And So it Begins...

This is what happens when I write posts ahead of time and wait for the opportune day to post them; they're dated and now that Fall has Officially passed, they're almost no longer relevant! Boo!

THIS was how our day started:

Shortly before 7 this morning. (With the flash so you can see that it's still snowing.)

Shortly before 7 this morning - without the flash so you can see the real damage.

Two hours later. It's. Still. There.*

So here is the original post that I obviously should've just posted the day I wrote it. It was originally titled "My Friend, the Clove."

Two Saturdays ago I was sitting nicely by a pier enjoying an ocean view and getting sunburned. Today I'm curled up on the couch with the laptop warming my cold legs and a steaming cup of tea warming my innards. I've read a lot of posts recently about just this phenomenon: when the weather begins to turn cool, the sparks of brilliantly coloured leaves begin to fade, and the air is filled with the sweet smells of fall: decaying leaves and the slightly acrid smokiness of homes being warmed by log fires, it's time to cook! It's that time of year when I so often get to go outside and say, "Oh, [the Husband]! It smells like Halloween!" (I equate all these delicious fall smells with Halloween, it's a childhood habit I can't quite shake.)

Around here, people take the turning of leaves and the end of harvest quite seriously. A home that stands naked of corn stalks, bales, pumpkins and other fall decorations is an anomaly. Last year, as we expect with this year, we saw more decorations for Halloween and Thanksgiving than we did for Christmas! And all this fall perfectness, while a deafening harbinger of frosty, nope, make that frigid winter days to come, puts me in the mood for comfort food. So today I'm going to share two of my favourite fall recipes with you. In fact, I might decide to share recipes with you more often because as many a blogger would tell you: It's great filler! (har!)

Recipe #1: Hot Apple Cider a la Crockpot
You'll need:
One 1-gallon jug of apple cider (support a local farmer!)
3 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp. each ground allspice and ground cloves (if you're like me and you're having a love affair with cloves - and allspice simultaneously - add a wee bit more)

Directions: Pour the cider into the Crockpot. Add the cinnamon sticks. We don't have anything fine enough to put the ground spices in without them leaking out so I dump them into the middle of a coffee filter and tie up the top with string - but make sure to leave some room for the juice to mingle with the spices in the filter. Set the Crockpot to High and in about an hour, voila, you've got hot spiced cider!

Note: If you don't have access to apple cider, just use a can of frozen apple juice concentrate mixed with FOUR cans of water.

Recipe #2: Creamy Potato Soup
You'll need:
4-6 pretty good sized potatoes, peeled and cubed
2-3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, also chopped
2-3 tsp. chicken or vegetable boullion
1/2 c. Miracle Whip LIGHT
Optional: Milk, bacony bits, shredded cheese, chives.

Directions: Put all your chopped veg in a soup pot. Add the boullion, cover with water and bring to a boil. Continue cooking until all the veggies are completely cooked. Puree in batches in the blender (be extra careful with hot liquids in a blender - or, if you have one, use a hand blender in the pot). Return the soup to the pot, add the Miracle Whip and heat through. If it seems too thick, you can add a bit of milk. This soup is superb with homemade buns or biscuits and it's perfect for a chilly night. ALSO, it's ready in LESS THAN a half hour so bonus points for that!

Note: If you want to reduce the starch content of the potatoes, put them in the pot on their own and cover with water. Let stand for a half hour and rinse thoroughly.

Okay, that's it. Enjoy!

*Pursuant to the code of my snippet of inner optimist, I will admit that this is sentimentally significant being that it'll be the first time the Little Goat will see snow (and be potentially blinded by it).