White Bean Soup with Peppers and Bacon

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...We had some sun today and it made for a beautiful afternoon at the lake. We did lots of walking before the winds and rain returned, forcing us to back to the cabin to ready it and ourselves for an early departure tomorrow morning. Power has finally been restored, and tonight I can see lights in the houses on the other side of the lake. It seems strange, but not as strange as the odd silver glow the cabin lights throw on the road just outside the door. Even the loons are confused. Dinner tonight was a hydrate and reheat affair, so prep and clean-up was a breeze. As the frozen soup I'd brought from home warmed on top the stove, I added water and an egg to my homemade cornbread mix and popped a pan of it into the oven. It finished baking just as the soup came to a boil. Now that's serendipity. It is a nice soup and it made for a lovely, if simple supper. Years ago, I found the recipe I used to make it in an issue of Cooking Light magazine, and I have made it several times a year ever since. What would have seemed a skimpy meal back home was perfect for the cabin and the less is more circumstances we find here and gladly adopt. I want to share the recipe with those of you who are still battling winter's chill and need warming meals to serve your families as they come in from work or play. Do give this recipe a try. The soup is easy to make and it's near failproof. The only variable might be the amount of time it takes to cook the beans. Mine are never ready in an hour and time from start to completion can vary from 1-1/2 to 2 hours. This freezes beautifully, so I double the recipe whenever I make the soup. Here is the recipe as it appeared in Cooking Light.

Living with Loons + Homemade Brownie Mix

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...The rain has been beating a soft but steady tattoo for hours now, and when the mist lifts, you can see gentle ripples expanding and coalescing as they ruffle the glassy surface of the lake. While it is too early to mate, the loons who give this lake its name, communicate with one another, and as they land and skid upon the water, their mournful wails heighten the solitude and isolation of winter on the lake. If you've never heard the loon's mesmerizing wail and are curious, your can hear it here. We are here to help open the cabin of friends who have often shared their home and hospitality with us. The work has gone quickly and we are left in three small rooms with thoughts fueled by the fragrance of the madrone that feeds the fire as well as the imagination. The cabin is half an hour and a winding road from the nearest store, so the staples that are needed to open the kitchen came with us. The kitchen is small and storage is limited, so little "from scratch" cooking is ever done here. Aside from beer, which is submerged and chilled in the lake, nothing is kept in quantity. The shelves hold the basics: flour, sugar, salt, oil, coffee and powdered milk. Whenever possible, those of us who stay here bring food that needs only reheating or hydration. So, to that end, I've brought biscuit, cornbread and brownie mixes to round out the casseroles that will be dinner for the next few nights. The brownie mix is easy to prepare and makes brownies that will satisfy those in our group who have a demanding sweet tooth. If your summers include a cottage with a barebones kitchen, you might want to keep the recipe on hand. Here is how the brownie mix is made and used.