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Beet Cake – Contributed by Stephanie K W

1 Lb Beets
2/3 Cup Sugar 
2/3 Cup Dark brown sugar
1/2 Cup Vegetable oil
2 Large eggs
2 1/2 Cups All purpose flour
2 Tsp Baking powder
1 Tsp Ginger
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Baking soda
1/4 Tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Skim milk 
1/2 Cup Walnuts
 
Icing 
2 Tsp Grated orange peel
1 Tsp Vanilla
8 Oz Cream cheese (1/3 less fat)
3 Cups Sifted powdered sugar
2 Tbs Chopped walnuts
 
 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with cooking spray; line bottoms with wax paper. Coat wax paper with cooking spray.

Peel beets using a vegetable peeler. Grate beets to measure 2 cups. Combine sugar, brown sugar, oil and eggs in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add beets; beat well.

Lightly spoon the flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Stir in chopped walnuts. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes; remove from pans. Carefully peel off wax paper and cool completely.

To prepare frosting, beat orange rind, vanilla and cream cheese with mixer on high speed until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar, beat at low speed until well blended. Do not over beat.

Place 1 cake layer on a plate; spread 1/2 cup frosting; top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Sprinkle with nuts on top.
 
Servings: 18

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 1/4 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 1/4 cups (or more) vegetable broth
1 Gala apple, peeled, cored, diced
1/2 cup apple juice
Light sour cream
Chopped fresh chives

Melt butter in large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and nutmeg; sauté until onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Add squash, 4 1/4 cups broth, apple, and apple juice. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer uncovered until squash and apple are tender, about 30 minutes. Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth. Return soup to pot. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Bring soup to simmer, thinning with more broth if desired. Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish with sour cream and chives.

Shortcut Moussak
Serves 12.
1/4 cup olive oil
2 pounds ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
3/4 cup dry red wine
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups milk
3 eggs
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 large eggplant (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled, sliced into thin rounds

Heat olive oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add ground beef and chopped onion and cook until beef is brown, breaking up beef with fork, about 15 minutes. Mix in tomato sauce, red wine, parsley, crumbled oregano and ground cinnamon. Simmer until mixture thickens and is almost dry, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover tightly and refrigerate.)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add flour and stir 1 minute. Gradually add milk, whisking until smooth. Boil until thick, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Beat eggs in small bowl to blend. Whisk small amount of milk mixture into eggs. Return mixture to saucepan. Bring to boil, whisking constantly. Remove custard from heat. Stir in 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese. Season custard to taste with salt and pepper.

Butter 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Arrange half of eggplant in bottom of dish. Season with salt and pepper. Spread meat mixture over. Top with remaining eggplant. Pour hot custard cheese sauce over eggplant. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan. Cover loosely with foil and bake 1 hour. Uncover and continue baking until golden and bubbling on edges, about 10 minutes longer. Cool 10 minutes.

Peach or Apple Paradise
4 cups pealed and sliced peaches (or apples)
2 tblsp lemon juice
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup 1 stick butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
16 oz sour cream

Lay sliced peaches or apples into buttered baking pan and sprinkle lemon juice over. Combine flour, salt, butter, brown sugar and vanilla in large bowl. Blend with hands until clumpy. Sprinkle over peaches. Bake in preheated 375° F oven for 30 minutes. Serve with sour cream.

Potato Parsnip Latkes
Makes about 16 Latkes 20 minutes active time 35 minutes Total
1 large baking Potato peeled and coarsely grated
2 medium parsnips (1lb total) peeled and coarsely grated
1 tblsp lemon juice
1/4 cup flour
2 eggs
3 tblsp finely cut fresh chives
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3/4 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 250º. Combine well all the ingredients except the oil in a bowl. Heat the oil in a 12” skillet over moderate heat. Fill a 1/4 cup measure almost full with mixture and carefully spoon it into skillet and flatten to 3” diameter. Repeat to form 3 more Latkes and cook for about 1 1/2 minutes on each side. When done transfer to paper towl to drain and place in oven to keep warm til ready to serve.

Lattice-Topped Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie
Serves 8
For crust
3 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening,
cut into pieces
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
10 tablespoons (about) ice water

For filling
3 1/2 cups 1/2-inch-thick slices trimmed rhubarb (1 1/2 pounds untrimmed)
1 16-ounce container strawberries, hulled, halved (about 3 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg yolk beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon water (for glaze)

Make crust:
Combine flour, sugar and salt in processor. Using on/off turns, cut in shortening and butter until coarse meal forms. Blend in enough ice water 2 tablespoons at a time to form moist clumps. Gather dough into ball; cut in half. Flatten each half into disk. Wrap separately in plastic; refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling.)

Make filling:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Toss gently to blend. Roll out 1 dough disk on floured work surface to 13-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter flass pie dish. Trim excess dough, leaving 3/4-inch overhang.

Roll out second dough disk on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Cut into fourteen 1/2-inch-wide strips. Spoon filling into crust. Arrange 7 dough strips atop filling, spacing evenly. Form lattice by placing remaining dough strips in opposite direction atop filling. Trim ends of dough strips even with overhang of bottom crust. Fold strip ends and overhang under, pressing to seal. Crimp edges decoratively.

Brush glaze over crust. transfer pie to baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake pie until golden and filling thickens, about 1 hour 25 minutes. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely.