Bring broth to a simmer. Add all the other ingredients except the salt, lemon juice, mint, and parsley. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes longer. Remove the cinnamon stick. Yield: about 5 servings.

Cut up any large frozen vegetables. In a 3-quart saucepan combine frozen vegetables, onion, chicken or vegetable broth, garlic salt, and white pepper.
Bring mixture to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes or till vegetables are crisp-tender. Stir milk and half-and-half or light cream into the vegetable mixture. Heat just to boiling. Add the undrained oysters. If using fresh oysters, cook over medium heat about 5 minutes or till edges curl, stirring frequently. If using canned oysters, cook till heated through. Spoon into soup bowls. Top each serving with margarine or butter
Serves 4 to 6

Rinse dry beans. In a Dutch oven combine rinsed beans and 5 cups cold water. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 1 hour. Drain and rinse beans.
In the same pan combine rinsed beans, 5 cups fresh water, undrained tomatoes, onion, bouillon, garlic, the 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, and pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 1-1/2 hours or till beans are tender. Mash beans slightly with a wooden spoon. Add frozen green beans; simmer for 5 minutes or till green beans are tender. Meanwhile, stir together margarine, garlic salt, and the 1/8 teaspoon Italian seasoning. Spread atop 1 side of each bread slice. Place bread, margarine side up, on the unheated rack of a broiler pan. Broil 4 to 5 inches from the heat for 45 to 60 seconds or till crisp and light brown. To serve, ladle soup into bowls. Float 2 small pieces or 1 large piece of herb toast atop each bowl of soup. Serve immediately.
Makes 6 servings.
Crockery cooker directions: Soak and rinse beans as directed above. In a 3- 1/2-or 4-quart crockery cooker combine beans, 4 cups fresh water (instead of 5 cups), undrained tomatoes, onion, bouillon, garlic, the 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, and pepper. Cook, covered, on low-heat setting for 11 to 13 hours or on high-heat setting for 5-1/2 to 6-1/2 hours or till beans are almost tender. Meanwhile, thaw green beans; stir into soup. Cook about 30 minutes more on high-heat setting or till beans are tender. Continue as directed
Serves: 6

1 Place beef shank (reserve some for garnish) and the stock in a medium-sized soup pot over medium heat. Simmer until the meat is very tender, skimming as necessary. Strain and skim the broth; reserve. 2 When the meat is cool enough to handle, cut it into small dice and reserve for garnish. 3 Melt butter in a medium-sized saucepot. Add leeks, onions, carrots, celery, turnips, and cabbage; cook until limp, stirring occasionally, about 4-6 minutes. Add garlic and sauté until aroma is apparent, about 15 seconds. 4 Add the reserved broth and the sachet. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for approximately 10 minutes. 5 Add the potatoes, beans, corn, and diced tomato. Continue to simmer for another 20 minutes. 6 Season the soup with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Garnish the soup with the reserved diced beef and parsley.

Peel and cube 2 of the potatoes. Cube remaining 2 potatoes, leaving the skin on. Place peeled potatoes on one side of a 9x9x2-inch baking pan and the unpeeled potatoes on the other side. Sprinkle onion and snipped rosemary evenly over all. Peel away the dry outer leaves of skin from bulb of garlic. Leave skins of cloves intact. Snip off the pointed top with scissors, leaving the bulb intact, but exposing the cloves. Place the garlic bulb, cut side up, on top of the potatoes. Drizzle olive oil over all. Bake, covered, in a 400° F oven about 50 minutes or until garlic cloves feel soft and potatoes are tender. Cool slightly. Squeeze the garlic bulb to remove the paste from the cloves. In a blender container or food processor bowl, combine the garlic paste, peeled potatoes, about half the onion, half of the chicken broth, all of the flour, and pepper. Cover and blend till nearly smooth. Pour the pureed mixture into a medium saucepan. Stir in the unpeeled cooked potato, remaining onion and broth, and half-and-half. Cook and stir over medium heat till slightly thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. If necessary, stir in additional half-and-half to make the soup the desired consistency. To serve, ladle into soup bowls. If desired, top each serving with croutons and a sprig of rosemary.