Fall is the time when we think of serving our families great hot soups and hearty sandwiches to help fight off the chilly nights and to provide them with nutritious and great tasting stick to the rib meals that are easy to prepare and is sure to please.

There is nothing I like better on a cold fall night than a great bowl of bean soup. It is hearty and sticks to your ribs, and it reminds me of my pioneer ancestors for some reason. Since I work long hours, I seldom have time to soak the beans and then slowly simmer them into a great pot of soup. So, this recipe is going to show you a fast and simple way to get the great taste of bean soup without the time and effort involved.

Ingredients

• 1 large jar of fully cooked and canned Great northern beans
• 1 small onion diced
• 1 small carrot diced
• 2 ham hocks (or a large slice of ham diced)
• 1 small square of salt pork

Method

1. In slow cooker, dump the can of beans, add the diced onion, carrot, celery, ham hocks or ham and salt pork. Add roughly 3 to 4 cups of water. Turn on low to medium heat and allow to cook for 3 to 4 hours (longer if you are making it while you at work.)
2. For those who really enjoy the bean flavor with only a little meat taste this soup is perfect. For those who enjoy a meatier tasting soup you can add a little ham base to the soup while it is cooking.
3. All you have to do is go about your business and when it is time for dinner, it has practically prepared itself.
4. Of course if your family is like mine, they just can’t imagine eating soup without a sandwich to go along with it. And what better way to keep with the pioneer feeling than serving up a thinly sliced ham on pumpkin yeast biscuits. The recipe is simple and the sandwiches are the perfect compliment to the bean soup.

Pumpkin Yeast Biscuits

Ingredients

• 2 ¼ oz packages of dry yeast
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• ½ cup warm water
• ½ cup melted butter
• 1 cup milk (scalded and cooled)
• 1 cup pumpkin cooked and mashed (or 1 cup canned pumpkin mashed)
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 61/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

Method

1. dissolve yeast and ½ teaspoon in warm water and let stand until bubbly.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine yeast mixture, butter, milk, pumpkin, and brown sugar.
3. Add flour, salt and seasonings, Stir until soft dough forms.
4. Knead on a floured surface until dough is soft and elastic (approximately 10 to 12 minutes)
5. Place dough in greased bowl turning it to make sure it is well coated.
6. Let rise for 2 or 3 hours or until double in size.
7. Once the dough has risen roll out to ½ inch thickness on floured surface.
8. Cut dough with a 1 ½ round biscuit cutter (or round cookie cutter)
9. Arrange on a greased baking sheet.
10. Cover and let rise until biscuits are about double in size (30 minutes to 1 hour)
11. bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown.

(This recipe yields about 50 biscuits which means you can save however many you will want for dinner and freeze the rest to use at a later time)

Cut biscuits in half and place thinly sliced ham in center. Serve and eat.

Note:

These biscuits make great smoked turkey sandwiches too.

For a breakfast sandwich try smoked bacon or sausage in the center.