Fall Favorites

After reading tharker's celebration of fall, I thought I would list my favorite things about fall and include my two favorite fall recipes. I'm still trying to figure out how to put flickr photos into my posts, so forgive me if it isn't visual enough. Here are some of my favorite things:

Beautiful trees I took both of these pictures on my street. The little red one has been stunning for a month now, but the yellowing ones below are almost bare from the latest wind.
New school clothes and shoes

School supplies

Football games.

Earth toned clothes

Hooded sweatshirts- I miss my sweatshirts when it's too hot to wear them. This is my newest hooded sweatshirt, and I love it. I saw this exact sweatshirt in a shop in Springdale, UT when we were at Zion National Park. It was $70. Nathan would gladly have bought it for me, but they didn't have my size. So, I'm killing time at my friend's house and picked up a Cabella's clearance catalog-- there it was for $35. I went home and called them because I didn't have the catalog number. I love it because it's totally me, being brown and all, but I love it doubly because it was a deal!

Hearty soups- Nothing says fall like good soup. This is my favorite:

White Chicken Chili

1 pound chicken breasts, cubed

1 medium onion

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 Tbsp oil

2 cans Great Northern beans

1 can chicken broth

2 cans diced green chilies

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup sour cream

Saute chicken, onion and garlic powder in oil until chicken is no longer pink. Add beans broth, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 30 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in sour cream and heavy cream. Serve immediately.

** Many thanks to Traci for always bringing this to our branch Halloween party. It is my absolute favorite chili!

Pumpkin Spice Bars (Sadly, this isn't my own photo, but it was the closest I could find to what they actually look like.) This is a fall tradition borrowed from one of my wonderful sister-in-laws. Tharker, this recipe is for you!

4 eggs

2 tsp cinnamon

2 cups sugar

1 tsp soda

1 cup oil

3/4 tsp salt

1 small can pumpkin

1/2 tsp ginger

2 cups flour

1/4 tsp ground cloves

2 tsp baking powder

Mix together eggs, sugar, oil & pumpkin. Add flour, paking powder, cinnamon, soda, salt, ginger and cloves. Pour into greased 15 x 12 jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Frost with cream cheese frosting (below)

8 ounces cream cheese 1/2 cup margarine

1 tsp vanilla 1 Tbsp milk

3-4 cups powdered sugar

Beat until smooth.

***Mmmm! These are so good. Last year I was only making one pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving and I had left over pumpkin, so I made these after Nathan had already harassed me about having too many desserts. I planned to put them in the freezer. I just refrigerate them until the frosting is firm, then cut them up and individually wrap them. This way I can eat them one at a time over several weeks. Well, everyone else started eating them, and none of them ended up in the freezer. They're that good. The kids were begging for me to save some for their lunches.

However, there are things I don't like about fall.

1. Wind, wind and more wind.

2. Needing the heat on at night and still having to mow the grass.

3. Leaves from down the street ending up in my yard.

4. Nice weather becoming hit and miss.

5. And, for those of you enjoying a mild fall, just know that our weekend forecast is calling for snow!

You see, I didn't mind fall until I moved to the land of five-month winters. Now fall feels like a prelude to the bleak, bone-chilling cold that seems to last forever. Here in the mountains, I live for summer!