Ingredients:

1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups wheat bran
1 egg
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup canola oil (or can substitute applesauce)
1 ripe banana, mashed
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oat bran
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
In a medium bowl, mix buttermilk with wheat bran. In another bowl, beat together egg, sugar, oil, banana, and vanilla.
In a large bowl, stir together flour, oat bran, baking soda, and baking powder. Stir buttermilk mixture and egg mixture into flour mixture until flour is just moistened. Stir in berries and walnuts. Spoon batter into muffin cups.
Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until done.

Recipe from Gayle Elsberry care of All Recipes.

Ginger Molasses Cookies

Makes 30

Ingredients:
12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
¼ cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon salt
Granulated sugar, for coating cookies

Directions:
In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Cool for 10 minutes or until no longer hot. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, molasses, and egg. Beat with an electric mixer for about 20 seconds or until well blended.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Using a rubber spatula (or beaters on low speed), stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture until fully blended. Refrigerate the dough for at least 3 hours to firm.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Put granulated sugar in a bowl. Pinch off rounded teaspoon-sized pieces of the dough and roll each into a 1¼-to-1½-inch ball; place them, a few at a time, in the bowl of granulated sugar and toss to coat. Place the balls on the prepared sheet about 3 inches apart.

Bake for 13 to 14 minutes or until the cookies are crackly on top and just barely firm to the touch. Carefully slide the parchment paper (with the cookies on it) off the cookie sheet and onto a wire rack. After about 5 minutes, transfer the cookies to another rack to cool completely. Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Recipe care of: Bakery + Cafe, Boston

More recipes from this Boston Globe Collection

Breakfast Casserole

1 – box seasoned croutons
2 – cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 – cups shredded monetary jack cheese
1 – lb sausage cooked
1 – can green chilies (4 oz.)
6 – eggs
2 – cups milk
½ - teaspoon paprika
½ - teaspoon oregano
¼ - teaspoon dry mustard
¼ - garlic salt

Grease 13 x 9 casserole dish. Spread croutons in bottom of dish. Add cheddar cheese; add sausage; add monetary jack cheese; add chilies.

In a bowl mix eggs, milk, paprika, oregano, dry mustard and garlic salt. Mix well and pour over mixture in casserole dish. Cover and put in refrigerator over night.

Pre-heat oven to 325° - bake covered for 50 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Recipe from Mom's friend Evelyn. A huge hit at work!

Butternut Squash Soup with Fontina Cheese Crostini
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Serves:
4 to 6 servings

Ingredients
Soup:
2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 3/4-inch pieces (about 7 to 8 cups)
6 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1/4 cup chopped fresh sage leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Crostini:
1/2 baguette, sliced diagonally into 1/2-inch thick slices
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage leaves
1 cup (2 ounces) grated fontina cheese
Kosher salt

Directions
In an 8-quart stockpot, add the butter and oil and melt together over medium-high heat. Add the onion and carrot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Add the squash and the chicken stock. Bring the mixture to a boil and add the sage. Continue to boil until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Turn off the heat. Using an immersion blender, blend the mixture until smooth and thick. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Keep the soup warm over low heat.

For the crostini: Put an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Arrange the bread slices on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sage. Sprinkle the cheese on top and season with salt, to taste. Bake until the cheese has melted and the bread is light golden, about 6 to 8 minutes.
To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with the cheese crostini.
Cook's Note: The cooked vegetable mixture can also be pureed (after cooling for about 5 minutes) by ladling, in batches, into a food processor or blender and blended until smooth.

Candy Corn Bark

Ingredients:

14 whole Oreos, broken up. I used the Halloween ones with the orange filling but regular will work fine
1 1/2 C pretzels, broken into pieces. I used the small stick pretzels
1 lb. white chocolate, almond bark or melts found in the bulk food section
1 C candy corn
brown and orange colored sprinkles

Instructions

Cover a large cookie sheet with wax paper. Spread broken cookies, pretzels and about 3/4 C of the candy corn onto the waxed paper. Place white chocolate in a container and microwave for 1 1/2 minutes. Stir and then microwave for another 30 seconds until melted and smooth. White chocolate melts faster and burns easier than chocolate.

Drizzle the melted chocolate over the cookie mixture, spreading with spatula if needed to coat evenly. Sprinkle remaining candy corn and colored sprinkles over the chocolate while it is still wet. Do not let it harden. Place cookie tray into refrigerator until set and firm. Remove and gently break bark into small pieces. Store in air tight container.

Recipe care of Recipe Girl.

Homemade Croutons

1/2 loaf French bread, cut into 16 (1/4-inch thick) slices (I used Asiago sliced bread from Panera)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Nature's Seasoning

To prepare the Croutons:
Set oven temperature to 400 degrees F.

Spread the slices of bread on a large baking sheet. Brush both sides of the slices with the olive oil, then season with the salt and pepper. Bake until lightly golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool slightly.

Roasted Vegetable Soup

Prep Time: 40 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 3 to 4 servings

Ingredients
3 to 4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade, recipe follows

1 quart Roasted Winter Vegetables, recipe follows

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions
In a large saucepan, heat 3 cups of chicken stock. In 2 batches, coarsely puree the roasted vegetables and the chicken stock in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pour the soup back into the pot and season, to taste. Thin with more chicken stock and reheat. The soup should be thick but not like a vegetable puree, so add more chicken stock and/or water until it's the consistency you like.

Roasted Winter Vegetables: 1 pound carrots, peeled 1 pound parsnips, peeled 1 large sweet potato, peeled 1 small butternut squash (about 2 pounds), peeled and seeded 3 tablespoons good olive oil 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

Copyright 2002, Barefoot Contessa Family Style, All Rights Reserved

I altered this a bit. I used whatever veggies I had on hand and added organic butternut squash soup in addition to the stock so it didn't taste too chickeny. Worked great. Could have used more liquid than I did (though of course I didn't measure)