Celebrate Autumn and
October with these fun ideas for your home and your tummy and browse through the suggested fall reading list.
Make your house smell like Autumn:
Mix in a small pot, add Citrus peels, Whole cloves, Vanilla extract, Cinnamon sticks, Pumpkin Spice to 1 cup water and simmer slowly on the stove top. Be careful not to burn it!!
“Candy Corn” Parfaits
Parfait cups/glasses
Fresh pineapple chunks
Mandarin orange segments
Cool whip, whipped cream, or instant vanilla pudding (already made)
Candy corn for garnish
• Place pineapple chunks in the bottom of each glass.
• Place mandarin orange segments on top of the pineapple.
• Add cool whip, whipped cream, or instant pudding to the top.
• Garnish with a candy corn.
• Serve with a spoon.
Easy Jack-o-lantern Quesadillas
(If you are a kid making this you might need an adult to help cut the tortilla)
For each Quesadilla:
2 Flour tortillas
Grated cheese (cheddar, Mexican combination, marbled cheese, jack cheese, etc.)
Cut a pumpkin stem out of the two tortillas. Cut a Jack-o-lantern face out of one of the tortillas. You may use a toothpick to “draw” the face on the tortilla before cutting it out. Take the tortilla without a face and place on cookie sheet and sprinkle grated cheese on top so it is evenly distributed. Place the tortilla with the face cut out of it on top. Warm in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes until cheese melts and tortilla is golden on the edges.
Variations: spread refried beans or some taco sauce on the tortilla along with the cheese. Or make “pizza” quesadillas by spreading pizza sauce or tomato sauce on the bottom tortilla and sprinkling mozzarella cheese on it.
Dip in ranch dressing or sour cream while eating, if desired.
Apple Slice Monster “Teeth”
Apples
Peanut Butter
Mini marshmallows
Wash and core apples, slice them up
Use 2 apple slices for each snack: Spread peanut butter on one side of 2 apple slices. Place the bottom slice, peanut butter side up and stick about 6 mini marshmallows onto the peanut butter to look like teeth. Place the other apple slice on top with the peanut butter facing down. Now you have a “monster teeth” apple snack. Enjoy!
*For peanut allergies use another appropriate butter or Nutella, You may even use a cheese spread in place of the peanut butter if desired.
Eat within 30 minutes of making to prevent browning.
Pretzel “Bones”
Stick pretzels
Mini marshmallows
White dipping chocolate/coating
Add a mini marshmallow to each end of a small pretzel stick. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Melt white dipping chocolate according to package directions, being careful not to overheat or burn. Dip the pretzel-marshmallow “bones” into the melted chocolate. Place on paper lined cookie sheet to dry and cool.
Spiced Apple Cider #1
1 gallon apple cider (16 cups)
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tsp allspice
Pinch grated nutmeg (*I like freshly grated nutmeg rather than the ground up stuff.)
2 tsp whole cloves
1 Orange
· In a large pot over medium heat, add the apple cider. Stir in the brown sugar, allspice and nutmeg until the sugar is dissolved and bring to a low boil. (If you do not want grainy spice residue in your mug of cider, use a tea ball or some cheesecloth for the spices and hang it in the pot as it simmers. You may add a small piece of cinnamon stick to the spices if you desire.)
· Stick the pointy ends of the cloves into the orange so that just the buds of the cloves are visible. The orange should be evenly covered with the cloves.
· Add the orange to the cider and reduce the heat to simmer. Cover and continue cooking for 20 minutes.
· Remove spices and orange before serving. If simmering more than 20 minutes, remove the orange and the spices or the flavor can get too strong. Serve in warm mugs with a cinnamon stick garnish.
(Basic recipe from foodnetwork.com, slightly modified by me.)
Spiced Apple Cider
#2
(No sugar added recipe)
Use crock pot or simmer in a pot on the stove.
1/2 tsp whole allspice
1 tsp whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
¼ tsp salt (if desired)
1 pinch grated nutmeg (*I like freshly grated nutmeg rather than the ground up stuff)
1 orange cut in quarters
2 quarts cider (8 cups)
Fill cheesecloth with the orange quarters and the spices or fill a tea ball with spices and put the orange quarters into the pot on their own. Simmer until heated through. Remove spices and orange slices before serving in mugs. Remove the orange slices and the spices if you simmer the cider more than 20 minutes or else the flavor may get too strong.
(Basic recipe from allrecipes, slightly modified by me.)
Suggested Fall/ Halloween Reads :
Dracula by Bram Stoker
The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Frankenstein by Mary shelly
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
The Penguin Book of Witches by Katherine Howe
