What Was Cooking In October

Fall is such a wonderful time to get into the kitchen and prepare delicious, sweet-smelling foods. I know these blog posts probably start to sound repetitive year after year, but I can't help it; certain recipes have become ingrained holiday traditions in our home, and we wouldn't have it any other way. For the last several years, my fall projects have become like clockwork: home canning in September and October; pumpkin bread and Thanksgiving savories in November; and holiday cookies and treats in December.

But of course, we haven't quite gotten to November and December yet, so let's take a look at some of the October goodies I cooked up, and the occasion behind each!

My home canning adventures continued throughout the month of October, whenever I could fit them in. I'd already done quite a bit of canning back in late August and early September, as I rushed to preserve our Apple Annie's fruits and vegetables. This year, I already had two different kinds of salsas, peaches, pears, and jam under my belt, thanks to Apple Annie's. But the one thing I hadn't canned yet was applesauce (ironic, given how many apples we brought home from Apple Annie's!). Applesauce is my family's favorite home-canned food, so I couldn't skip out on it.

I waited through September and part of October for a really good sale on apples at our local Sprouts store. Then Fall Break got really busy and I almost forgot to keep checking the sale flyers. Luckily, I noticed a big sale on Jonagold apples near the end of the month. I'd never canned Jonagolds before; however, Jonathan apples are my favorite apples to use in applesauce, and I reasoned that Jonagolds would have a similar flavor.

This year, I invited a couple of friends over to help slice up the apples and see how the canning was done. One of them was a canning "newbie" who wants to try canning but hasn't yet worked up the courage. It was fun to chat with them while working, and with their help I was able to get three batches of applesauce done that day, using up the majority of my Jonagolds.

The end result wasn't quite what I'd hoped for, but still pretty tasty. The applesauce had a nice rosy color, similar to my Jonathan applesauce, but the taste was much sweeter than what I was expecting. That was mildly disappointing, as I really like my applesauce a bit tart. However, I'm sure the family will still enjoy it when it comes time to crack these jars open.

 

Oh, yeah, and I made some apple butter too! I will likely give most of these jars away as gifts this holiday season...but we have still reserved a little for ourselves. The kids are finally getting a taste for apple butter as their taste buds get more sophisticated; Lorelai has been asking for it on her toast for the last several breakfasts.

At the same time I bought the apples, I also bought a bunch of plums to can. I'd canned a few jars a couple of years ago, and at the time the girls raved non-stop about how delicious they were. I'd always loved canned plums as a kid, myself, so I thought it was time to make more! So of course, after canning several jars, none of the kids ever want to have any. Grr. Oh well, at least the plums aren't going to spoil any time soon; hopefully the kids' taste buds will rediscover their love for plums in the future.

There was one Activity Days event at my home in October, and cookie decorating was involved. Lots of cookie decorating.

 

My partner, Rosemary, baked a few dozen spice cookies. Then I made a bunch of pumpkin-colored icing and bought some candy to make jack o'lantern faces, and voila! The girls had a lot of fun making a huge variety of faces.

I made one batch of the cookies myself, and thought they were delicious! I'd expected them to be boring sugar cookies, but they had a nice rich spicy flavor, and they were not too crumbly either. I saved the recipe and will definitely make them again sometime.

This was a busy Activity Day! We also made these cute little plaques that featured a quote from the LDS Proclamation to the Family. They will be great for hanging in each girl's home.

Last but not least, I made each of the girls a caramel apple to take home that night.

I was being a huge over-achiever! I had better pace myself, so I don't burn out on Activity Days too soon.

As many of you probably know, my birthday is in late October; since my kids have started school, I have always had to fight for my birthday to get attention, since it falls right in the midst of all the Halloween craziness. This year, my birthday fell on a weekend, so we went up to Tucson as a family and went out to lunch at one of my favorite restaurants.

US Fries specializes in poutine, a delicious Canadian dish that is basically fries smothered in gravy and cheese curds. US Fries takes that base recipe and modifies it in a few dozen ways, mostly by adding different combinations of meat and/or vegetables to the top of the fries. It might sound sloppy and disgusting and highly caloric...and it is! But darned if it isn't delicious, too.

After stuffing myself on French fries, I decided to go all in on my birthday weekend and eat obscene amounts of birthday cake...

Pumpkin shown for scale, not to indicate cake flavor...it's carrot cake, guys! Really!

I was feeling ambitious this year, and made a carrot cake with a white-chocolate/cream cheese frosting. It was very fancy and delicious. I didn't have a formal birthday party (perhaps that can wait until next year, when I turn the big 4-0), but I did invite several friends over to have some cake. It was nice to sit and visit for a few minutes with people I don't get to see as often as I used to.

My gorging wasn't done yet, though! Halloween week had plenty of cooking adventures. For our ward's trunk or treat, I cooked up a huge pot of chili (not pictured) and cornbread (also not pictured; it was pretty dark at that trunk or treat, you know!). Then, after school let out on Friday the 30th, I invited several families over for a Halloween luncheon. It wasn't a "party" like the one I put together last year; it was just an opportunity for people to come over and hang out and eat food that wasn't candy!

Everyone who came brought lots of yummy treats. I made the bubbling witches' brew (thanks to some dry ice I'd purchased on the way home!), and I also made some bread sticks with marinara sauce as dip. Everyone got very full on all the goodies. The kids put in a movie, the adults hung out and talked...it was all very relaxed and free-form. My kind of get-together!

Then, of course, there was Halloween itself...but that's a blog post for another day.