50+ Lifestyles

Autumn Soup

• 1/2 lb. ground beef
• 1/2 lb. ground turkey
• 1 quart (4 cups) hot water
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 ribs of celery, cut up*
• 2 carrots, scrubbed or peeled and sliced
• 1 or 2 potatoes cut up**
• 1 can cut green beans, drained***
• 1 can or small pkg frozen whole corn***
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground pepper (or to taste)
• 2 bay leaves, crushed or ground fine
• 1/8 teaspoon Rosemary, crushed
• 1/8 teaspoon basil
• 2 cups tomato juice

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Brown meat slowly in a heavy soup pan. Add onions and cook about 5 minutes more. Pour hot water into pot, add remaining items except the tomato juice.

Mix thoroughly, scrapping bottom of pot to remove any crustiness from onions and meat.

Bring to boil, cover, then reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes. Then stir in tomato juice. Simmer 10 minutes more.

* When I cut celery, I cut off large end with ribbed side down, not cutting through the coarse strings. That way, I can take them and peel them back removing them from the celery before cutting the rest of the strip into smaller pieces. I also like to cut the pieces diagonally.

** I wash and scrub the potatoes, leaving the peel on, but that is optional. You may peel if you prefer. I also like to use one medium to large russet and a medium red. But if I don’t have both on hand, I just use what I have.

*** Fresh corn and fresh green beans can be used. After all, we are using the produce from the gardens.

This is one of my all time favorites to herald in the new season.

It has been a September mainstay for over 30 years.

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

• 2 cups yellow corn (if you use fresh corn, par boil or cook first) drained
• 2 cups or 1 (15 ounce) can white corn, drained
• 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1(14,5 ounce) can Italian-style diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped (for those that don’t care for cilantro, try Italian parsley – it is a little milder)
• About 5 green onions, finely sliced
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 red bell pepper (or it can be orange or yellow) seeded and chopped
• 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil

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Mix all ingredients, except the lime juice, avocado and oil, together.

Combine lime juice and avocado, gently mix with the oil. Now add to the other ingredients.

Refrigerate. It is best if it is made a few hours ahead of time so that the flavors mingle.

 Zucchini Applesauce Bread

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup olive oil
• 3 eggs, slightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups shredded zucchini
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 3 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9 inch loaf pans. In a large bowl, mix sugars, oil, eggs and vanilla. Beat until well blended. Add zucchini, applesauce and orange juice. Stir well.

In another bowl, combine flour with the next five dry ingredients. Add to zucchini mixture. Stir well. Pour into the two loaf pans.

Bake for 60 – 70 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pans about 10 minutes. Then remove from pans and let cool completely.

Baked Apples

Find your favorite apple. The best baking apples offer a balance of sweet and tart flavors as well as flesh that doesn’t break down in the oven. Good choices are: Jonathans and Jonagolds, Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, Melrose, Winesap, Braeburn and Rome Beauty.

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Heat oven to 350 degrees (moderate oven) Wash and core the apples. Either pare the upper half of each apple, or pare a strip around the center (this allows for the steam to escape when heated. Otherwise, the skin my burst)

Place in a baking dish; fill center of each apple with 1 to 2 teaspoons granulated or brown sugar, 1 teaspoon butter and 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon. Cover bottom of pan with water about 1/4 inch deep.

Bake uncovered 45 to 60 minutes, or until tender when pierced with a fork. (Time varies depending on oven and size of apples.)

Variations: Use maple syrup or honey in place of sugar and cinnamon

Ella can be contacted at ellaweeza@yahoo.com or Ella – 50+ Lifestyles, 804 W Lombard Street, Davenport, IA, 52804