Is it Autumn yet?!

No, seriously. This summer wasn't anywhere near as miserable as last summer was, but I am completely ready for Fall. It's my favorite time of year. I love the weather, the smell, the colors, the football, my anniversary, all of it. I probably say this every year around the beginning of August. Poor August never gets love. If my excitement for Autumn wasn't bad enough, we also get to throw in our move to New Mexico and visiting Washington D.C. and Omaha into the mix. I'll do my best to blog more this month, that'll make up for my lack of enthusiasm for the eighth month, right?!

This past week I've been on a Fall kick, making soup, baking pumpkin pie, later today I'm going to make oatmeal raisin cookies and maybe a coffee cake. Cole woke up kind of early the other day, so we cuddled in my bed and watched The Nightmare Before Christmas. This week has also been amazingly cloudy, with a couple of days where it was sunny (we had just enough sun so it wouldn't be depressingly cloudy, there's a fine line in case you didn't know, especially in Germany), but it wasn't too hot. In other words, the weather has been amazing in our little slice of Germany and I'm crossing my fingers it'll continue for a while!

Josh and I had a hankering for pumpkin pie. I used a premade, roll-out crust, and mixed 1 can of pumpkin, 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, 2 eggs, and 1 tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice. Put it in an oven preheated to 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce oven temp to 350 and continue to bake 40 minutes.This quick and easy recipe comes from McCormick's website.

Pumpkin Soup

While I was in Omaha, my family had a soup cook-off. I wanted to try something different, but I also wanted something my son would be able to eat (dairy-free). I liked the way it turned out, it may not be for everyone, but it works for our family. I may not have won, but the two votes I did get were both from children, so if you want something to please your kids, this is the soup to try. Someone told me that pumpkin soup is better served cold, I served it warm and it tasted good to me, but next time I'll give it a shot!

Ingredients:

• 1 T. olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 medium-sized leek, white parts only, chopped (this video helped me quite a bit since I'd never worked with leeks before)
• 1 cup chopped apple
• 3 T. sugar
• ¾ t. ground cinnamon
• ½ t. ground ginger
• ¼ t. ground nutmeg
• ½ t. salt, plus more to taste
• 1 15-ounce can low-sodium vegetable broth
• 2 cups water
• 2 15-ounce cans pumpkin puree
• 1 cup coconut or soy milk
• Pepper, to taste
• Cayenne, for garnishing

 Directions:
1. In a medium-large stock pot (3-5 quarts), heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic, and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the onion is translucent.

2. Add the leek, apple, sugar, spices and salt, and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the leek is softened.
3. Add the vegetable broth and water. Bring the mixture to a boil and then turn down to a simmer for about 15-20 minutes, or until the apple pieces are tender.
4. Stir in the pumpkin puree (next time I'll use 3 cans of pumpkin instead of 2).
5. Working in batches, puree the mixture in a blender until smooth, adding a bit of the coconut/soy milk to each batch until all has been added.With a normal sized blender, I was able to puree everything in two batches.
6. Return the soup to the pot and heat over low heat, stirring constantly, to desired temperature. Add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with a sprinkle of cayenne pepper and fresh herbs or your choice.

Slightly adapted from About.com

Cole loves his cousin Sara!

It's the first day of Autumn!!!

The first day of fall is always a happy day at our house. This past week has been marked with the appearance of socks for the first time in months because our hardwood floors were giving my feet an ice cream headache. I never fully appreciated the first cozy sock day before because I've always lived in homes that were carpeted. I will never make that mistake again.

Since it's officially fall, I can dive right into my apple obsession. I don't like eating apples any other time of the year, they don't taste right so I don't waste my time with them. In celebration of the Autumnal Equinox, I made some apple chips. They came out pretty good for a first try and no mandoline.

 Ingredients:
2 apples, cored (I used Honey Crisp and Granny Smith)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
canola oil spray

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees. 
• Thinly slice your apples* (if you have a mandoline, save yourself some time and use it) and arrange slices on two parchment lined cookie sheets. Spray with canola oil.
• Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over apples (I had a little left over).
• Bake for roughly 2-2 1/2 hours or until apples are crisp (mine took a little longer because I was only able to use one cookie sheet thanks to the crazy German oven I have). Let cool and enjoy a little taste of fall!

 *I found that the easiest way to slice the apples is to slowly turn the apple as I sliced, it also helped keep the slices more even.