Joan’s Country Kitchen

The heat of summer is the perfect time for soup - Melon Soup, that is. This cool melon soup recipe with mint and basic is perfect for your next summer get-together. The warm months make you think of watermelon and the fresh cool taste of watermelon and cantaloupe in this recipe will cool you off in now time. The added flavor of mint brings out the summer freshness of this delicious recipe.

Melon Soup Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup water

1 TBS sugar

1 1/2 cups of fresh mint leaves

2 fresh basil leaves

1 1/2 cups cantaloupe, diced

4 tsp lemon juice

1 1/2 cups seedless watermelon, cut into small pieces

Directions

In a small cooking pan, add water and sugar, blending until sugar is melted.

Bring to a boil and turn down heat to medium.

Add mint and basil and simmer for about 10 minutes. Liquid should be reduced by 2/3rds.

Take from heat, cover and allow mixture to stand for about 2 hours or until entirely cool.

Strain out basil and mint and set liquid aside.

Using a blender or food processor, blend cantaloupe until smooth.

Add 2 Tbs of the mint/basil syrup and 2 tsp lemon juice. Pour this into an airtight container and put it into the frig until cool.

Blend watermelon in your blender until smooth and add 2 tsp of mint syrup and 2 tsp of lemon juice, put into airtight container and refrigerate until cold.

Throw away any remaining mint/basil syrup.

To serve, pour from both containers simultaneously into 1/2 cup serving bowl so watermelon and cantaloupe soup are side by side. Garnish with a sprig of mint. Makes 4 servings.

This recipe is a good one to make ahead if you’re planning a summer party.

Enjoy this cool dish on a hot summer day.

The cranberry casserole makes a beautifully festive dish for either Thanksgiving or Christmas. Cranberries

Cranberries are a holiday treat!

increase your immune system to help protect you from colds and flu in the winter. What more could you ask from this holiday cranberry dish?

Ingredients

2 20 oz cans of pie apples (not pie filling)
1 16 oz bag whole cranberries
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar

Topping Ingredients

1/2 stick butter
1 1/2 cups crushed corn flakes
2/3 cups sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well.

Spray 2 quart baking dish with cooking spray and fill with apple/cranberry mixture.

For topping, melt butter in a saucepan. Add other topping ingredients and toss well to totally cover.

Spoon topping over apple/cranberry mixture in baking dish.

Bake for one hour.

Serve hot or at room temperature.

Serves 4 to 6 people.

Drinking tea has been linked to many health benefits and white tea is especially high in antioxidants. Its delicate flavor is lighter than other teas and is especially good for adding fruit to make a delicious iced tea drink. You can read more about the benefits of white tea and buy some high quality silver needle, white peony or a wonderful white tea sampler at WhiteTea.com.

White tea is made from buds and young tea leaves, which are picked just prior to the buds being opened fully, while green tea is made of more mature tea leaves.

Delicious White Tea Smoothie

Ingredients

1 1/2 c frozen mixed berries
3/4 cup berry flavored yogurt
1/2 cup brewed white tea
1/2 cup pomegranate juice
1 small banana

This blueberry syrup recipe is super easy and delicious. It can be used over ice cream, pancakes or waffles or add it to ice tea for a great berry flavored drink. It also makes a delicious gift from your kitchen for the holidays.

Ingredients for Easy Blueberry Syrup

3 c blueberries fresh or frozen

2/3 c. light corn syrup

Dash of salt

Cooking Instructions

Place all three ingredients into your blender. Cover and blend on liquid setting until syrup is smooth.

Pour blueberry mixture into a medium saucepan.

Boil mixture for about 5 minutes. Stir constantly to avoid sticking.

This easy blueberry syrup is terrific served over waffles or pancakes or try it on ice cream. Can also be added to your ice tea to make blueberry iced tea. This syrup can also be chilled and reheated.

This easy recipes yields 3 1/2 cups of blueberry syrup.

There’s nothing like a delicious blueberry cobbler on a warm summer evening. Try topping it with homemade vanilla ice cream and it takes you right back to a childhood spent in the country.

Ingredients

2 1/2 c frozen or fresh blueberries
1/4 to 1/2 c sugar to taste
2 tbs butter
1 1/2 c packaged biscuit mix
1 tbs sugar
2/3 c milk
1 tbs melted butter
1/2 c sugar
1 tbs cornstarch
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c boiling water

Blueberry Cobbler Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat blueberries and 1/4 c sugar to bubbling and until sugar is dissolved. Stir in butter.

Place this blueberry mixture into 8×8 baking dish.

Combine biscuit mix and 1 tbs sugar. Add milk and melted butter. Blend until smooth.

Spoon biscuit mix over hot blueberries.

Mix 1/2 c sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon. Sprinkle this topping over batter.

Pour boiling water over the entire mixture.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until done.

Variation: You can also try this with double the biscuit mixture if you’d like more crust.