We are entering my favorite time of the year. I love the promise of cooler weather, even if
in Louisiana, we don’t actually experience the cooler weather. My husband always announces at the first of
September, “Thank goodness, only two more months of summer!” An exaggeration, I hope, although the
weatherman has been hinting at temperatures that could approach 100 degrees in
some parts of the Ark-La-Tex this week.
Even in the Deep South, fall rituals arrive whether
Louisiana is in synch weather-wise or not. For instance, it’s football time in the
SEC! I have to admit I enjoy watching
college football on Saturdays. The roar
of the crowd takes me back to Volunteer days, attending football games at the
University of Tennessee. After the game,
friends would often come to our on-campus apartment to eat supper. Anyone who drove to the game wanted to wait for
the traffic to clear and restaurants were packed. My ex-husband and I were too poor to offer
anything other than spaghetti to a hungry crowd of twenty-something graduate
students, but no one complained. Now my husband
Ricky and I watch college football from the comfort of our recliners, cheering for
our favorite teams while we snack on Earl Campbell sausage.
I have other fall rituals.
I love fall magazines, full of pumpkins, gourds, autumn leaves, and the
colors of fall. I like fall festivals
and holidays, Halloween and Thanksgiving.
I have a few decorations that say
fall is here. There’s a small Mickey
Mouse Dracula snow globe and witches and crones and black cat decorations and
noise makers and jack-o-lanterns. Some
would say I’ve fully embraced my inner child.
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| Gourd Jack-o-lantern |
For Thanksgiving, I’m such a turkey, I have a turkey
collection.
No matter what the outside temperatures are, the hint of
fall sends me into the kitchen to cook. Sometimes
I try recipes found in magazines. Last
week I made the Creamy Polenta with Mushrooms and Collards from the October Country Living magazine. Here is the recipe from the magazine. Everyone who tasted it seemed to like
it.
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| Creamy Polenta with Mushrooms and Collards |
I still have frozen blueberries from the summer, so I’ve
made two batches of blueberry muffins and one of banana blueberry muffins.
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| Blueberry Banana Muffin |
We harvested the last of our green peppers, so naturally I fixed
stuffed peppers for supper.
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| Peppers from our trough garden |
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| Stuffed Peppers |
I’m not boasting of any culinary talents here. I’m just
having fun anticipating the return of cooler weather and enjoying my annual
rites that welcome autumn’s arrival, which will be here—someday,
eventually, just wait for it….it’s on its way.
