Harvest Soup and Stock

Alright, so I finally got a day off to work on this lovely soup! Not only that, but before making the soup it's self, I made a lovely vegetable stock to use in future soups and stews. The soup turned out fantastic with all the flavors of autumn, and talk about healthy! Sweet potato, carrot, pumpkin, apple....This is a great soup to have for lunch with some bread, or as the first course to a large dinner.

Then there's the stock. The stock used the peels from the apples, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and other veggies I used in the soup, plus some extra veggies for favor. I'm keeping huge containers of it in the freezers to pull out whenever I need some stock, plus a little in the fridge to use for the week.

So here it is, my Autumn Harvest Soup

Stuffed Acorn Squash with Chevre

I came home today ravenous, no dinner waiting for me, and then remembered I had an acorn squash I bought just to roast into a suitable meal! However, since I had no sausages on hand, I had to figure out what else I could fill it with. There's no shortage of recipes, so I just mixed a little of different recipes and added chevre (creamy goat cheese) to make this!

Apple Butter

You remember my food of the month post, where I mentioned that I needed a lot of apples for something? Well this is it!

Yes, apple butter! Now, the recipe I used came from Ball's Blue Book, and it was supposed to make 3 pints worth, but it actually only wound up filling 2 pint jars, plus enough for this small one, just to keep in the fridge, having only sealed the pints. I suspect I ended up loosing too much apple when I cored it. The recipe I followed went:

Spiked Cider

I've been mulling over (No pun intended) making a spiked cider for a while now. After all, nothing quite warms the soul like a hot toddy or mulled wine, so obviously a spiked apple cider should be the most emotionally nuriting drink for the autumn months.

This spiked cider is really just a hot mulled cider with some rum added to it. Here's how I made it:

Food of the Month; Apples

This month, I'm doing that beloved classic, apples!

Think of all the teachers I could give these to!

Yes, I know it's a cliche, but it fits! Apples are in season anywhere from as early as mid-July to as late as late October, depending on variety. Typically, they are seen as an autumn fruit, and here in the states are commonly associated with school as many varieties are in season when school starts for us....Ok, it might also have something to do with being commonly accepted as the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge, but some believe that it was actually a fig or pomegranate anyway. Apples are loaded with fiber, vitamin C, and anti-oxidants, and are an O.K source of potassium, vitamin K, and vitamin B6. Your average, medium apple only contains about 80 calories, making it a good low calorie snack, not to mention their taste!

The apples I bought are New York State apples. I know, I know, I should buy them from NJ, but these weren't a bad price for a huge bag, and I needed a large bag for what I have planned later this week! (No spoilers!) While I was at it, I also got myself a nice large carton of apple cider, one of my favorite drinks!

Ok, I think I'm all set on apples.

While apples are common and most people know how to work with them, here's a quick overview to help you take full advantage of apple season!

Pear, Apple, and Pomegranate Salad

Well, since this is my first REAL post, I should probably mention that I adore autumn. It's my favorite season by far, between Halloween, Thanksgiving, all the foods that are in season, the weather, the changing leaves, that you can get pumpkin flavored anything, it's just a magical time of year. It helps that I don't like hot weather, so the cooler weather is a nice change.

So, here's a salad I made using some delicious autumn fruits. I actually made this salad twice, however the first time I used fresh figs (One of my favorite foods, even if it's expensive and hard to find), and didn't use fennel. I don't think figs really added much in terms of texture, but if you choose to add it, you can.

Today I had it paired with a Ham, Pear, and Brie sandwich.

Picture perfect!

It's a very simple, and very quick, autumn lunch.