Nov 21, 2014

Five Favorite Fall Foods | Friday Five

Fall means more than just a changing of the seasons and the wardrobe. It brings more than just the falling of the leaves. It also brings new recipes back. Certain things just work better in the cool crisp weather of fall (or even better in a cold snap). In this week's Friday Five linkup we take a look at some of the best of those "stick to your ribs, warm your innards to the bone" foods. This week's topic is

Five Favorite Fall Foods (and Drinks)

Five Favorite Fall Foods (and Drinks)

1. Cheese Beer Soup

My number one fall food is an easy one. It is cheese beer soup, as I so plainly call it. It is the recipe I use to make my own rendition of my recent number 1 appetizer in Walt Disney World, the Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup from Le Cellier. The recipe takes a good bit of work, but is completely worth it. I enjoy the labor of love and I think I'm starting to get pretty close on it. Just needs some more taste testing of the original, if you know what I mean. We've already made it 3 times since the weather cooled down in Virginia. The recipe starts with bacon and finishes with cheese and beer, so how can you really go wrong? The recipe is in my queue of posts to write (in fact, I even took pictures) but I haven't gotten around to writing it yet. Sorry. I'll leave you with a preview picture from the forthcoming post.

Ingredients to Cheese Beer Soup

2. Hot Apple Cider

For my second favorite, I'm actually going to turn to a beverage. This made my list of favorite fall activities in a previous Friday Five. We've already been having our own cider at home, but I cannot wait for 2 more weeks until we are drinking it non-stop in Colonial Williamsburg. I'll certainly be fueling my 8K with apple cider that weekend.

3. Anything in a Crockpot

I love slow cooker meals. They're almost always very easy. Most come down to "throw the ingredients in and set to low for 8 hours". Slow cooking has lots of flavor and there are just so many options. Recently, we tried a chicken pot pie over biscuits that is delicious and sure to be a new favorite this fall and winter. We also will cook a roast, ribs, chili and chicken to name a few. I have  board on Pinterest dedicated to slow cooker recipes to try.

4. Macaroni and Cheese

For my daughter, this is a "year round every day food", but I'm placing it on my fall list. Now, I'm not talking about from the blue box (not that there is anything wrong with that). I'm particularly thinking about my wife's homemade mac and cheese. The "Mom's Macaroni and Cheese" secret family recipe kind. She makes the cheese sauce from scratch with a rue, adding until it gets just the right amount of creamy cheesy goodness. Don't have a wife with a secret recipe? Grab some of Panera's mac and cheese for some good comfort food style, which let's face it, fall food IS comfort food.

5. Specialty Coffee Drinks

As I have mentioned previously, I'm not a PSL kind of guy. I'm not a "Pumpkin Spice all the Foods!" guy. However, I do have my own personal favorite limited drinks, especially from a certain coffee shop that starts with "st" and ends with "arbucks". The first my wife got me hooked on this year, the Salted Caramel Mocha. This is the drink she waits for every fall to come back and stick around through winter. One random trip to the coffee shop, I decided to get myself one as well and they are delicous. The second, a slight cheat, is the Peppermint Mocha. I say cheat because I more think of it as "winter" but it's out now so it's fair game in my book. I love chocolate. I love mint. I love espresso. I love them all combined. This is always my "can't wait" beverage. Honorable mention (and available all year round) the Campfire Mocha (read: s'mores) with dark chocolate at Caribou Coffee.

Linking Up

Check here for some links out to others sharing, staring with our three lovely hosts: CourtneyCynthia and Mar. Check their posts (Eat Pray Run DC, You Signed Up for What?! and Mar on the Run to see the full set of links). I will add some others, usually randomly, as I read them to share the love. Go visit and keep reading!


Our hosts:

You Signed Up for What?!

Mar on the Run

Eat, Pray, Run DC



Some other good reads, pulled from the link up:


27 comments:

  1. Always a great read, John! (1) Sounds ooh so wonderful (2) Love apple cider, a couple months ago I had a apple cider Sangria. PS - I think Kathryn from Dancing to Running will be running the same 8K, if you didn't know already :) (3) Following your board now (4) I could live on Mac and Cheese (5) I like my teas and chai tea lattes.

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    1. Thanks. Apple cider sangria? I'm intrigued. In Williamsburg I had a hot cider with rum that was fantastic.

      I did not know that yet but good to know. I will have to stop by her blog to see.

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  2. The cheese beer soup sounds interesting! Gotta love the crockpot!! :)

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    1. Its delicious and even reheats well (with a little milk). Also, great with a loaf of French bread right out of the oven.

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  3. YES to #3! Love breaking out the crockpot for every meal I can!

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    1. We have two, a big and a little depending on what we're making.

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  4. I love the crockpot all winter long especially since I often make 2 dinners each night. I know crazy! I tried your instagram link and it didn't work? I'm newly on there and trying to follow you all.

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    1. I just love crock pot because I also get tasty leftovers for lunches during the week

      Thanks for that catch. I recently updated my accounts to match my Twitter rgrdisney bit did not update the links on the blog. Will have to fix when at a computer again.

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  5. apple cider for the win! it's my favorite fall beverage and if it's spiced, even better :)

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    1. The right spice can really make it even better. Though occasionally its too much and I personally don't like it.

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  6. Hot apple cider is always a fall favorite of mine. In college, they'd have it the week before Thanksgiving break and since it was cold enough outside, it was perfect.

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    1. It is definitely a great cold weather drink. Sweet, warm you up, tasty.

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  7. Thank you for sharing these recipes, John; I already follow you on Pinterest, but I will definitely take a look at those crock pot recipes. I don't know how we'd survive without the crock pot; I love it! And Peppermint Mocha is my favorite...

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    1. You're welcome. Crock pot cooking is a saver in so many ways.

      And you clearly have good tastes in drinks.

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  8. For years I have heard rave reviews about the cheddar cheese soup in the Canadian pavilion but I have yet to taste it. I guess I am missing out!

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  9. I love the slow cooker and it's so great that Pinterest has so many amazing recipes to try. I usually try to make some in the crockpot once a week so that I have an easy meal that's ready when I get home from work exhausted.

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    1. It is definitely easier to prep the meal after everyone us in bed then just turn it on in the mor ing then just eat come dinner time.

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  10. Yum, great list! Hot apple cider is awesome and I love homemade mac and cheese. I generally use Alton Brown's recipe.

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    1. Thanks. My wife has her way, but I'll have to look that up sometime. Always love trying out new recipes.

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  11. Replies
    1. Writing this post I want to make it but don't have the time at this moment with the holiday. Soon.... soon...

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  12. I'm always looking for new slow cooker ideas, so I just followed your Pinterest board. Thanks for the recipes!

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    1. Thanks for following. I have to get back to pinning more recipes for the slow cooker now that it's time for them.

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  13. Oh my gosh - beer cheese soup sounds amazing! I definitely need to try this one. I also love hot apple cider and I usually have one every morning on my way to work (I'm not a hot coffee drinker, but prefer cider and tea).

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    1. Oh it is amazing. I will have to get the recipe post out soon. I need to cook it one more time to get a good finished picture of it.

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  14. Great list and but how can you tease us with the cheese beer soup?!? Otherwise great list.

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