Ok, ladies of the gardens, (and kitchens), let's let it ALL hang out now and go for it! We've worked all spring, summer and fall, and now it's time to talk cooking! And enjoying the fruits, (or veggies) of our labors. Like the rest of you, fall is the time when I love to get in the kitchen and cook, filling the house with wonderful smells. That's one of the reason I love Oklahoma, the change of seasons. Fall just brings with it, a change in the feeling of things as we change from one mode to another. It's time for soups, and stews, and baking breads, pies, muffins and biscuits,( slathered with butter and jam or jelly of choice). Tonight, I'm making, more for DS than me, chicken and biscuits. Only I make the biscuits separate, so they don't get soggy baking in the oven with the liquid part of the concoction. Then, he splits them once done and ladles the chicken "gravy" over all. Of course there are a hundred variations on the theme, and I've tried most all of them at one time or another, but that's what's on the menu tonight. I came across this blog and started reading. Great stuff, you can tell these ladies, (and guy) know their way around a biscuit. The one moniker cracked me up, "Old ladies in Fist Fights". Anyway, they were discussing the pros and cons of biscuit making. I am making mine ala Carol's, by the BIG BATCH, with the exception that I use butter. I keep my batch in the fridge or even freezer to keep the butter cold and fresh. I do mine a little different that those discussed in this blog. I melt a large batch of butter in the microwave, and then cool and put it in the freezer til it's ice cold and solid. Then, I work in the cold butter bits, one half at a time, to coat the self-rising flour mixture, to prevent as much gluten from forming as possible. Everythings done with the lightest touch possible and the least mixing. When the biscuits are patted out and cut, in this case, "Cat Head" biscuits, I dip them in melted butter, and pop them in a preheated 450 degree oven til nice and golden. I always make buttermilk biscuits, buttermilk pancakes, buttermilk cornbread, and as often as possible. Carol's method makes this painless. I suppose we could make many of our standard quick bread mixes this way. Salute Carol! Ladies, start your engines, (I mean ovens)! Barbara Here is a link that might be useful: Joes's Biscuit Blog

Here's one that really looks great! Chicken Mushroom Barley Soup Makes 4 quarts; serves 10-12 as a soup course, 8 as a meal This recipe is adapted from The Frog/Commissary Cookbook (Doubleday, 1985). Ingredients: 3 Tb. butter 1½ cups chopped onions 1 cup chopped carrots 1 cup chopped celery 2 tsp. minced garlic 1 lb. sliced mushrooms 3 quarts chicken broth 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper ¼ tsp. nutmeg 1 cup pearl barley 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size chunks 2 Tb. minced dill (optional) 2 Tb. chopped parsley (optional) Directions: In a large stockpot, melt the butter. Add the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic, and sauté over medium-high heat until tender but not browned. Add the mushrooms and cook until just soft. Add the broth, seasonings, and barley. Increase heat to high, bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low-medium. Simmer 2 hours or until barley is tender. Raise the heat to medium-high, add the chicken breast pieces, and cook just until chicken is cooked through, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the optional dill and parsley, and serve. Tips: The soup can be made up to two days in advance, refrigerated, and reheated. If it becomes too thick, thin with additional broth Leftovers freeze beautifully, Thaw them in the microwave at 30% power, then heat on full power till hot.

I would like gazpacho with curried chicken salad because the salad is creamy (whether sweet or savory) and I wouldn't want a cream based soup with it. Also, it's a nice color contrast; wouldn't want something close in color to the salad. I've had this soup recipe saved on Pinterest and it would be beautiful and delicious with the curry: Roasted Beet Soup with Ginger and Coconut Serves: 4 500g beetroot, scrubbed 2 tbsp olive oil 2 essential Waitrose leeks, finely sliced 2 essential Waitrose celery stalks, finely sliced 30g fresh root ginger, cut into matchsticks 1 litre fresh vegetable stock 1 tbsp lemon juice 4 tbsp coconut milk yogurt (or use coconut cream), plus extra to serve small handful dill leaves 1. Preheat the oven to 200oC, gas mark 6. Top and tail the beetroot and cut into bite-sized chunks (there’s no need to peel them). Toss with 1 tbsp oil, season, and roast for 30 minutes, tossing halfway. 2. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tbsp oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Sauté the leeks, celery and ginger for 10-15 minutes, until softened and starting to caramelize. Stir in the cooked beetroot, then the stock and bring to the boil. Season, simmer for 5 minutes, then take off the heat and leave to cool for 10 minutes. 3. Transfer to a blender with the lemon juice, coconut milk yogurt and most of the dill. Whizz (in batches, if necessary) until smooth, adding more seasoning and lemon juice as required, and a little water to loosen, if needed. Serve in bowls with a spoonful more yogurt and a scattering of dill.

Packaged broth, tinned corn, ? come on, you are a great cook. : ) Costco rotis can be picked of the meat, chill that separately, then make stock from the carcass. But you have an HMart. Add good meaty bones to the chicken carcass. I stopped by HM on the way home tonight. DH hit the Italian butcher. We have so many meaty bones I'll have to freeze some. Pork necks, beef bones, chicken paws...so much natural gelatin I can cut it with a butter knife. We are making kimchi, krauts, and bone broth this weekend for the holidays...a quarter cup minced kimchi and gingered miso, rich bone stock, is all I want in my sipping broth if feeling weak. Some protein and veg solids on the way-to-recovery-days. Might be the flu. Sounds miserable. Make the best, don't compromise. I would not bother freezing experiments with misc veg, cabbage.. Freeze the good stuff. Good broths. Add fresh veg to a sautéed mirepoix, then good bone broth.