A Triptych of Fall Favorites

Oh, how I love the Fall.

And it is not only because of my October birthday (ahem! 40 years young this year!) although one’s birthday does lend a festive tone to any season.

More than that, it’s the color.

It’s the crisp, Fall air on a Sunday afternoon.

It’s the baking.

And finally, it’s the feast days!

So here, then, is a triptych of Fall favorites, chez ma maison. It was hard to limit myself to just three! (But then, I’ve a sanguine temperament. Setting limits is always good for me.) I apologize in advance for any link overlappage. Great minds think alike…and the rest of us just copy! (Oh, how scandalous to even imply that.)

My 3 Big Seasonal Favorites are as follows…

I. As many of you have already noted, so many lovely feast days occur in the Fall months. Oh, but it’s true! My personal favorites include:

September 29th, the feast of the mighty Archangels;

October 1st, the feast of St. Therese the Little Flower;

October 2nd (my birthday!), the feast of the Holy Guardian Angels;

and October 4th, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, which is an extra special feast because it’s when we found out we were expecting our son Stephen and on the same day participated in a Pro-Life march in Boston.

And then there is October 7th, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. I could go and on about how I love this Feast day. Suffice it to say it’s a party! Beginning with Mass and ending with, well, I don’t know what yet. Stay tuned.

October 16th is the feast of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (my patron). She is so very cool because a) she was French (hee); and b) she was the recipient of such an important revelation. I don’t know about you, but I need to meditate on the unconditional Love of God. It’s not something we ambitious types can earn.

And finally, the culmination of the season, really, is the very awesome & very fun feast of All the Saints, followed by the solemn dignity of the feast of All Souls. Dust off those costumes! Pick a cemetery to visit! (Don’t forget: you get a plenary indulgence when you do.)

A little planning goes a long way in the Fall. There is just so much you can do with all these feast days! And the nice thing is that the stores are all full of costumes and accessories to assist you in your efforts!

Here are just a few ideas and links. I’m sure you all have many more projects waiting on your shelves at home and certainly these ideas aren’t super original, but they’re included here for your linking convenience.

· Making Angel Food cake, naturally!
· The Real Learning Forum, which has a ton of stuff on the Archangels.
· Any of the ideas listed on the Catholic Culture website.
· Any of the ideas listed on the Women of Faith website, e.g. these. (Kudos to Danielle Bean, by the way, for introducing me to this wonderful website!)
· Our Lady’s Rosary Makers
· Seasonal crafts from EnchantedLearning.com
· Any of the books recommended for the Fall months in Catholic Mosaic.
· Any of the books recommended on all your sidebars!

II. Of course, any one of the above feasts could be celebrated in conjunction with an apple orchard outting. I know that apple orchards are a hugely popular theme of both blogs and scrapbook pages across the nation. Who can resist them? Tractor rides, hay bale mazes, fresh doughnuts & cider…and of course there are all those yummy apples.

Even the names of the apples are enticing: Oriole, Keepsake, Fireside, Honeycrisp, Wealthy, Beacon, Sweet Sixteen, Honeygold and Centennial…

Our trip to the apple orchard is one of the highlights of the season and is well worth the mass exodus that it represents for our gang.

III. Finally, with the advent of Autumn comes the baking. I love Fall baking. There are few things that can rival the smell of a cinnamon-laden apple pie & pumpkin muffins fresh from the oven. These are my two very favorite Fall recipes. They are easy and delicious!

Crunchy Caramel Apple Pie

This recipe was the winner of the “Apple Pie of Emeril’s Eye” contest on Good Morning America in 2001. This pie is such a keeper. I make it every year, including last year when it was my birthday “cake” and I forget to let it cool before adding the colorful wax candles (which of course melted all over the place). “Look!” my kids were delighted. “It’s an M&M pie!”

Ingredients

1 pastry crust for a deep-dish pie (store-bought is fine)
1/2 C. sugar
3 T. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
salt to taste
6 C. thinly-sliced peeled apples
1 recipe crumb topping
1/2 C. chopped pecans (toasted for extra flavor)
1/4 C. caramel topping

Ingredients for Crumb Topping

1 C. packed brown sugar
1/2 C. all-purpose flower
1/2 C. quick cooking oats
1/2 C. butter

Directions for Crumb Topping

1. Stir together brown sugar, flour & and oats.

2.Cut in butter until topping is like coarse crumbs. Set aside.

Directions for pie

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt

2. Add apple slices and gently toss until coated.

3. Transfer apple mixture to the pie shell.

4. Sprinkle crumb topping over apple mixture.

5. Place pie on a cookie sheet so that it doesn’t bubble over into your oven.

6. Cover edges of pie with aluminum foil.

7. Bake in a pre-heated 375-degree oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil and put back for another 25 to 30 minutes (until crust is golden but not too dark).

8. Remove from oven. Sprinkle pie with chopped pecans and drizzle with caramel.

9. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy warm or at room temperature, a la mode or no! (Although apple pie & vanilla bean ice cream is a must around here!)

Double Chip Pumpkin Muffins

I found this recipe in a Bed & Breakfast cookbook that we stayed at in Duluth. I had the best time just sitting in that lovely room copying down recipes while my husband read Butchering Deer on the bed. It was such a Mars/Venus moment.

This recipe makes two dozen.

Ingredients

3 C. flour
2 C. sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. salt

4 eggs
1 can pumpkin puree
6 T. butter, melted
1/2 C. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 C. white chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffin tins.
2. Combine dry ingredients. Set aside.
3. Beat eggs slightly. Stir in pumpkin puree, butter & chips. Blend well.
4. Stir in dry ingredients just until moistened.
5. Bake 20-25 minutes.

Have a Happy Fall! I would like to wish you the most joy-filled & cozy of Autumns. May your family be drawn together ever closer by your activities, and may God’s richest blessings be yours throughout the season.