Fall Kickoff

Oh, fall. I always greet this time of year with one part trepidation, one part excitement, and one part just flat out dread. Trepidation because I know that the days are going to start getting cooler, shorter, etc, and my pool days and tan are long gone. I love summer. Excitement because of all the lovely new fall clothes, the beauty of God's creation when all the leaves change, and fall foods (cider, chili, all that good stuff). Dread because I know two inescapable truths about fall - winter comes right after it, and I will be bombarded with recipes for pumpkin everything under the sun. And there are some things that pumpkin should just stay out of. 

Despite my general ambivalence - I actually get pretty excited about fall. So many things I love happen during the fall, and the opportunities to decorate are rivaled only by Christmas (which I love). We hope in the next few weeks to share with you some of our favorite things about fall. I've heard some of the upcoming ideas - you will want to see these. Trust me. 

I'm going to start with two of my favorite, easiest recipes. And yes - the first one is pumpkin. Insert collective groan. I know. We are all pumpkin-ed out. This one is good, though. I make this before I make anything else pumpkin-y. 

It's super easy, and takes very simple ingredients. 

Spice cake mix, a can of pumpkin, and chocolate chips. We are going to make pumpkin chocolate chip muffins!!  I think originally this may have been a Weight Watcher recipe, but I'm not sure. Also - this can be switched up for variety - works with a yellow cake mix instead of spice, or apple pie filling instead of the pumpkin and chocolate chips. Use your imagination.... But also use your head. No cherry cake mixes and pumpkin, or anything wacky like that. 

Anyway, I digress. 

Dump cake and pumpkin in a bowl, stir until it is well combined and looks like this:

Dump in chocolate chips. I used about a cup, because that was what was left in my bag. Use more if you'd like. I won't tell. Stir. 

Next, divide between 12 muffin cups. 

Bake at 350 for about 22-25 minutes, until they aren't totally squishy at the top. 

These are usually gone within 24 hours at my house. They are moist and taste like pumpkin pie in a muffin. 

Second recipe - I'm sharing because this time of year, roasts go back on sale at the store, and I love the combo of roasts and my crockpot. I got this recipe from Emily originally, but have tweaked to my own taste. 

Italian Beef

You will need a crockpot, a roast (or two, depending on how many you are feeding - and just buy whatever is cheapest, it all will be amazing after cooking for hours), sliced pepperocini peppers, and two packages of Zesty Italian salad dressing mix. 

This is really the easiest thing ever. 

Put the roast in the bottom of the crockpot, dump the whole jar of pepperocinis - juice and all!!!!!! - on top of the roast. 

Sprinkle the dressing mix on top of it. Then set your crockpot on low, and just let it do its magic. I would say at least 8-10 hours. But I almost always go longer. I made this one for a basket dinner at church - so I cooked it about 10 hours overnight and another 2-3 at church. The longer it cooks, the more tender it is. 

This is what it will look like - and it will smell so good, you'll be sampling it before you put it on the table. I usually shred mine, serve it on crusty bread with a little provolone. But it is also good on its own. I promise if you take it to share with others, you WILL get asked for the recipe. I always do. 

Enjoy your fall!!!

-k-