I haven't met a soup I didn't like - when the weather turns colder we tend to eat more hot, hearty soups.  Summer seems a distant memory when the smells of a hearty soup is simmering in the house.  Pull up a chair, grab a spoon and dig in! Enjoy! Diane 

​Creamy Potato Chowder *with Bacon
Makes approx. 3 quarts
Ingredients:
4 Cups Chicken Broth
4 Cups diced/cubes red potatoes, skin optional
6 slices cooked Bacon, thick cut
1 cup minced onion
1 cup diced celery
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups 2% milk
2 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoons garlic salt
ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

• Pour broth into a large skillet over the onions, celery and potatoes and cook over medium heat until tender. (approx. 10 mins once to a medium boil)
• Meanwhile, warm your cream/milk and set aside.
• In a large, heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat - whisk in the flour until smooth ((make sure the flour and butter starts to cook and smell "nutty" or your soup will taste like flour paste))
• Whisk in warmed milk/cream (I microwave milk/cream for 45 seconds to get the chill off) and stir into butter/flour constantly until thick and smooth.
• Stir the milk mixture into the vegetables and broth. Heat through, but do not boil. Stir in cooked bacon.
• Season with salt, garlic salt and pepper

     This dish is easy to make and stands great as part of a dinner (think soup and sandwiches) or a party appetizer.  I like to make my own Hawaiian dinner rolls and use those but, store bought is just as great!  I prefer to make the "mustard topping" in the morning, pour over the assembled complete dish - then bake off in time for dinner.
Enjoy! Diane

Link to the Homemade Hawaiian Rolls below. 

Hot Ham & Cheese Sliders

Ingredients:
12 Hawaiian style rolls (cut in half crosswise, do not separate the rolls)
3/4 pound deli ham (thinly sliced)
1/4 pound Swiss cheese (sliced)
1/4 pound Cheddar cheese (sliced) 
6 tablespoons butter (melted)
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons poppy seeds
1 ½ teaspoons onion (dried, minced)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon parsley (chopped)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat; cook and stir onion until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add mustard, poppy seeds, and Worcestershire sauce; cook and stir for 5 minutes.
3. Arrange the bottoms from each roll in the prepared baking dish. Spoon 2/3 the onion mixture over the roll bottoms. Add ham and Swiss cheese to each roll. Put tops of rolls over the Swiss cheese layer. Brush the remaining 1/3 onion mixture over tops of rolls. Cover dish with aluminum foil.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove aluminum foil and bake until tops of rolls are lightly browned, 5 to 10 minutes.

This recipe makes 12 sliders and most people eat 2. 
You can cut this recipe in half and use an 8x8 baking dish and 6 buns. 
  
Hawaiian Dinner Rolls Recipe - CLICK HERE  

     When is a jam not a jam? when its Balsamic Sweet Onion Jam.  This doesn't contain pectin (you could add some if you want it super firm/jelled.)  This thickens up as you cook it down into a wonderful balsamic, sweet, onion, condiment!  Use it on different meats; beef, pork and stirred into savory dishes like pot roast as its cooking, sausage and noodles as part of the sauce - I'm thinking pairing with cheese on a cheeseboard would be great too! ...the uses are endless.  I had watched Heather over at "The Kneady Homesteader" (view her video here) make and can some of this up and I thought I'd give it a try - the taste is amazing!  I'm sure I'll be making lots of this in the future too!!  Enjoy! Diane 

Balsamic Sweet Onion Jam 

Ingredients: 
8-10 large onions; a mix of Vidalia and Spanish
3 cups packed light brown sugar
2 1/4 cups balsamic vinegar 
1 1/2 tsp sea salt 
1 Tablespoon butter 

Directions: 
Yield: 7 half pints 
    Chop your all your onions. Cook the onions down in a large pot over medium-high heat in the butter for 45 minutes, until they start to caramelize.  Make sure to keep stirring so onions don't scorch. Add in the brown sugar and balsamic vinegar and continue cooking down.  Add in the sea salt. Cook down the mixture another 15-20 minutes *until it reaches the thickness you prefer.  Prepare your waterbath or steam canner, and jars.  Fill jars to 1/4" headspace and process 15 minutes *or according to your altitude.  
   
Recipe from: The Kneady Homesteader 
Kitchen Note: Ball does make their own version of this jam using bay leaf, pepper, maple syrup and apple juice in their "The All New Ball Book of Canning" simply called "Balsamic-Onion Jam." I'll be giving their recipe a try next time I have some onions to process. 

     This recipe isn't mine at all - its MY variation of a classic from Kraft.  They use 3 cups of a vegetable mix, no cheese in the original.  I use cheese, steamed broccoli and at Thanksgiving - all bets are off as you can build a beautiful "Leftovers Casserole" using cranberry sauce, turkey and stuffing! Enjoy! Diane 

Diane’s Chicken & Stuffing Casserole
​
Ingredients:
2-3 chicken breasts, sliced thin and cut into bite sized pieces.
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
olive oil or cooking spray
1 package StoveTop Chicken Stuffing
1 10oz can 'cream of chicken' condensed soup
1/3 cup sour cream
1 12oz bag frozen broccoli florets,  *or 2 cups steamed fresh florets
Salt & Pepper

Directions:

• Preheat Oven to 400f.
• Prepared StoveTop Chicken Stuffing according to package (set aside)
• Prepare broccoli, I steam mine. (Set aside)
• Smear a 9x13 baking dish with olive oil or spray with cooking spray.
• Place cut raw chicken in bottom of baking dish, lightly salt & pepper.
• Place broccoli on top of chicken, lightly salt broccoli.
• Sprinkle 1/2 the cheese over broccoli.
• Place chicken soup, sour cream into baking dish, mix everything until blended.
• Finish by sprinkling remaining cheese over top of everything, along with a sprinkle of pepper.
• Carefully spread prepared stuffing all over top of casserole.
• Bake uncovered 30 mins or until chicken is cooked through and bubbly.

Variation for Thanksgiving Leftovers: Use leftover turkey, some leftover cranberry sauce, leftover turkey dressing/stuffing. Use any leftover vegetables you think would add to the casseroles flavor.  Omit cheese if preferred .


Recipe adapted from Kraft by: Diane Bake