Happy Autumn!

I have been collecting fun fall activities and ways to celebrate the new season instead of mourning the sun that is oh so quickly fading away. Here's what I've collected and brainstormed so far. I'd love to hear more ideas!

walk through Discovery Park
use mulling spices
make baked apples
go out for coffee dates
eat soups and potatoes
make hot cocoa mix
eat oatmeal
shop for scarves
eat stew
rotate summer clothes to the back of the closet
winterize the apartment (the only thing this involved for us was dumping our dead plants out of the pots, but okay)
eat stew
pretend it's Christmas for an evening (don't judge me!)
make cider
find a recipe to make chai tea from scratch
decorate with leaves :)
make Molly's pumpkin cream cheese roll cake
buy ridiculous rainboots
pull out the blankets and throws
keep windows shiny to let lots of light in!
get library movies to snuggle up to on dark nights (can you tell we're on a budget?)
take long late-afternoon walks and intentionally walk through crispy leaves

Happy Fall, ladies! :)

A harvest-worthy meal

Don't you just love the days when all the new recipes you make turn out wonderfully and all the food just tastes soooo good?!? Tonight's dinner kind of came together last minute. One of our family friends that lives down in Longview has a farm and they sent home some yummy produce for us with my mother. I received beautiful cucumbers, the most yummy tomatoes, a squash, some cute green peppers, and some fresh ears of corn. Wanting to make sure none of it went to waste, I put together dinner around some if it. We had corn on the cob, a delicious shrimp pasta salad, and creamy cucumbers. Oh creamy cucumbers. This is a true North Dakota recipe, passed down from my mom. It is comfort food for me. The whole meal all put together reminded me of a harvest meal.

When I was young girl and we still lived in ND, I can remember my mother, grandma and aunt taking lunch and dinner out to the men in the fields. You had a CB in your kitchen to talk to you husband out in the truck or on the combine :) Yummy meals, that were filling and of course easier to transport!

In case you want to try it, here is the very simple creamy cucumber recipe:
In a medium bowl, mix 1/2 C mayo 3 T milk 2t white vinegar 2 t sugar and pepper to taste. Peel and slice about 3 cucumbers and add to mix, tossing to coat. That's it, yummy!

Now, if I had a jello salad of some kind, I would have had an authentic harvest meal!