Flavors of the Fall

Evening everyone! With the official start of fall just a day and a half away, I thought I’d do a little fall decorating this afternoon.

This made me wonder – Fall is my favorite time of year, but what was my favorite thing about the Fall? Well, there are so many things that I love about the Fall that it’s hard to choose just one thing – so, I made a list!

Jen’s 10 Fall Faves:

1. Watching the leaves changing colors
2. Changing my signature Spring/Summer drink – a Starbucks Frap – to a Starbucks skinny vanilla latte
3. Wearing my Fall sweaters and Gap jeans
4. Listening to my Fall transition music – James Taylor’s Greatest Hits
5. Cheering for Big Ten Football
6. Running in much cooler weather
7. Picking pumpkins and gourds
8. Eating fresh cider donuts from the cider mill
9. Watching Fall classics like It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
10. Finally being able to put up Fall decorations!

So, my question to you is – what is your favorite thing about the Fall?

Scott’s parents came over this afternoon and stayed for dinner. And, an amazing dinner it was!

We started out with some multigrain crackers and white cheddar cheese… 

And with it, we had some vino…

I don’t drink very often, but when I do, it’s usually wine. Tonight, my father-in-law brought a new wine over from Trader Joe’s…

This was a very different type of wine than I’d ever had. It was a mixture of several different kinds of wine…

As you can see, it was such an unusual wine that I had to try a glass. It was pretty smooth and had a good flavor, especially for being on the less expensive side of wines.

For dinner, we had my husband’s famous minestrone soup! He makes a huge batch of the soup about once a season and it’s usually when we have people over for dinner. I have not received the ok from my husband on whether or not I can reveal his secret recipe, but I can tell you that it requires a ton of vegetables!

Along with our very warm and tasty soup, we had fresh 12-grain bread for dipping…

We dipped the bread in our soup and in olive oil mixed with balsamic vinegar with added spices and parmesan cheese..

The balsamic vinegar was actually from Gourmè Mist. A few weeks ago, the company had sent me several samples of their olive oil and vinegar misters to try. I am happy to report that the balsamic vinegar mister was fantastic!

It had a great flavor, was easy to use, and the mister was a very clever way of adding just a hint of balsamic taste to the dipping oil. Can’t wait to try this on a salad!

For dessert, my father-in-law made homemade “apple slices”, which is a cross between an apple pie and apple strudel…

This was my first time having this dish and it was so yummy! We paired it with Breyer’s Vanilla Bean ice cream – ok, can this get any better?

After that fabulous dessert, I am happy to report that dinner (and the food) had finally ended. I seriously don’t think I could eat anymore and I only had one bowl of soup!

I have an early day tomorrow, so I’m ready to turn in for the night.

Have a great night everyone!