 cup Milk
• 1/2 cup melted Butter *
• 1 TBSP Vanilla
• 2 cups Flour *
• 1 TBSP Baking Powder
• 2 tsp Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Salt

Directions

1. Beat whole eggs in a bowl until thick
2. Beat milk, melted butter, and vanilla into eggs
3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt
4. Sift into egg mixture, and mix well
5. Spoon a ladleful onto pre-heated waffle maker
6. Cook 2-3 minutes until lightly browned/steam stops escaping
7. Recommend serving with real Vermont maple syrup*

Note: These can me transformed into Cinnamon-Apple Waffles by adding 1 peeled/shredded apple and 1/2 tsp cinnamon to the batter.

*Vermont/New England ingredients recommended: Kate's Homemade Butter, King Arthur Flour, Slopeside Syrup

Chocolate Waffles

Ingredients

• 2 Eggs, lightly beaten
• 6 TBSP Sugar
• 3/4 cup Milk
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla
• 1/2 cup Chocolate syrup
• 4 TBSP Butter, melted
• 1-1/2 cups cake Flour (sifted)
• 3 TBSP Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Salt

Directions

1. Combine beaten eggs, sugar, milk, and vanilla
2. In a separate bowl, blend chocolate syrup and butter, then let cool
3. Stir egg mixture into chocolate/butter blend
4. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt
5. Add egg/chocolate mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until smooth
6. Spoon a ladleful onto pre-heated waffle maker
7. Cook 2-3 minutes until lightly browned/steam stops escaping

Adrienne's Chocolate Chip Cookies

While cleaning out the "cooking" cupboard today, I found my mother-in-law's Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe tucked behind a box of sugar.  I thought our cookbook blog might be a safer place to keep it.  

The ingredients and mixing instructions are spelled out, but not the cooking instructions...which my husband calls the "advanced chef" technique. So upon consulting Quaker Oats (which has a great, free recipe PDF) and Betty Crocker, we recommend baking at 350 for about 10-13 minutes until browned...or until you can no longer resist the aroma!

Our son if not a big fan of oatmeal yet, so when omitting that from the mix, reduce cooking time to 9-11 minutes.

Adrienne's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup Butter (2 sticks), softened
• 3/4 cup Sugar
• 3/4 cup Brown Sugar
• 2 unbeaten Eggs
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Hot Water
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 1-1/2 cups Flour
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 cups Quaker Oats (instant)
• 1 cup Walnuts
• 1 pkg Chocolate Chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees*
2. Mix butter well on slow speed. 
3. Slowly add sugars, and blend well. 
4. Add eggs to butter, then beat well
5. Combine baking soda and water, then add to butter mixture
6. Add vanilla, then mix
7. Add flower and salt and mix
8. Add oats, walnuts, and chocolate chips, then mix until combined
9. Drop by spoonfuls unto cookie sheet*
10. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-13 minutes until lightly browned*

*Will consult with Adrienne and update accordingly! We'll also update with our own picture soon!