Pulled Pork Soup [Wenatchee design + photography]

For some reason we always end up with a lot of leftover pulled pork. This soup is the perfect solution. Would work equally well with shredded chicken or beef.

PULLED PORK SOUP

1 large, cubed (1”) Butternut squash
2 T. avocado oil
1 t. cinnamon
8 slices bacon
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic
1 can chopped green chiles
3 T. tomato paste
1 heaping T. smoked paprika
1-1/2 to 2 lbs. pulled pork
1/4 C. apple cider vinegar
2 T. Molasses
2 14 oz. cans diced, fire-roasted tomatoes
4 C. chicken stock
2 C. water

1. Toss to coat: squash with oil and cinnamon. Roast 400º for 35 mins on greased cookie sheets.
2. Cook diced bacon, onion and garlic.
3. Add to pot with remaining ingredients and squash, simmer until hot.

This is such a versatile recipe. You can sub sweet or regular potatoes. Add a can of corn or beans. Throw in your other leftover veggies. Anything goes in this easy, filling, tasty soup!

Apricot Exotic Chai Spice coookiiieeees [Wenatchee Photography + Design]

We have staff meetings at work about once a month. Each month it is assigned to one person to provide a safety tip and (in the past) provide a treat. Months ago, we all agreed that the treat was not necessary and that "we won't be doing that anymore." Well each month the treat (NO TREAT) person STILL brings a treat. Not required of course, but "hey, I did anyway..." Well, September rolls around and it's my month. Or I think it is. I don't remember if I am September-person or October-person but someone comes to me the night before and says "oh hey, you're safety tip tomorrow...so bring a treat." And we all kinda' laugh and I say "but we're not doing that anymore...?" And everyone AGREES, we are NOT...but ya know...if you wanted to...

So that night I decide there is no way I'm going to be the person who doesn't bring a treat even though we ALL AGREE we are not doing that. Not me, no way, not on my watch. A quick scan through my pantry reveals an assortment of partially filled (but not completely gone) things. Half a package of still-moist, dried apricots. About one-third of a package each of unsweetened and regular sweetened shredded coconuts. Some walnuts. Three-fourths of a pack of white-chocolate chips. Two almost gone boxes of cereal (Honey Bunches of Oats and Rice Krispies.) A box of Chai Spice tea. And my saving grace, a new box of Spice Cake mix.

I can work with this. Those can all go together and spice is perfect for September/October. Now, I'm not even sure if it's really MY TURN to be the safety tip/treat (no treat!) person ANYWAY, but I've been tapped to provide/not provide a treat, so spicey it is. I'm calling these "Apricot Exotic Chai Spice cookies" because "Apricot Exotic Chai Spice Coconut Walnut Honey Bunches of Oats Rice Krispies White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal cookies" is a tad long-winded.

So here we go:

1. 1 regular package spice cake mix
2. 1 cup butter, softened
3. 2 eggs
4. 1/4 cup strong brewed Chai tea (I used 3 tea bags)
   
5. 1/2 cup crushed Honey Bunches of Oats cereal
   
6. 1/2 cup Rice Krispies cereal
7. 1 cup quick or rolled oats
8. 1 cup shredded coconut (I mixed sweetened and unsweetened)
   
9. 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
10. 3/4 cup chopped dried apricots (the moist kind)
11. 3/4 cup white chocolate chips
    
12. 2 tablespoons sugar (I used chunky Demerrera, again because it was in the cupboard and almost gone)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, butter, brewed Chai tea and eggs; mix well. I used a hand mixer. The mixture is thick.
3. Add cereals, oats, coconut, walnuts, white chocolate chips and dried apricots; mix well. Now it is really thick. I used the hand mixer and then my muscles to try and get all the add-ins distributed as evenly as I could.
4. Use a big cookie scoop (mine was a 3 TBS scoop) to scoop and drop dough 2 inches apart onto parchement-lined cookie sheets.
5. Take a flat-bottom glass, rub a bit of butter on the bottom and dip in the sugar. Use this to flatten the cookies. (repeating the sugar-dip between each one and re-butter as necessary to keep the glass from sticking to the cookie.)
6. Bake about 14 minutes, or until set. Let cool 5 minutes then move to wire racks and let cool completely. Well, eat one first while it's still warm. Then let the rest cool.

This made about 20 large cookies.

Making biscuits [Wenatchee food photography]

Called 7-UP biscuits or Popeye's Biscuits, these are super easy, with only 4 ingredients. The recipe is everywhere on the internet and I saw it at Cooks.com. Pair these with a homemade soup or chili on a snowy, cold Wenatchee winter night and you can't go wrong. We made Chicken Corn Chowder (recipe coming soon) and ate well the whole weekend.

Moist banana bread [Wenatchee food photography]

There are a zillion banana bread recipes out there and after tinkering around with a basic recipe, I came up with this one. It's super moist and for the first time, made me love a banana bread ALMOST as much as zuchini bread. The addition of chocolate chips on top adds a little something without adding TOO much. It's versatile. If you have 2 bananas, that's okay. If you only have all-purpose flour, use as much as you would if you added up the other flours/oatmeals. One kind of sugar, same thing. The only thing I wouldn't skip is the sour cream, it's the key to moist. But, feel free to substitute yogurt instead. I wrapped the individual mini-loaves in "Martha wrap", which is a brown parchment paper bonded to a thin aluminum foil. (In theory it sounds like a great product, but I'm not in love with it.) It did work well to make cute, little brown-paper wrapped loaves that stayed shut.

Blueberry muffins [Wenatchee food photography]

Muffins are so good, pretty easy, filling and delicious. But if I had to choose one, a standby, it would be the humble and common blueberry muffin. You can find them almost anywhere and they're (almost) always satisfying. It was what my mom made often, on weekend mornings or when we were camping, and what I remember as my favorite breakfast. Of course then, my mom made them from a box mix. Always with the little can of blueberries. My mom never drained the berries, always including the "juice" in with the called-for liquid. Added more flavor she said. I was an adult before I realized that blueberry muffins aren't supposed to be that greyish-greenish-blue in the batter.

This morning, nursing a sore body and skipping my Saturday morning at the gym, I decided blueberry muffins and scrambled eggs would be the perect start to the day. I love the internet, where a few clicks on the keyboard brings a multitude of options for just about anything. I chose this recipe from allrecipes.com and was not disappointed. The best part about muffins is the leftover ones waiting to be the perfect snack later in the day.