It is officially fall as of September 22. I love this season. Actually, I love all the seasons! I am always ready for the next one just about the time it starts to arrive. In the spring I can’t wait for the warm weather of summer. The time when I can finally open my windows and leave them open for the next several months. Then at the end of summer, I am ready for cooler temperatures, crunchy leaves and I get in the mood to do some baking…pumpkin muffins…apple pie. By the time Thanksgiving comes around, I am excited about seeing the first snowflake. And of course, by the end of winter, I am really ready for spring. The seasons change and I have learned to just anticipate the good things about each one.
With cooler temperatures just around the corner, I have already had my cookbooks out looking for some new recipes. I found a really interesting book about the Amish that has recipes that follow a seasonal theme. The book is simply called The Amish Cook at Home and is written by Lovina Eicher, an Amish woman with 8 children, so her recipes are just right for my family. The book is divided into seasons and she talks about the family’s traditions for each time of year. She shares about gardening in the spring and summer and about harvesting and canning in the fall. She also talks about how they celebrate each holiday with special activities and recipes. In between the recipes, she tells about the everyday life of her family and includes historical information about the Amish life.
Another good book for fall baking is The Pillsbury Healthy Baking Book. It contains some great recipes for making muffins, quick breads and yeast breads. I like this cookbook because the recipes are designed to be lower in fat than the traditional ones. The book contains more than 200 recipes and each one has nutritional information included. The first section is cookie recipes and when I was looking at it yesterday, my youngest son came and looked over my shoulder. His first words were “Ohhh, cookies!” So I guess we will be trying some of those recipes soon!
Enjoy!
Happy baking,
–Sheryl