Scents of Fall

By Betsy Ashton

One of my favorite fall memories is of scents. Smells. Burning leaves. Burning hillsides. Hot soups and stews. Roasts and turkeys and hams and chickens.

Wait a minute. Did she say "burning hillsides." Yes. I grew up in Southern California where the hills are designed by nature to burn. No one should be surprised with the grease-brush covered desert hills burst into flames somewhere every year. Happens. Can't stop it by building in those same hills.

But, this post isn't about burning hillsides. It's about the homey smells that came from my grandmother's and mother's kitchens. As soon as the fall vegetables hit the farm stores and grocery shelves, my grandmother was there, buying every root vegetable in sight. Our counter tops would be laden with potatoes and onions and yams, carrots and celery (alright, celery technically isn't a root vegetable, but it's a soup vegetable), turnips and parsnips and rutabagas. Yellow and green and patty pan squash. Fresh tomatoes for color. Chicken or turkey stock when we had it. Otherwise, just the vegetable stock that came from cooking.

My mother and I peeled and chopped. My grandmother stirred the huge soup pot. Late in the process my grandmother would throw in a handful of barley and rice. No measurements. Just a pinch of this, a dash of that. She didn't know much about seasonings other than salt and pepper, so the flavors of the veggies were the stars of the soup.

When my grandmother passed, my mother took up the knife. And when my mother passed, it was my turn. I start with the same basic vegetables, but I differ in the seasonings. I know from garlic. I know from fresh herbs. Sage. Oregano. Dill. Rosemary. Thyme. No salt. Plenty of fresh pepper. Like a two-finger wide swath that goes from pot edge to pot edge to add a smoky flavor. Chicken stock from an early dinner that's been in the freezer for a few months. Shredded chicken to add substance, fresh cooked. Maybe some kidney beans. Definitely tomato paste and sauce. Maybe some spinach or kale or shredded cabbage. Maybe a handful of pasta.

This weekend is veggie soup weekend. I'll make several gallons, both to eat and to freeze. We'll eat it with crusty bread dipped in the broth. And we'll remember my mother and grandmother with every bite.

Visit Betsy's website at www.betsy-ashton.com 

Better than Pumpkin Pie? Pumpkin Cheesecake! by Jena Galifany

Nothing says holiday to me like Pumpkin Pie. I’m not supposed to really have sugar in my diet but I’m willing to take a chance for Pumpkin Pie. Another great love of mine is Cheesecake. So imagine my joy when I came across this recipe:

Layered Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crust

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

¼ cup butter or margarine, melted

Cheesecake

4 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Heat oven to 300°F. Grease 9-inch spring-form pan with shortening or cooking spray. Wrap foil around pan to catch drips.

In small bowl, mix cracker crumbs and butter. Press crumb mixture in bottom and 1 inch up side of pan. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Cool 5 minutes.

In large bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed just until smooth and creamy; do not overbeat. On low speed, gradually beat in sugar. On low speed, beat in eggs, one at a time, just until blended. Spoon 3 cups of the cream cheese mixture into pan; spread evenly.

Stir pumpkin, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg into remaining cream cheese mixture; mix with wire whisk until smooth. Spoon over mixture in pan.

Bake 1 hour 25 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes or until edges are set but center of cheesecake still jiggles slightly when moved.

Turn oven off; open oven door at least 4 inches. Leave cheesecake in oven 30 minutes longer. Remove from oven; place on cooling rack. (NOTE: I have found that if you don’t want the cheesecake to crack, leave it in the oven until the oven is completely cooled. The drastic temperature change is what makes it crack.)

Without releasing side of pan, run knife around edge of pan to loosen cheesecake. Cool in pan on cooling rack 30 minutes. Cover loosely; refrigerate at least 6 hours but no longer than 24 hours.

Run knife around edge of pan to loosen cheesecake again; carefully remove side of pan. Place cheesecake on serving plate. Store cheesecake covered in the refrigerator.

I would suggest making this wonderful dessert the day before. Top it with whipped cream and indulge.

_______________________________

I hope you will consider checking out my books available from Whiskey Creek Press and Red Rose Publishing. To see all of my books in one place, and read excerpts, stop by my WEBSITE.

Clive Hanson is destined to be a comfort to those traveling the rocky road of life. He does his best work on Christmas Eve.

Emily Ann Brewster wishes for one wonderful evening spent with a friend. What she gets is stuck in an elevator with a strange gentleman. And it's Christmas Eve.

What he does,and what she needs, is a miracle.

My short holiday story will lift your heart. At only $.99, it will make a great gift and a great way to begin your holiday season. Buy it at Red Rose Publishing. 

May you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and a blessed holiday season!

Cheers!

COOKING MEMORIES

We are suppose to share our recipes this month—a great time for it with Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the corner. There is just one little issue with me writing about cooking...I don't cook. No, really. I don't. I cook one time a year...Christmas. My hubby cooks most of the time.

It's our little agreement when I began writing in earnest. I still have a regular forty hour a week job besides my writing. So, hubby agreed to take over the cooking. Never was my forte...cooking that is. Goes back to my youth.

When I was growing up, Momma went back to school to finish her degree in teaching. My sister and I took turns cooking supper while she was at class. Now, my sister-she can cook! I mean she makes anything melt in your mouth. Great cook. Me...not so much. My cooking is legendary in my family with my brothers bouncing my biscuits off the patio, my scrambled salmon patties (don't ask)... the list could go on and on until it was decided I would be better cleaning up after supper.

It's not that I can't cook, I just don't enjoy it except on special occasions. I do love to bake. So I thought I would share my recipe for chocolate pie.

Chocolate Pie

1 c. of milk                     1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs yolks                   1 baked pie shell
2 Tbsp. cornstarch         2 egg whites
1 Tbsp. vanilla               1/8 tsp. salt
1 c. sugar                      4 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. cocoa               1/2 tsp. vanilla

Combine sugar, cornstarch and cocoa. Beat egg yolks and combine with milk. Mix together and cook over low heat until thickened. Pour into cool pie shell. Make meringue by beating egg whites until stiff. add salt, sugar and vanilla to pie with meringue and bake at 300 degrees until brown.

Now would be a great time to promote one of my books where one of my characters was cooking...don't have one of those scenes. What I do have is a great new release...one of my favorite books I've written
Another Night Falls, the third book in the Tides of Charleston Series...it has it all, intrigues, adventure and romance...

A love to die for...

AMAZON, BARNES AND NOBLE, WCP

Sumner Meador walked in a world of wealth and privilege as part of Charles Town’s elite, but that was years ago. Now he fights in the Southern backwoods driven by the passion he holds for the Patriot cause, shadowed by his past. Reeling from a devastating defeat at the hands of the British, Sumner seeks haven at his farm, only to find an interloper—an unwelcome and unwanted distraction. He has no time for the young woman or the complications she brings with her, but soon discovers he has no option but to give aid to the stubborn, courageous beauty whether she wants it or not.

A widower, Sumner has been haunted by the death of his wife and is consumed with a desire for revenge.
Jane Kilmer has been violently thrust into the midst of the civil war ensuing in the backwoods. Hiding from one of the most dangerous vigilantes, Jane trusts no one. Suddenly, she has no choice but to put her life in Sumner’s hands. Both desire revenge, but neither wants what happens—to fall completely, undeniably in love with each other—so much so, that both are willing to die for the other. And they might have to.