What's a better way to celebrate fall (and anything really) than food?? We've been cooking up fall goodies since the end of August, and we want to inspire you! Here are some of our favorite fall drinks, fall breakfasts, fall dinners, and fall baking ideas:
favorite fall drink ideas
Pumpkin Pie Cold Brew Latte: I talked about this one on the 'Fall Purist List', but every morning I've been making this drink just by mixing Trader Joes instant cold brew, Torani pumpkin pie syrup, Target's pumpkin pie spice, and milk. So simple, but so fall (and highly caffeinated defending on the generosity of your scoop!).
Easy apple cider: This one takes a super long time on the stove, but it also serves a second purpose of a producing the most amazing fall scents while it cooks. We made it on a lazy Sunday, and it catapulted us right into the season. One warning - don't turn the heat on too high. Caramelized cider may sound good... but trust me, it's not.
favorite fall breakfast ideas
Trader Joes pumpkin pancakes: They may just be out of the box... but WOW these were incredible. Potentially best pancake mix out there. And they are gluten-free too! Note - we did the melted butter in the batter (instead of oil) and would highly recommend. We were also liberal with the butter on the skillet, so that only added to the texture and flavor. Just the right density and the flavor was perfect.
Egg in the Skull: First of all, you need this. Like not just for this recipe, but for your life. And then for the recipe, you'll also also need some English muffins and some eggs. The process is pretty fool-proof. You just half the English muffin, tear a modest hole in the middle, and then put it on the waffle maker and crack the egg into the small hole. Shut the top, and it will overflow to create that skull on the top. Every one will be a little different, which makes it super fun.
favorite fall dinner ideas
One of my kids caught a whiff of cinnamon the other day and said "oh yeah this is what is in all our food right now"... which is when I really knew I'd been going above and beyond with these fall dishes. lol. Here are some of the faves (which I'll keep adding to):
Crockpot Butternut Squash Soup: Just like it sounds - this recipe is easy and simply delicious. It requires some serious chopping (like WHY are butternut squashes so good but also the WORST thing in the world to peel and chop? WHY.). We served ours with a big slice of baked and buttered bread. Yum!
Orecchiette with Pancetta, Pumpkin, Broccoli Rabe: This is my front runner right now. Other than adding a bit more olive oil at the end, this recipe as it is written is perfect.
Penne-wise Pumpkin Penne: An oldie but a goodie recipe for us. It's super simple, which is maybe also why the kids adore it. :/ We make it several times each fall, and we haven't gotten tired of it yet! If you're meat eaters, we love to chop up an apple turkey sausage and put it on the top of each bowl as some extra protein too.
Brown Butter Squash Ravioli: Alright we made this one up. And not until I googled the main ingredient just now (to get it exactly right you on the blog) did I realize that a LOT of people are making up their own recipes for this Costco Butternut Squash Ravioli. So in comparison, our recipe was pretty simple - a sage and pancetta brown butter sauce. You brown the butter, add the pressed garlic and pancetta cubs, then add the sage the last couple minutes... then of course - cheese on the top. All the freshly shredded cheese.... and there you have it. A super simple but delicious topping for this pre-made (and fast cooking) ravioli on a weeknight.
One Pan Fall Pork Chops: This recipe is super easy (one baking dish is all you need!) and super fall. Apples and maple syrup? Yup!
Baked Fish with Fall Veggies: We paired these Fall Roasted Vegetables with a baked sea bass from Costco and wow. Awesome!! That baked sea bass can be made to fit any season, so we try to keep it in the rotation whenever it's available!
favorite fall dessert ideas
Easy Pumpkin Bread: OK there are a lot of options out there in the world for fall baking, but this year's new try for me was the Trader Joe's boxed Pumpkin Bread. (Yup another box recipe for the win!) I accidentally made it in a cake pan, but that meant it was quicker to cook and still delicious. We have one child that embarrasses me with his picky eating (especially bc he was such a foodie as a baby... kills me.), and he thought this was 'too spicy'. But all the other kids (including our 2 year old) gobbled it up and asked for seconds... so I'm saying this was a hit.
Sheet Pan Caramel Apples: This one requires no baking, and it brings the joy of caramel apples without all the mess (still mess, but not as bad as the actual caramel apples). Our oldest could do this almost by themselves... and you can tell from the picture (which isn't nearly as cute as the source blog recipe here), that they did do it basically all by themselves! :) They also ate about a third of the candy along the way... but it's part of the joy, right?? And another fun idea is to get really creative with toppings (we stuck mostly to chocolate candies) like nuts, pretzels... go for it!
Pumpkin (Shaped) Cake: Not sure if this really counts, but we love an excuse to make a double-layer cake at home... and did you know how easy it is to make a pumpkin double-layer cake? You can basically make two round cakes (one for each layer) and leave a little leftover to cook alongside the cakes in a mini loaf pan. And then you slide the loaf sideways down the middle (so it can be a double layer too), and shave a little bit of that loaf to make it look more like a stem than a rectangle... ta da! And the thing that makes it super fun in our house is this... we got this for our budding chef's birthday, and we don't use it every day, but it sure is fun when we have an excuse to pull it out!
There you have it - a handful of our favorite fall foods! Enjoy!
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