Cream of Green Bean Soup

On his farm, my grandfather grew green beans. Long rows of beans. In summer everyone would be out picking beans into pails and putting them into gunny sacks to be taken for sale at the market in town. 

There were a lot of beans. This may be one reason why we sometimes had green bean soup in summer. I thought of this today when I looked at the cooked leftover fresh green beans in the fridge. I'll make soup!

No recipe; I began by making a roux with flour and butter. I slowly added about a cup of milk - maybe more, and about a cup or so of vegetable broth. Then I added the beans. I seasoned the soup with salt and pepper and added a generous sprinkle of Penzey's Mural of Flavor. Perfect!

It's a frigid day - five degrees F. at midday. So it's hot and nourishing cream of green bean soup for lunch. So very good, so very satisfying.

Creamy Cheesecake Pudding

I have been relying on pre-packaged meals and take-out more than I'd like to really admit. My daughter gave me a cookbook for Christmas, and since then I have been cooking again! I cleaned out my outdated spices and other staples and restocked the pantry. Ready to go.

I decided to make cheesecake. I had all the ingredients. When I assembled everything together, I saw I did not have enough cream cheese or graham crackers for the recipe. So it was cheesecake pudding that I made.

My recipe:

2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 large egg
2 Tbsp cornstarch
6 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
3 Tbsp Greek yogurt (or sour cream)

4 crushed graham crackers
1/4 cup crushed pecans
2 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp melted butter

Pour 1 3/4 cup of the milk with sugar and salt into a medium pot. Whisk together and cook until it simmers. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, cornstarch, and the remaining milk. Add some of the the hot milk mixture from the pot and whisk. Pour that mixture into the pot and simmer while whisking until it becomes thickened. Remove from heat and add the cream cheese and vanilla. Mix until smooth, then stir in the yogurt. Pour into a large serving bowl or into serving dishes.

Mix the rest of the ingredients and spread on a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Bake at 325 degrees for about 8 minutes, stirring the mixture about 1/2 way through. After it cools, sprinkle it on the pudding. 

Serve with your favorite fruit topping. (I have a few blueberries under the topping.)

The result is a creamy pudding with a tasty crunch topping. (I like adding pecans to replace some of the graham crackers for added flavor.)

So good, and so much easier to make than a baked cheesecake. I'll be making this again.