Autumn Lunches

Autumn

Me, Rome, Georgia, mid 1960’s playing in the leaves.

(Love the cars.) 🙂

When I think of Autumn I always first think of leaves.

The Fall colors of the trees as the leaves fall off of them, and crunch underneath my footsteps as I walk or run through the yard stepping on them. The photos above of me at my Grandparents house, rolling around in the leaves and sitting in a pile of them, is vintage Julie. A pile of leaves to me was a playground.

Autumn also represents to me the colors of Burgundy, Golds, Greens…

Cooler Weather, Sweaters, and my favorite holiday, Halloween!

Autumn also is to me eating foods that make my tummy warm and cozy.

Taking a bite out of something warm and the feeling of it as it goes down my throat.

Autumn to me is also heavy foods, such as Thanksgiving, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Autumn foods can be nice and light, as in something you can easily eat for lunch and enjoy but not be so weighted down. That is what I want this page to be about. Something nice and light, yet distinctly Autumn.

So, we created this page with that in mind. Even though we live in Florida and our seasons really don’t change that much from each other, we still enjoy the foods of Autumn no matter how hot it is outside.

Happy Fall Y’all!

Julie and Gordon

——————————————————————-

Susy’s Cards

On September 13, 2022, Gordon’s aunt died. Her name was Susanne Elsroad Whann, otherwise known as Aunt Susy. She was born on July 17, 1944, she was 78 when she died. As I was doing this write up for this page, Autumn Lunches, and I was even talking about Autumn Leaves above, I suddenly remembered these cards that Susy had made for us decades ago. I save everything! Never diss the hoarder’s, we treasure history. Regardless, I immediately located these cards and took a photo of them. Susy was a very thrifty person. She valued nature. She wasn’t a fancy person. She valued the outdoors. Hiking, Biking, Walking, Swimming, she was athletic. She was her happiest outdoors. She valued the environment. She wanted to leave behind a better place than she found it. I even believe that she donated her body to science when she died. I don’t think it becomes any more noble than that.

I thought this was the nicest place to pay our homage to her. She was my favorite Whann. 🙂

—————————————————————————

Autumn Lunches Recipes Start Here

——————————————————————–

Autumn Sliders

Sometimes I get mad at myself for using the same terminology as others out there. Mini sandwiches are suddenly “sliders.” What is a “slider” anyway? Something that slides down your throat? I guess so. Hence, the term? Well, I will go along here and declare these as “Sliders.”

Easy, Light, and Delicious

The Perfect Little Lunch..

..Especially for a Family

————————————————————————-

Cheesy Broccoli Soup w/ Cheesy Broccoli Cornbread, and Ghosts

Perfect for a Cool Autumn Day!

———————————————————————————–

Cheesy Broccoli Cornbread’s

(I have made this favorite recipe many times. I even had it featured in a few places on the website. But, I also really needed to add it here, as it goes perfect with this fast and easy soup.)

If you have a Ghost Mold Baking Sheet, then all the Better!

(Recipes Down Below)

—————————————————————-

First Up: The Autumn Slider

——————————————————————

The Cheese:

Jack O’ Pumpkin Cheese

Ingredients:

Brioche Mini-Buns

Autumn Cheese

Sweet Dumpling Winter Squash

Grey Poupon Mustard

Microgreens

Fried Onions

—————————————————————–

(Little Halloween Prank) 🙂

Gordon Slicing the Squash

——————————————————————————-

Removing The Seeds

All Clear

Washing The Microgreens

———————————————————————–

Cut the squash in half, remove the seeds with a scraping tool, and add a Tbsp. of butter to each cavity. Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil and place in a preheated 400’F oven for about 25 min.

To check if the squash are tender, you can insert the tip of your knife into it and if you feel little to no resistance, the squash is done. Set them aside to cool.

———————————————————————

Brioche Mini-Buns

Slice the buns in half using a sharp knife as shown.

Place the buns onto a sheet pan cut side up.

Spread a thin layer of your spicy mustard over one side of the mini-buns.

Remove the wax, then slice your Pumpkin cheese into wedges as shown.

Place two wedges of cheese over each mini-bun as shown.

Peel the squash then slice it into 1/4 inch sections.

Add the squash onto each mini-bun.

————————————————————————–

Place the topped mini-bun under your broiler until the cheese melts and slightly browns.

After about 3 min. remove the browned mini-buns.

———————————————————————

Our Leftover Fried Onions

These were from another recipe that we had leftover in the refrigerator.

We thought they would go nicely with our Sliders.

——————————————————

Shallots

Add your sliced Shallots to the flour and any spices you want.

For example, Salt, Freshly Ground Black Pepper, etc….

mix them into the flour mixture until well coated as shown.

Place your peanut oil into a large pan and heat to medium. When heated to temperature, add a handful of sliced shallots to the oil.

————————————————————-

Fry the Shallots until golden brown as shown.

Place on a paper towel to drain.

——————————————————————–

Top the squash with the fried onions and micro-greens.

Now, lift the cheese topped bun on top of the squash side being careful as the cheese is hot.

Plate and Enjoy!

—————————————————————————

This Autumn Sandwich Hits THE Spot Every Time!

——————————————————————————-

Cheesy Broccoli Soup w/ Cheesy Broccoli Cornbread and Ghosts

Perfect for a Cool Autumn Day!

———————————————————————————-

Recipe Starts Here

(This is a great way to jazz up an already nice soup. Consider the ready made Bear Creek Cheddar and Broccoli mixes as a nice base to build upon.)

——————————————————————————–

Ingredients:

2- Bear Creek Cheddar Broccoli Soup Mixes

Roasted Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Garlic Powder

Turmeric Powder (Known to kill cancer cells, and gives the soup a richer golden color.)

(These are to add according to your tastes but, if you want a guide, then I suggest about 1/2 teaspoon or more for each spice above.)

—————————————————————-

4- Blocks of various Irish Cheddar’s (Some more aged than others.)

You will want to grate all of those to enhance the soup’s flavor.

Salt, and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

(To Taste)

————————————————————————————–

Thawing Lots of Frozen Broccoli

————————————————————————–

Making The Soup According To The Package Instructions

I’ve Got Two Pots Going. I Will Keep One, And Give The Other Away As A Gift

It’s a Full Moon

I’ve added my extra spices, along with the salt and freshly ground black pepper.

The soup is now simmering away.

——————————————————————————-

Once Thawed, Time to Cook

Place the Thawed Broccoli into a Microwave safe dish…

..and cook according to your Microwave Instructions.

——————————————————————–

Time to Grate All Our Cheeses

———————————————————————-

Start Adding The Cheeses To Each Soup Pot

————————————————————————————–

Broccoli Done!

(Be sure to drain the water into the sink before added the broccoli to the soup.)

Cheese Melting and Broccoli Added

Allow to Simmer Away Until Ready

—————————————————————————

Broccoli and Cottage Cheese Cornbread w/ Onions

(This is an old Southern favorite! Perfect just as it is!)

————————————————————————–

Whenever I make this cornbread, I always double the recipe because I use my Cast Iron Skillet

Ingredients:

Most of the ingredients that you see above are for making the cornbread.

I made the cornbread by simply following the package directions on the Quaker Yellow Corn Meal box.

So, my advice to you is to just make your favorite cornbread, and then you can add all these extras to it, according to your tastes.

—————————————————————————-

Measuring Cups, Spatulas, and Measuring Spoons

The “Extras” I Mentioned Above that I will add are:

Chopped Onions….

I probably use about 3/4 Cup of Chopped Onions

—————————————————————

I also add:

Broccoli Florets…

(I cooked these the same way I did for the broccoli in the soup above. Let the microwave do the cooking, just be sure to drain the water out into the sink and not add it to the cornbread mix.)

My Chopped Onions left, My Cornbread mix right.

The other “Extra” ingredient I will be adding is Cottage Cheese

(I probably added a few heaping spoonful’s of Cottage Cheese.)

—————————————————————————-

Making My Cornbread

Adding The Broccoli, Onions, and Cottage Cheese

I have this great ghost mold that I love to use around Halloween. I simply sprayed it with a cooking oil spray before adding the cornbread mixture, I then baked according to the Quaker Corn Meal box instructions. But, I did monitor it as every oven is different, and I wasn’t using a traditional baking mold.