Fall Recipe Series

In the fall I love cooking and baking so much more than normal. I love soups, breads, apple crisp, hot mulled cider, doughnuts, and anything that tastes like pumpkin or cinnamon. I find myself busy in the kitchen a lot more during September - December than any other time of year.

I decided to share all of my favorite fall recipes throughout the following weeks and months.

I already wrote about the potato soup I made the other day.

It is not as good as my mom's, but I haven't had a chance to get her recipe, so here is the one I used. It was much better when I ate the leftovers the next day. I think from now on when I make potato soup, I will make it and just let it sit in the fridge for a day. The flavors come out so much more when they have had a chance to marry. :-)

Today I'm going to share another soup recipe. Well, sort of a recipe. I bought this harvest soup mix at White House Farms the other day.
I'm not sure of the amounts of ingredients in it, but I can tell you that the mix was about 2 lbs, and it had the following in it:

lentils
brown rice
green split peas
yellow split peas
wild rice

You let 11/2 cups of the mix simmer in 4 cups of water for an hour. Then you add:

1 c. carrots (chopped)
1 c. celery (chopped)
1 c. diced tomatoes
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp. chicken broth mix
1/2 lb. cooked chicken, turkey, or ground beef (I always use ground beef).

And you let that all simmer for another hour. And that's it! This would obviously be easiest to make for someone who lives near White House Farm and could buy the mix. Ha! But if you don't, you could probably easily make the mix yourself.

It was so perfect to eat on a rainy, chilly, fall day like today. It's one of those soups that "sticks to you bones" as my mom would say :-)


Luke is not a fan, because he doesn't like the texture. Funny, because that is my favorite part. It is just so hearty! Luckily he is nice enough to choke down a little bit of it once or twice a year when I make it. And since he doesn't eat much if it, there are tons of leftovers, and I can bring them in my lunch for the next week or so. After eating some of this, I feel like I don't need to eat another thing for two days. It is so filling! Mmmm, just look at all that good stuff!

It was "one of those days" for me at work today due to a perfect storm that was brewing in order to totally mess up my day, pretty much. I came home and maybe, possibly had a good cry. I felt melancholy and down all evening, but this soup made it better! It's such a comfort food. Now Luke and I are staying in for the evening, I can hear the rain pouring down outside, and I have gone from a day full of stress to a time of peace. I'm telling you, this soup has healing powers.

In all honesty, the soup doesn't offer much in the flavor department. It is almost borderline bland. But you just feel good after you eat it, because it is so hearty. I personally love it. Eat the potato soup if you want something with a little more flavor!

Hopefully next week I will bake something apple-y and delicious. Like apple crisp, or apple dumplings. And sometime toward the beginning of October, I plan on having another fall cookie-baking day. Maybe I can recruit Sarah to help me this year, and it won't take such a loooong time.

Anyway, stay tuned for some delicious stuff in the weeks to come :-)