Weekend Confetti Vol. 35
Flavors of Fall Edition
September 4, 2021
Welcome to Weekend Confetti!
Here you will find your weekly dose of interesting and merry miscellany that you didn’t know you needed to know. I hope it adds some joy to your weekend! Cheers!
Are you ready to celebrate fall!?
Can you believe it is September already? And while the temperature here in sunny Florida is far from crisp, I still am all about the yummy flavors of fall! I’m always up for pumpkin anything…but even if pumpkin isn’t your thing, check below for some delicious comfort food, boozy fall drink ideas and sweets galore!
PLEASE NOTE: I am a lazy cook. And I don’t apologize. (Wink) I’m not interested in complicated recipies with obscure ingredients. So everything here is pretty simple to stir up in your cauldron.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day…at least it will be with this Pumpkin French Toast or this Apple-Cinnamon-Pumpkin Oatmeal.
And for a yummy fall coffee, try this easy Cafe Mocha you can make from home.
At snacktime, try this Easy Pull-Apart Pizza Bread (think Monkey Bread but the savory version).
Or maybe some Hot Black Bean & Corn Dip is more your speed. (Hello, Sunday afternoon football.)
Comfort food in appetizer form: Mini Lasagna Cups and Mac & Cheese Bites.
As a nifty hostess gift or just as a fall nibble for your own house, try some Cinnamon Sugar Pecans or Autumn Brittle. (I may actually go out and buy a candy thermometer to try this Autumn Brittle. It looks that good. Also probably the highest level of difficulty listed here. Which isn’t saying much. LOL)
For mealtime, I love me some French Onion Soup. As I said above, lazy cook here…so a Walnut Crusted Salmon Sheet Pan Dinner sounds divine. As does a One Pot Turkey Tetrazzini! Really, people are so clever.
And a a special treat for you, I’m including my mother-in-law’s super-easy, No-Fail Pot Roast recipe! Seriously, y’all, the hardest part about this recipe is the length of time it needs to cook. Full stop. And it is a great fall meal.
Judy’s Never-Failed-Me Pot Roast
3 to 4 lb. chuck roast (or 7 lb bone-in roast) Look for a well-marbled piece of meat.
Garlic powder to taste
2-3 Bay leaves
Potatoes (I use one bag of baby potatoes)
Carrots (1/2 bag of baby carrots)
Onions (1-2 depending on size)
NOTE: make sure all the veg are approximately the same size (which is why I used bagged..lazy cook, remember?)
32 oz beef broth
Several splashes of Worcestershire (yes, I had to look up how to spell it)
salt & pepper to taste
Place roast into large baking pan. (My pan is old-old-old. But it is similar to this one. No rack required.) Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder. Add bay leaves to top. Place cut up veg around the roast. Carefully pour broth over the meat and veg. Cover TIGHTLY with foil. (I use multiple side-by-side pieces and wrap it around the lip of my pan tightly.) Roast in a 250-300 oven for about 4 hours. No peeking.
Note #1: This recipe serves about 4 normal sized people. (No teenaged boys included.) Yes, I have tried this in a crockpot and it wasn’t as good. I have also tried more elaborate recipes that also weren’t as good. (Possibly do to operator error, admittedly.)
Note #2: You can adjust the time and temperature according to the size of the roast or the length of time you are available to supervise the oven.
Enjoy on a cool fall night!
(Get a copy of the recipe here)
For a sweet after dinner nibble, there are Easy S’more Pretzel Bites (that require no open flames), or Apple Pie Bites. Or you can serve up Apple Pie Dip with some store-bought cinnamon-sugar chips. (We love these.)
For the Pumpkin Lovers out there (like me), here is the lineup of deliciousness:
And last but certainly not least, as a reward for making it through the day, try a Fireball Cinnamon Hot Chocolate or an Apple Cider Hot Toddy (smoking jacket optional).
For a drink you can serve warm OR cold, try Spiked Apple Pie Punch.
A favorite at my own house (discovered last year) is a DELICIOUS sangria-style Thanksgiving Punch that I will be making for the entire fall season. And on Thanksgiving as well. 🙂
Hope these flavors of fall have sparked your pumpkin-spice taste buds! Happy September!
Stay tuned for more fall ideas…
This week’s Kindness Intention: to participate in Pay It Forward 9/11 and to donate to relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Ida.
And here is some kindness I found out in the world to make you smile at the goodness of people.
And lastly, let’s take a page from Daniel’s book.
What is a Kindness Intention?
It is a way of keeping kindness more intentional in my own life by setting a weekly goal of kindness. And hopefully inspiring you to do something kind in your own world!
Happy Weekend, Joy Ambassadors!
