SEPTEMBER'S HERE!!!!

I am so excited that September is here. It's not officially fall yet, but to me, once September begins, summer is over. Fall is absolutely my favorite season. It was still a little warm today, but the temps tonight are supposed to go down to the mid 50's. Once I saw that prediction this morning, I decided it was going to be the perfect day to have soup and bread for dinner. During the winter we have soup at least once a week. I've really missed having this simple supper.

Menu:
Hamburger Vegetable Soup
Lynne's Cornbread
Fruit Salad


My cornbread recipe comes from my good friend Lynne. It really is the best cornbread I've ever made or eaten. Most people who try it agree with me.

Lynne's Cornbread:

3/4 stick butter - melted
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup sour cream
1 cup corn meal
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups flour

mix all ingredients together
I've baked this in a square pan, a large round pan, and muffin tins.
Use whatever you want.
Bake @ 400 degrees until done. Depending on the size of your pan, anywhere from 20 - 30 minutes. Delicious! Thanks Lynne!






The soup is one of our favorites. It's really tasty. Very kid friendly too (even Tommy likes it).

The recipe is from a really great cookbook that I used to take out of the library all of the time. Last spring I found it in the gift shop of a restaurant and bought a copy for myself. The stories that go along with every chapter are very interesting. If you are a person who, like me, loves reading about food as much as eating it, you'd probably love this book too.

You can order the book for yourself from amazon: here

In the meantime, if you'd like to try this soup, here's the recipe:

Hamburger Vegetable Soup:

2 Tbls butter (I leave this out)
1 onion chopped (I used a half of a large one)
1 lb. ground beef
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced celery
1 cup diced potatoes
2 cups tomato juice
2 cups milk (I know this sounds weird, but it really is delicious)
1/4 cup flour

Brown meat and onion in butter. Add remaining ingredients except milk and flour and cook until vegetables are tender. (Sometimes I use a crock pot and sometimes I cook it on top of the stove)
Stir in 1 1/2 cup of the milk
Bring to a simmer
Combine the flour with the remaining 1/2 cup milk. Stir until smooth.
Add this to the soup and continue to simmer until thickened.

This tastes wonderful the next day too.


I know everyone probably was expecting some vacation pictures in this post. Well, I am really having trouble deciding which ones to post. I took 204!

As soon as I figure it all out, I'll post them to share.

Have a wonderful evening. I hope you're all enjoying some cool temps too!