Marie Cookpad

  Autumn is well and truly upon us now with cooling temperatures and rain. I actually had to put the heat on today for a while to warm things up.  But then again, it is October now, so you expect this.  This is soup weather!  I love soup, and I am so pleased to be at the time of year when I am able to enjoy it again.    One of my favourite simple soups has to be tomato.  I adore tomato soup.  I only ever had it from a tin when I was a child.  The thought never occurred to me that you could make it from scratch. DUH!  The first time I experienced tomato soup from scratch was when I was married first time around.  A good farm wife my late MIL made excellent tomato soup. (She was a fabulous cook and made excellent everything!)   I was a Campbell's kid when it came to Tomato Soup, because that is what my mother bought.  As an adult I tried Heinz and in all honesty liked that variety better.  But in reality when it comes to tomato soup, whilst the tinned versions are fine, homemade knoc

  There is something about this time of year that makes me want to indulge in all things apple and pumpkin . . .  and spice.  Its only natural I guess since this is the time that those things are coming into their own and are available in abundance.  One thing I like to make is applesauce , and once I have made my applesauce, then I like to make an Applesauce Nut Bread or an Applesauce Cake .   I basically make two kinds of applesauce.  One with sugar and one without sugar.  The one I make with sugar is to eat as is, and the one without is to use in baked goods, where there will be sugar added to the batter. Both freeze very well. I freeze it in one cup amounts which is perfect for either use.   Today I decided to try out a new Applesauce bread/cake recipe.  I have a cookery book entitled, Recipes Worth Sharing, recipes and stories from America's most-loved Community Cookbooks.    This particular recipe is attributed to The Bells are Ringing: A Call To Table by the Mission San Juan

  If you are looking for a lovely cookie to bake for your loved ones this weekend, you can't get much nicer than Easy Jam Hearts.  These lovely jam filled butter cookies are simple to make and quite delicious!     They are so easy to make that the children will want to get in on but business of helping you with them. Children do so love to help out with baking don't they!  I sure wish I lived closer to my grandchildren . . .     You don't need to be rolling out or cutting out these cookies.  They are pretty much faff free.  You simply pinch off pieces of dough and roll it into 1 inch balls with your hands. These get placed onto the baking sheets, lightly smashing two together next to each other, and then you pinch them out into a heart shape, leaving two rounded bits at the top.  Flatten them slightly with the palm of your hand and then use your thumb to make a heart shaped depression in each, which you fill with jam.     Take care not to overfill them or the jam will overf

  This side dish I am sharing today, is one from out of my Big Blue Binder that I was given by a Mennonite friend many years ago.  I will tell you one thing about  the Mennonites, they sure know how to cook delicious food!    My big blue binder is an old binder that I have been lugging around with me all through my life since I was about 9 or 10 years old.  I have been collecting recipes in it from friends, and magazines and library books, etc. for all of that time. It is old now, and falling apart, but it is a treasure to me.  Filled to over-flowing with love. I did write a book about it a few years back, which you can buy on Lulu, which only a small sampling of what is actually in the Binder. Maybe I need to do a second volume.   In the original recipe my friend used home canned green beans.  I don't can my own green beans (I don't expect many do these days) so I use a tin from the shops. I buy the mixed yellow and green beans.  You could also cook an equivalent in fresh bea