I just happen to love fall. It might be that because I was born in the fall I was rewarded with a celebration so I was trained to love it like Pavlov’s dog. Or it could have been the fun of Halloween and trick-ortreating that made this a favorite time of year but I think it’s in my blood to appreciate the calmness of fall. Growing up we were very busy throughout the summer cutting grass, picking berries, planting trees, swimming at Temperance, cutting wood…always something to do, organize or clean. I guess the fall season is a better pace for me. Everything slows down, the days are shorter, the weather is just about perfect, and the world is rich with the smell of falling leaves.
If someone told me I had to stay home each and every day of the fall season, I swear on a stack of Bibles I would be in seventh heaven. I would read, go for walks through the woods, make soup, and bake bars. For some reason cake bars and fall are a perfect combination. (It’s true we can indulge a little bit in cake and cream cheese frosting because it’s sweater weather!)
When I was about 10 or so I started digging through my mom’s recipe box and I learned to make bars. We didn’t bake a lot in the summer because our house was not air-conditioned and you didn’t want to light the oven more than you had to. In the fall, throwing some banana bread or bars in the oven was just enough warmth to hold off lighting the wood stove another day or two. One fall I went through a crazy cake phase that led to my family groaning at the sight of the cake pan coming out of the oven.
Mike and I just spent a wonderful weekend in Bayfield, Wisconsin. We were a little early for the full fall colors but the crisp air and the smell of apples made the trip all the more special. I tried a local apple cider beer that I did not like but I also tasted a red raspberry farmhouse cider that was delicious. A short ferry ride to Madeline Island got me dreaming about living there in a small cottage year around, isolated like Gilligan and Skipper. Then it occurred to me I had no idea how we would get our furniture, books and animals across the water and then the daydream seemed like too much work.
Even fall daydreams should be relaxed and uncomplicated don’t you think? Enjoy your fall!
Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.
George Eliot
Taste of Home columnist Sandy (Anderson) Holthaus lives on a farm in South Haven, MN with her husband, Michael, and their children Zoe, Jack and Ben. Her heart remains on the North Shore where she grew up with her parents, Art and LaVonne Anderson of Schroeder. She enjoys writing about her childhood and mixes memories with delicious helpings of homestyle recipes.
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