Country apple galette

Pastry:

1 1/2 C all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 stick + 2 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small (1 tbsp size) pieces

1/3 C ice water

Topping

4 apples (Gala, golden delicious, tart green, or a mixture of those)

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1/4 C toasted pine nuts

Pastry

Add flour in a large bowl, cut in cold butter with pastry cutter until well mixed and flour and butter forms pea-sized lumps. Sprinkle the ice water over the flour mixture and mix until the pastry just begins to come together, about 10 seconds; you should still be able to see small pieces of butter in it. Transfer the pastry to a work surface, gather it together and pat into a disk. Wrap the pastry in plastic or wax paper and refrigerate until chilled. (You can also roll out the pastry and use it right away.)

Topping

Peel, halve and core the apples and slice them crosswise 1/4 inch thick. Set aside the larger center slices and coarsely chop the end slices and any broken ones; about half of the slices should be chopped. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon.

Preheat the oven to 400°. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pastry to a 12-by-14-inch rectangle and transfer to a large rimmed baking sheet. Spread the chopped apples over the pastry to within 1 inch of the edge. Drizzle the honey over the chopped apples. Decoratively arrange the apple slices on top in concentric circles or in slightly overlapping rows. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar and pine nuts evenly over the apples and dot with the pieces of butter. Fold the pastry edge up and over the apples to create a 1-inch border.

Bake the galette for about 1 hour, until the pastry is nicely browned and crisp and all of the apples are tender. Transfer the pan to a rack and let the galette cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

MAKE AHEAD The buttery pastry can be refrigerated overnight.

Pumpkin cream cheese swirl bread

1/2 cup (4 ounces) cream cheese
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup canola oil

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until blended.
Lightly spoon the flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour and the next 4 ingredients (flour through soda) in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Combine egg, egg yolk, and splenda/sugar mix in a medium bowl; stir with a whisk until well blended. Add pumpkin and oil; stir well with a whisk. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.

Spoon 1/2 the batter into a 9 x 5-inch buttered loaf pan. Spoon cream cheese mixture over batter, spoon remaining batter on top; swirl batters together using the tip of a knife. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Blueberry banana bread

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1/3 cup oil
1/4 cup milk
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 9x5-inch loaf pan. Set aside.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
Mix eggs, bananas, oil, and milk in a large bowl until well blended. Add dry ingredients; stir until just moistened. Stir in blueberries.
Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack.

Lemon pistachio bread

1 C. all-purpose flour
3/4 C. whole wheat flour
1/2 C. sugar
1/4 C brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 C. milk
1 beaten egg
1/4 C. cooking oil
2 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 chopped pistachio nuts
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x4x2-inch loaf pan.
In a medium bowl stir together flour, sugar, 1/4 C. Splenda, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center, set aside.
In another bowl mix milk, egg, oil, lemon peel and 1 tbsp. juice. Add wet mixture to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened, fold in nuts.
Transfer batter to loaf pan, bake for 50-55 minutes. Stir together 1 tbsp Splenda and 2 tbsp. juice in a small bowl. While bread is still in the pan, brush with Splenda/juice mixture. Cool 10 minutes, remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

Half whole wheat bread

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup unbleached flour
1/2 cup lukewarm milk
1/2 to 2/3 cup warm water, enough to make a soft, smooth dough
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 packet active dry yeast dissolved in 1 tablespoon warm water

In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients and stir till the dough starts to leave the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased surface, oil your hands, and knead it for 6 to 8 minutes, or until it begins to become smooth. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl, and allow the dough to rise till puffy though not necessarily doubled in bulk, about 60 minutes, depending on the warmth of your kitchen.

Transfer the though into a greased 8x4 bread pan, cover and let rise for 30 min. Preaheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake bread for 30-35 minutes.

Butternut squash ginger soup

1 butternut squash, halved lengthwise, seeded
2 large carrots, chopped
1 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 thinly sliced onion
2 teaspoons golden brown sugar
1 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1/2 cinnamon stick
4 cups (or more) canned low-salt chicken broth
sour cream for serving

Preheat oven to 375°F. Oil baking sheet. Place squash cut side down, and chopped carrots on baking sheet. Bake until squash is very soft, about 50 minutes. Using paring knife, remove peel from squash; discard peel. Cut squash into 2-inch pieces. Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-low heat. Mix in onion, brown sugar, ginger, garlic and cinnamon. Cover pot and cook until onion is tender, about 10 minutes. Add squash, carrots and  chicken broth. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Discard cinnamon.

Working in batches, purée soup in blender. Return soup to pot. Season soup with salt and pepper. Bring to simmer, thinning soup with more broth if necessary. Ladle into bowls and serve with sour cream.

Recipe adapted from Epicurious

Gnocchi with squash and kale

2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp roughly chopped fresh sage
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 1/4 C chicken/vegetable broth or water
1 bunch kale, stemmed and roughly chopped (about 8 cups)
1 17.55 ounce package potato gnocchi
3/4 C grated parmesan or pecorino cheese

Melt 1 tbsp butter in a large ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add the squash and cook, stirring, until slightly soft and golden, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic, sage, red pepper flakes and 1 teaspoon salt, cook until the garlic is soft, about 2 more minutes.
Preheat the boiler. Add the chicken broth to the skillet. When it starts to simmer, stir in the kale and cook until it wilts slightly, about 2 minutes. Add the gnocchi, stirring to coat. Cover and cook until the gnocchi are just tender, about 5 minutes. Uncover and stir in 1/4 cup parmesan and the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup parmesan; transfer to the boiler and cook until golden and bubbly, about 3 minutes.

Pup'kin biscuits

2 eggs
1/2 C canned pumpkin
2 tbsp dry milk powder
2 1/2 C white or whole wheat flour

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a bowl stir together the eggs, pumpkin puree, milk powder and flour; add 2 tsp water, or enough so that the dough just comes together.

On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shape with 1 inch cookie cutter. Gather the scraps, combine, roll and cut out more until all the dough is used.

Place the biscuits 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, then turn cookies and bake another 20 minutes.Let cool on the pan for 5 minutes.