One thing I love about fall is that it just makes you feel like cozying inside with friends, making a homecooked meal for dinner, and gazing out the windows at the beautiful fall foliage (that is, if you live in the suburbs, I guess.) But, as a city-dweller, we can at least take advantage of the first two. And this past weekend, I did!
I tried to construct a menu that consisted of all things fall. Here are the recipes I used:
Hot Caramel Apple Cider (yields 12 ounces)
1 1/2 cups of apple cider
1 1/2 tablespoons caramel sauce (I used the stuff that is used for ice cream sundae toppings)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Combine apple cider, caramel, and vanilla into a sauce pan. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until apple cider is hot and caramel has melted. (Be careful, it gets REALLY hot!) Pretty simple, huh? And very delicious!
Cowboy Stew (courtesy of my good friend-chef,
Caylen)
1 onion
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 lb ground beef
1 lb sausage
1 lb mexican velveeta cheese
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. cumin
And, 1 can of each:
Black beans
Kidney beans (I used Pinto beans in place of this... because I like them better)
Rotel tomatoes
Stewed tomatoes
Corn
Chop veggies into small bite-sized pieces and saute in 2 tsp. olive oil until soft. Brown the meat, then add the veggies. Cut velveeta into chunks and melt into beans and meat, then add spices. Simmer until heated through. (Basically, I just cooked and opened everything and then poured it all together in a huge pot!) And believe me, it will feed an army!
I might have shared the recipe for these here before, but I'll share them again because they're that good!
Garlic Cheese Biscuits
2 cups buttermilk baking mix
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Combine all ingredients until soft dough forms. Drop dough by heaping tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/3 teaspoon garlic powder
Combine ingredients. Brush on warm biscuits before removing from cookie sheet.
A nice, not-especially-fallish salad (everything can't be fall-esque, I guess). Katherine majorly contributed to this, and Brendan got the cranberries and walnuts. The salad was his creation...too bad I forgot to snap a picture of it.
Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes by Maggie (get her recipe
here!) They taste as good as they look!
And, a delicious Pumpkin Crumple made by Ann-Marie (and I think Jon did the crumple on top). I don't have the recipe for this, or a picture, yet. But believe me, you'll want to add it to your recipe box as soon as I get it!
Carrie, thanks for starting this tradition! And please plan to come back one year... 5 sure is a good number to celebrate!
As I mentioned here, I could.not.wait for the opening night of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I movie to come out! I'm a late bloomer when it comes to Harry Potter and only recently (just over a year ago) have jumped on the out-of-control-obsessed-fan bandwagon. So, this was my first movie to see at its release! Luckily, I was in good company with these other 5 New York friends, who are all seasoned HP veterans! We made pumpkin pasties, cauldron cakes, and butterbeer to keep ourselves awake until the midnight IMAX showing of the movie and (some of us...) dressed our favorite part. I started to have flashbacks to college of staying awake all night, but I made it until the ending of the movie at 2:35 am...and it was well worth it!
And as I mentioned in my previous post, we had sparkler candles (Thanks for those too, Maggie!)!! They were exactly like sparkler fireworks, except in the shape of a "2" and a "7". They were beautiful and perfect, but if you ever have them for your own cake, you should be ready to blow them out immediately because they aren't like regular candles that keep burning until you blow. They, just like a sparkler, go out on their own sweet timing. But they make for some pretty great pictures, don't they?!
view from the summit.
favorite hiking snack of the day...
the group at the top.
does it look like they're skydiving? They aren't, but thought it was a nice effect...