REFRIGERATOR PICKLES 12 C sliced cucumbers (8"-9" need about 6-7) 2 large onions sliced 1 green pepper sliced 1 red pepper sliced Layer the above in glass canning jars. Mix together: 4 C sugar 2 C white vinegar 2 Tb canning salt (w/o iodine) Pour mixture over cukes and let set in fridge for a few days. The longer they sit the better! Add more veggies as the first ones are eaten. Note: You could probably split this in half if you don't want this much. It's really pretty when you layer the red and green. Really sweet, shake it up when it settles to get the sugar off the bottom; some of mine stuck but didn't hurt anything. I thought I'd packed it good but then after it sat a few days, all the stuff rose to the top and there was a huge gap of liquid at the bottom of the jar, so you can pack more in after a few days if you have cukes leftover!

SWEET POTATO BAKE 2 to 2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes 1/4 C. butter or margarine, melted 1/4 to 1/2 C. sugar 1/4 C. raisins 1/3 C. chopped nuts 1/3 C. miniature marshmallows Place sweet potatoes in a large saucepan or Dutch oven; cover w/ water. Cover; bring to a boil. Boil for 30-45 minutes or just until tender. Drain; cool slightly and peel. In a large bowl, mash potatoes. Stir in butter, sugar and raisins. Place in a greased 2 qt. baking dish; sprinkle with nuts and marshamllows. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 30 minutes or till heated through & marshmallows begin to brown. Yield- 8-10 servings. Note: I subbed some brown sugar for the regular sugar. Also peeled the potatoes before boiling, then just mashed them afterward vs. waiting for them to cool down. I ended up putting the dish under the broiler about 2 minutes to finish browning the marshmallows. Most importantly, put marshmallows in anything, and the kids eat it up!!

Vegetable Risotto Ingredients: 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided 1 medium zucchini, cubed 1 medium yellow summer squash, cubed 1 cup shiitake mushroom slices 1 cup chopped onions 1 clove garlic, minced 6 plum tomatoes, quartered and seeded 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves 3 cups vegetable stock 3/4 cup arborio rice 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese Salt Black pepper 1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed Instructions: - Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large saucepan over medium heat until hot. Add zucchini and summer squash; cook and stir 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Place in medium bowl; set aside. - Add mushrooms, onions and garlic to saucepan; cook and stir 5 minutes or until tender. Add tomatoes and oregano; cook and stir 2 to 3 minutes or until tomatoes are soft. Place in bowl with zucchini mixture. Wipe saucepan clean with paper towels. - Place stock in small saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium-low to keep stock hot, but not boiling. - Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in saucepan over medium heat until hot. Add rice; cook and stir 2 minutes. - Using a ladle or measuring cup, add 3/4 cup stock to rice. Reduce heat to medium-low, maintaining a simmer. Cook and stir until rice has absorbed stock. Repeat, adding stock 3 more times, cooking and stirring until rice has absorbed stock. (Total cooking time of rice will be about 20 to 25 minutes.) - Stir cheese into rice mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in reserved vegetables and peas; cook until heated through. Serve immediately. Garnish, if desired.

RATATOUILLE 1 small eggplant, top removed Salt 2 tsp. olive oil, divided 1 onion, thinly sliced 1 small green pepper, seeded & chopped 1 small red pepper, seeded & chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced 4 medium tomatoes, seeded & coarsely chopped 2 small zucchini, halved lengthwise & cut crosswise into 1/2" strips Nonstick cooking spray 1/4 tsp. thyme 1/4 tsp. oregano Freshly ground black pepper, to taste Pinch of cayenne pepper, if desired 1 Tbsp. freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional) Cut eggplant into 3/4" cubes. Place in colander, sprinkle with salt and cover with bowl. Let stand 30", then rinse salt away & dry with paper towels. In large skillet or Dutch oven, heat 1 tsp. oil over medium high heat. Add onions and bell peppers and saute 5 minutes. Add garlic and tomatoes and saute 3 minutes. Remove mixture from pan and set aside. Heat remaining oil and add zucchini to skillet. Saute on medium-high heat, about 7 minutes. Remove zucchini and place with other vegetables. Spray skillet with nonstick spray. Saute eggplant on medium heat about 1 minute. Add reserved vegetables to eggplant. Stir in thyme,oregano, black pepper and cayenne pepper, if using. Cook 5 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese, if using. Serve with hearty whole-grain bread! Serves 4. Per serving: 110 calories, 3 g fat (0 g saturaged), 20 g carbs, 4 g protein, 7 g fiber, 310 mg sodium