Happy Almost Fall!

Lately we have caught the fever–the fall fever! We are still more than a month away from the first day of fall and even then, here in the deep south, it’ll be a while before those crisp, cool days make their appearance. So yesterday we had a “Let’s-Pretend-It’s-Fall” day! Nothing extravagant, just a few autumnal pleasures to tide us over for the rest of summer.

We lit a deliciously-scented apple candle and whipped up some pumpkin muffins with butterscotch chips.

I found some fall cupcake liners left from last year.

I’ve been on a detox diet this summer so, sadly, no muffins for this mama. BUT, I did stir some pureed pumpkin and maple syrup into my steel cut oats and it was pretty tasty.

My son is growing pumpkins to sell this fall so after breakfast he went out to water his pumpkin patch. No pumpkins yet, but at the rate these plants are growing, I told him it won’t be long before he starts to find little baby pumpkins popping up!

Throughout the middle of the day there was just no denying it was still summer. The kids played soccer and rode bikes and were dripping with sweat. But then we cranked down the AC and moved on to our fall dinner.

We finished the day with one of our favorite fall meals–Creamy Tomato Soup! This is the BEST tomato soup I’ve ever eaten. I got the recipe from my friend Missy who got it from our friend Melissa. Don’t you love those recipes that get passed around after being tested by all the good cooks you know! You must try this one! It’s creamy, warm, and filling for those chilly evenings. I often double the recipe so we can eat on it for a couple of more days. I added a Caesar salad and some crusty baguette. (We usually put the croutons on our soup but put them on our salads this time.)

Here’s my tweaked version since I can’t have dairy, sugar, or bread. Boo. I scooped a bowl for myself before adding the cream and sugar to the pot. It was actually still very delicious, but I will look forward to having the cream back in when I make this again in the fall.

For dessert, what could say fall more than an apple crisp! That little one is mine with apples, maple syrup, and oats, because I can’t have the gluten, sugar, or butter right now. It kind of looks sad in this photo, doesn’t it? But it was still pretty good.

Happy Almost Fall, Y’all!