Thursday Thirteen - Edition #5

Things I Like About Fall

Spring is my favorite season, but I love living in an area that has four distinct seasons because there are things to enjoy in every season! In the fall I enjoy...

1. Mums. I have several flourishing mums in my planters right now... yellow, orange, burgundy. One plant came back from last year! I hope more survive this year.
2. Pansies. Such happy little "faces"! I love to plant pansies in the fall because they live right through the winter and bloom again in the spring. I've been thinking about showing the girls how to press them and make laminated bookmarks or greeting cards.
3. Apples. We live in apple country, near the orchards in Washington. Our family favorite is the Jonagold. We like to slice them and dip them in Martha's caramel dip.
4. Colors. Our forests are predominantly pine, but I love seeing the gold and orange of the trees that do change against the forest green of the pine.
5. The Pumpkin Parable. This is a children's picture book I discovered when my children were small. We enjoyed reading it every fall.
6. Pumpkin Cheesecake. My favorite dessert with a harvest-time flavor.
7. Weiner Roasts. Is there anything more fun on a crisp fall evening?
8. Sunny Days. The weather is changing and more days are rainy, so sunny days are rare treasures to be enjoyed and appreciated.
9. Crunchy Leaves on the Sidewalk. As long as I don't have to rake them! We had this humongous maple tree next to the last house we lived in. It was beautiful every fall but it didn't drop its leaves until well into December, so we'd have to go out to rake when it was past "comfortable" leaf-raking weather. Ugh! Soggy leaves.
10. Fresh-pressed Sweet Cider. Either hot or icy cold.
11. Candy Corn. I've always liked candy corn. I noticed this year that they have come out with Caramel Candy Corn. I'm thinking I need to get some!
12. Popcorn. Well, popcorn is good anytime... but it just seems to go with other fall snacks and activities.
13. Sweaters. Just cool enough to need a sweater to go outside... but not yet a bulky coat. I like wearing cardigans, which can be put on and taken off easily.
    

Fall Colors in the Columbia River Gorge

We took the trailer down to Oregon this past weekend for our last camping trip of the season. We stayed at Memaloose State Park in the Columbia River Gorge. The weather was cool and damp, so we didn't do much in the way of outside activities, but I thoroughly enjoyed the fall colors! We enjoyed some down time just playing games, reading, and talking. We also got to visit some friends in the area on Saturday evening, so it was a fun get-away!

Menu Plan Monday

I didn't totally stick to my plan last week, but that's okay... at least I had a plan... and that helped! One problem I'm having in my planning is that we are trying to avoid dairy products for one of the kids (hopefully temporarily) so it's a real challenge to come up with main dishes that don't include cream-of-something-soup, milk, sour cream, cheese, etc. I'm not being real strict about it, as it is not an allergy or anything, but when the item is particularly "creamy" or "cheesy" we are trying to avoid it. (Fortunately, on the pizza night she is satisfied with bread sticks and salad!) Any suggestions for simple non-dairy meals?

For this week I've come up with:
Monday: sloppy joes, tater tots, cole slaw
Tuesday: chicken cacciatore, green beans
Wednesday: pizza, bread sticks, salad
Thursday: sausage and rice casserole with mixed vegetables
Friday: taco soup, tortilla chips, salsa (we didn't have it last week)

Menu Plan Monday

Okay, I gotta get back in the habit of planning my supper menus. I'm driving myself crazy trying to think up and throw meals together 30 minutes before it's time to eat. You know what that usually means, dontcha? Yep! Fast food. Which is ridiculous because I have a lovely teenage daughter who is perfectly willing to do the cooking, if I just provide the groceries and tell her what to cook! Maybe I'll get motivated enough one of these days to take the time to sit down with her and let her help plan the menus. Then we'd probably have something more interesting than just the tried-and-true ol' standbys. But until then, at least I have a plan for this week...

Monday: chicken fried rice with stir-fry veggies
Tuesday: spaghetti, tossed salad, french bread
Wednesday: chili dogs, sliced cheese, cole slaw
Thursday: meat loaf, mashed potatoes, green beans
Friday: taco soup, tortilla chips, salsa

Recipes for Fall

One of our favorite fall treats is the Harvest Blessing Mix made up of Bugles, pretzels, candy corn, Corn Nuts, raisins, m&m's, and peanuts. The Bugles look like miniature cornucopias. The pretzels represent arms folded in prayer. The candy corn and Corn Nuts remind us that the pilgrims supposedly only had 5 kernels of corn per person each day during that first hard winter. Raisins are dried fruit and remind us of a bountiful harvest. M&Ms stand for "many, many" blessings. The peanuts represent seeds which are a reminder of the potential of next year's harvest.

Some years we have made it up and divided it into little bags with gift tags explaining the significance of each ingredient, and then given them away to friends. Other years we just make up a big bowlful for a fun snack... great for family game time! Printable gift tags are available online (just Google "blessing mix") but I usually make up my own depending on what ingredients I include.

I also discovered a new-to-me recipe last week that I want to try, posted by Kathy at Highlights from Higher Ground. It is Two-Ingredient Pumpkin Gems. You mix a can of pumpkin with a cake mix and scoop dollops of the mixture into a miniature muffin tin, and then bake!