What's better than a hot bowl of homemade soup with freshly baked cornbread 

& poached pears ala mode 

on a cold winter's night?

 I promise, the last piece is for you...

Our bodies seem to know exactly what it needs.

On a very snowy December day, I made some vegetable & barley soup - a very large pot so that I could enjoy the left-overs. 

The base was from Bob's Mills 

Vegetable & Alphabet Dry Soup Mix. 

(They have many varieties & I look forward to trying them all.)

I added 1/2 c of pearled barley, 4 sliced organic carrots, 2 medium organic onions (so nice to work with - a different texture indeed), 4 organic potatoes, with the peels left on, salt & pepper, 3 bay leaves & 2 boxes of Imagine's Organic Vegetable Broth - yummy! The soup cooked in about 1 1/2 hours on a slower simmering heat. 

And for de taste de la resistance, desert was poached pears with sliced almonds (omitted on this serving) with a generous serving of Soy Delicious Vanilla Ice Cream. 

I've included the basic corn bread & 
poached pears recipes for you.

BASIC CORNBREAD 
(tweaked from Williams Sonoma recipe)

1 1/2 c whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/2 c cornmeal (the finer the better)

1/4 c fructose

1 T baking powder

1 t salt

1 cup almond milk (you can use vanilla flavored if you like)

1 c Toffutti sour cream (tofu-based)

1/3 c corn or safflower oil

1 egg substitute, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil or spray 9-inch glass pan.

Mix together dry ingredients

Mix together wet ingredients (in a different bowl)

Combine by gently folding in the wet ingredients - do not over-mix.

Pour into prepared pan.

Bake uncovered for about 35 minutes. Remove for oven & let stand for 20 minutes. Remove from pan & cut into 9 squares.

This cornbread is delicious when topped with margarine & honey!

POACHED PEARS WITH SLICED ALMONDS
(This recipe was tweaked from the Natural Choices Magazine, December 2012 issue.)

If serving 8, use:

4 pears

2 cups pear juice (I use Hansen's Organic)

2 T honey

1/2 c toasted sliced almonds (optional - but festive!)

Slice pears in half length-wise. Carefully remove the core from each half with a small spoon - easy to do - only a small amount needs to be removed)

Mix pear juice & honey in large saute pan or pot - bring to boil. (You'll need 2 pans as the pears need to lay flat.)

Add pears cut-side down - reduce heat to simmer (cook uncovered).

Gently press on pears after 40 minutes to see if tender.

Carefully transfer to serving plates.

Top with scoop of vanilla ice cream, a drizzle of leftover poached pear juice & top with toasted almonds.

This is a delightful desert - light, yet rich. Right before I begin to serve dinner, I begin poaching these pears - that way desert is still hot & ready to be served following dinner, & we all get to enjoy the sweet aroma of the pears while we enjoy our dinner. 

How about Homemade Applesauce?

It's simple - I promise!

I had 6 apples that were given to me by a neighbor - they weren't fresh off of the tree, 

but I still appreciated them & thought I would go ahead & juice them...

... that is until the temperatures dropped to 30 degrees - 

a perfect snowy wintry night here in northern Utah.  

So I decided to make good ol' applesauce - 

what a fragrant aroma & special sweetness brought to my kitchen. 

So, I peeled. 

Then sliced with my special apple slicer. 

Looking back to 7th grade home economics class - this was the 1st recipe we used & I've always been a fan ever since!

I asked my daughter what her 1st recipe was in her class - she told me No Bake Cookies. What do you remember making? 

There they are scrumptious-looking, right, you can just taste the sweetness or tartness.

At this point, you could change your mind & make an apple pie, but I prefer simple tonight.

If you like, you can add a splash of freshly squeezed lemon juice. (I usually don't)  

I could individually slice each segment, but that's lots of unnecessary work, so instead, I'll use my handy/dandy hand-chopper. 

This will provide small dices of apple that will cook down rather quickly. 

This is just a interior look at the diced apples for you. 

Place in pot (of course), & add a good sprinkling of cinnamon.

For 6 apples I use about 1/2 t. Also add about an 1/8 c of water. This will vary depending on the apples. Sometimes I just use a few tablespoons of water - sometimes, I'll use up to 1/2 c. 

The first time you make applesauce, you may want to go with 1/2 c water just to be sure. You can always strain off the excess, or uncover & let the extra evaporate. 

 Cover & cook at a slow simmer, about 20 minutes.

Of course you can leave the apples in larger chunks, but I like to use my smasher to break down the chunks even more. 

I do leave a variety of sizes though, just to make it a bit more appetizing & to give it a more home-cooked look. 

If you like, you can mush to a puree too, especially if you're serving a little one.

So, I hear you asking me, "What about sugar?" Well, I don't use any - I think the apples are plenty sweet for me. 

I remember once when I was making jam. At the beginning, I thought the jam was pretty tasty, but decided to add fructose for others. I seem to have just kept adding & adding & adding more fructose, not really knowing when enough was enough. Looking back I really believe less is more.

You can make applesauce with even one apple if you like - it's worth it even or especially if you're cooking for yourself! You're worth it!!!

A special side-note: Back in 2003 I attended the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee. I stayed at a small bed & breakfast. The owner was this very special older woman who would fix breakfast for us. Every morning, before we rose, I could smell the apple aroma in her kitchen. She would simply slice up apples, blanch them in water & serve, slightly softened - delicious & one memory that will stay with me forever! 

Peace & Holiday Warmth,

Marcy Hope Williams