Favorite Fall Foods

Rumor has it that today was a beautiful warm day in Seattle. I'm not really sure because I spent less than a minute of daylight hours outside today. I'm ok with that because I'm done feeling guilty for not being outside more. Another reason I'm glad fall is here. Back on that subject, my list of the best fall foods. Do you have any to add?

*Candy Corn. I was a late adapter to the candy corn phenomenon, only starting to like it a couple years ago. I'm not sure what's not to like, though. There's nothing wrong with pure sugar.

*Pumpkin anything. I'm a huge fan of the pumpkin... Pumpkin cookies, pumpkin bread, pumpkin bagels, and pumpkin doughnuts are among my favorites. Pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin pie (which is near the bottom of my pumpkin list, but still good), pumpkin pancakes... Yum.

*Chai Tea. Nothing says fall like drinking chai somewhere inside when it's not-so-warm outside. I personally prefer Tazo (milk only, no water) to some of the sweeter chais like Oregon, but any chai will do.

*Soup. What a great food category soup is. I love how easy it is to make in a Crock Pot. I love how easy it is to heat up as leftovers. I love what a great conduit it is for eating bread.

*Apples with Caramel. Just good. And so fall.

I don't really eat/drink any of these in the summer and many of them are so seasonal I only have a 2 month window to partake. Yes, indeed, welcome back fall.

Here's that Pumpkin Bread recipe. This makes one loaf. I almost always double it:
Mix: 6 T butter, 2 eggs, 1/3 c. milk, 1 t. vanilla
In a separate bowl, combine: 1-1/2 c. flour, 1-1/3 c. sugar, 1 t. baking soda, 1/4 t. baking powder, 1/2 t. cloves, 1/2 t. ginger, 1 t. cinnamon (I add slightly less ginger & cloves and slightly more cinnamon...)

Add 1/2 the flour mix to the rest and mix. Add 1 c. canned pumpkin and mix again. Add the remaining flour mixture (don't forget this part) and mix. Add 1/2 c. walnuts (if you want to ruin the bread with walnuts) and mix.

Bake at about 350 for about 50 minutes. (This recipe is written in the back of a book because someone recited it to me in Core Group 7 years ago. I have to get the book out every year to make this bread because I've never bothered to transfer the recipe... And I don't have the temp or time written, so I make it up. It works much better when you turn the oven on.)