When the calendar turns the page to October, my pumpkin spirit takes over my life. My favorite color is orange and my favorite season is fall so I come for my love of pumpkins naturally. My kids won’t admit it but if I didn’t decorate, even though they are in college and on their own, they would be saaaad. They would. I know it.
So, in keeping with my enthusiasm for the season, I am sharing a few of my favorite fall recipes. Hope you enjoy them.
My girlfriend Gina, from Exira Iowa, has always shared her hometown favorites and they never disappoint. Usually, they are handed down from generation to generation, but this one is plain and simple and I doubt her Grandma Beck would approve of this cut the corners, “too easy,” box recipe but it sure is good.
2 Ingredient Pumpkin Pound Cake – with or without a sugar glaze
One box of yellow cake mix (your favorite brand)
One can (15 oz.) of pumpkin puree
Mix the two ingredients with a mixer for 2 minutes and pour into a prepared pan. (I use aluminum pans so I can cook them, let them cool and then deliver them to my friends.)
Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes. Every oven varies so check it at 25 minutes and go from there.
Drizzle with your favorite powder sugar icing if you wish.
That’s it – so easy!
Steel Cut Oats with Maple Syrup
I recently purchased an Instapot and I am the only one that has managed to clog the valve up with oatmeal. I know I did something wrong, but my point is, when I can do it correctly, it makes the best oatmeal. I tend to have a patience problem and cooking steel cut oats over the stove doesn’t always work out for me when I’m trying to get ready in the morning. I toss some oats into my Instapot (follow the directions), add maple syrup, cinnamon and raisins or berries and I feel like I’m in Vermont at my favorite B&B.
Nothing fancy – that simple!
Butternut Squash Soup
This soup is my all-time favorite taste of fall. It is creamy and soothing and when the temps are cool, just the right comfort food to set a fall mood. Sip from your favorite mug or eat it with a spoon.
You can also make this in your Instapot but I haven’t made it personally so I won’t risk sharing a recipe I have not tried myself. Here is mine …
½ a yellow onion (cut in small pieces)
One butternut squashed peeled (or a box of cut up squash from your grocer – this is what I use)
3 carrots (cut in small slices)
4 cups vegetable broth
2 cups apple cider (or apple juice)
One can pumpkin puree
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. curry
¼ tsp. nutmeg
¼ tsp. allspice
Brown sugar to taste (I like more than less – ¼ cup)
Pepper – sprinkle to taste
Heavy cream
Butter or olive oil
Sauté onions and carrots in a stock pot. Add cider, broth, squash and spices and simmer until squash is soft. Remove from heat and add the rest of the ingredients. Use a hand mixer or a blender and puree, adding heavy cream as the last step. Serve in a bowl with a few pumpkin seeds in the middle of the soup.
You may also like Diane’s Fall Entertaining Bucket List. For more of Diane’s etiquette tips, read her posts on Inc., subscribe to her articles on Huff Post, “like” The Protocol School of Texas on Facebook, and follow her on Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter. Buy her new book, Modern Etiquette for a Better Life.
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