Greek Lemon Soup

6 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
3 eggs
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 Tablespoons minced fresh parsley

In a large saucepan, bring chicken broth to a boil.  Stir in rice and reduce heat.  Cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until rice is done.  Beat eggs until foamy and beat in lemon juice.  Ladle a little of the hot broth into the eggs, stirring constantly until well mixed.  Keep adding broth to the eggs, a little at a time, until the egg mixture is steaming.  Then pour it back into the soup.  Continue simmering the soup until just heated through.  DO NOT BOIL.  Ladle into serving bowls and garnish with minced parsley.

TIM'S NOTES:  I usually just add the minced parsley to the finished soup, but I suppose if you were serving it to guests, the fresh parsley in each bowl might make a nice garnish.  I have also used other fresh herbs in this soup, such as thyme, rosemary, or mint.

Blackberry Apple Crunch

4 cups tart apples (such as Granny Smith) peeled, cored and sliced
2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries (if using frozen berries, do not thaw)
3/4 cup sugar

TOPPING:
1/2 to 3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup butter (1 cube)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon or allspice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine apples, berries, and sugar.  Place in a 9 x 13 inch pan.

In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, oats, walnuts, and cinnamon.  Blend together.  Cut in butter until well mixed.  Sprinkle over top of fruit.

Bake at 35o degrees for approximately 1 hour or until top is brown.

Baked Bananas

4 medium bananas, slightly under ripe
4 Tablespoons butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
salt
cinnamon
nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Peel bananas, split lengthwise, and cut in two crosswise.  Arrange in a shallow baking dish.  Melt butter in a small saucepan and stir in sugar.  Pour over bananas and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until bananas are soft and pale golden.  Sprinkle with a dash of salt, cinnamon and nutmeg before serving.

Berry Smoothie

                                                            

1 (10 ounce) bag frozen mixed berries
1 (15 ounce) can of peaches, drained
2 Tablespoons honey

          Place the peaches and honey in the blender and whirl until smooth.  Add the berries and again, process until smooth.

Tim's Notes:  The berries don't seem to come in 10 ounce bags, but rather 12 ounce bags.  This is fine.  I haven't used the mixed berries yet.  I tried raspberry, which I really liked (flavor was divine, though I was a little turned off by the seeds) and blueberry, which was also good (and no seeds).