It's Fall Ya'll

Its fall ya’ll, and at the Brown household that means we are deep into harvest.  But harvest can be frustrating and long, especially for Mom who is taking care of the home place and Brown boys while Farmer Brown is out in the field. 

Football, and combine in the yard-so it is definitely fall!

Today started out as one of those long, frustrating days.  I was tired from a long week, and goodness it he been a long week with the boys.  Maybe the week was an after affect from the full moon, goodness not sure.  So after kiddo naps, the Brown boys went to ride in the combine & tractor for awhile.  And apparently I got my second wind for the day, and set my attitude appropriately. 

First goal:  Pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  The pumpkin cupcakes were made with pumpkin I have previously canned, so it’s always fun to make recipes with an ingredient I have made.  Secondly, first attempt ever to make frosting.  Both cupcakes and frosting turned out to be delish. 

An end of day treat for me, hot chocolate and pumpkin cupcake.
You have to try it out right?

Second goal: Make supper, seems like a pretty straight forward goal.  But as I said before my attitude was not the greatest.  But I ended up making a pretty decent batch of scalloped potatoes and ham. A favorite meal of the Brown boys (young and older), and everyone had seconds, everyone!

Third goal:  Can beef stew meat that I had in the refrigerator, which had been thawed out by an untimely freezer malfunction.  I hadn’t had time to can this meat earlier in the week; meat takes a while to can.  It’s a pressure canned item, so it just takes time and thought to do correctly. 

The plan: Make cupcakes and frosting then set aside, make supper and bake in oven.  With supper in the oven, start the canning process and clean up.  I had a plan & it was solid.  Until…Farmer Brown calls and asks, “What are you doing, are you busy?”  Yes obviously I’m busy; I’m normally busy doing something.  But what he was really saying is that he needed my help doing something, and was I in a stopping point.  And fortunately I was…so I went and helped and postponed my canning until later in the night.   (It’s easier to can things later at night, right?)

So, its fall and there is a lot to do before winter comes.  And fall brings good food, football, family, and many other good things.  Enjoy the season, and soak up the flavor while you can.  Peppermint season and snow are closing in, I hear Christmas is 60+ days away. 

Dad coming home for the day, an early day for him.