Really delicious soup for the winter. I think we got this recipe from our CSA one year.

Servings: 8
Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 35 mins
Total: 50 mins

Ingredients:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 sweet dumpling squash, peeled, seeded, chopped
1/2 cup onion, cleaned and chopped
1 pound carrot, chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried sage
4 cups chicken or vegetable Stock
1 1/2 cup apple cider, divided use
6 tablespoons whipping cream
Salt
1/2 cup sour cream
Chive, chopped for garnish, optional

Directions:
Melt butter in heavy large sauce pan.
Add onion, squash, carrot and saute until softened.
Stir in thyme, sage, stock and 1 cup of cider.
Bring to boil.
Reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer until veggies are tender, about 30 minutes.
Puree.
Mix in cream.
Season to taste with salt.

Meanwhile, in a separate saucepan, reduce remaining cider to 1/4 cup.
Cool.
Mix together cider and sour cream.

Serve soup, adding a drizzle of cider cream and a sprinkling of chopped chives on top of each bowl.

From our friend MegD

Ingredients:
1 can shopeg corn
1 can pinto beans (drain)
2 cans black eyed peas (drain)
1 each: red, yellow, green pepper
1/4 onion
1 1/3 c sugar
3/4 c vinegar
1/4 c vegetable oil

Directions:
Dice vegetables into 1/4″ cubes.
Mix corn, beans, pepper, and onion. Add oil, mix.
Mix-in sugar and vinegar, be sure to evenly distribute.
Eat with chips. Keep refrigerated. Enjoy.

Fantastic tomato soup for using up all those CSA tomatoes… I usually scale-up the recipe by 2, 3, 4, or even 6x. We always freeze some to save for those cold dreary January days when a fresh blast of summer veggies tastes just super delicious. My mom loves this recipe too, and recently said that she can’t eat the canned soup anymore since this is just so much better.

Prep: 20 min
Cook: 20 min
Cool: 10 min
Makes: 4 side-dish servings

Ingredients:
3 medium tomatoes, peeled and quartered (it’s a huge pain to peel them, so I don’t)
1.5 cups water
0.5 cup chopped onion (1 medium)
0.5 cup chopped celery (1 stalk)
1/2 of a 6oz can of tomato paste
2 Tbsp snipped fresh cilantro or basil
2 tsp instant chicken bouillon granules (I guessed that 1 cube is about 1 tsp)
1 tsp sugar
A few dashes of hot pepper sauce like Franks (I skipped this when I made it)
Snipped fresh cilantro or basil (for garnish when serving, optional)

Directions:
Seed the tomatoes if you want.
In a big pot combine tomato, water, onion, celery, paste, cilantro/basil, bouillon, sugar, and hot pepper sauce.
Bring to boiling; reduce heat.
Simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes or until celery and onion are tender.
Remove from heat, cool 10 minutes.
Blend the soup in the blender or food processor.

From my friend Jake.

Waffle Cookies
Makes: 12
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

Combine using the creaming method.

Bake using waffle iron.

(Recipe from http://buddingbaketress.blogspot.com/2011/12/gingerdoodles-or-snickersnaps.html)

These are one of my all-time favorite cookies! More work than most cookie recipes, but the results are spectacular.

Snickerdoodle Dough
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 tablespoon cinnamon + 3 tablespoons granulated sugar for rolling cookies in

Cream together shortening and sugar. Add egg and vanilla and mix well, until creamy. Add flour, baking soda, salt, and cream of tartar and mix until combined. Dough will be a little of crumbly, but it’ll come together when you roll it into balls.

Combine cinnamon and 3 tablespoons of sugar in a small bowl and set aside for rolling dough in.

Gingersnap Dough
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon ginger
1/4 cup granulated sugar for rolling cookies in

Cream together shortening and sugar. Add molasses and egg and continue beating. Add flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger and mix until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Put 1/4 cup sugar in a small bowl and set aside for rolling dough in.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease baking sheets with no-stick cooking spray and set aside.

Roll a small amount of gingersnap dough into a ball and toss in granulated sugar. Roll a small amount of snickerdoodle dough in a ball and toss in cinnamon-sugar.

Place both doughs together and gently roll or squeeze together (it worked best if I kneaded the snickerdoodle dough in my hand a few times before rolling both doughs together since it’s a thicker consistency).

Place on baking sheets and bake for 9-11 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes before moving to cooling racks.