Favorite Fall Recipes

Most of the leaves have fallen and the air is starting to turn crisp here in Maine! Autumn is arguably my favorite time of year. Between the beautiful colors, cozy warm sweaters, and pumpkin flavored goodies, it really cannot be beat! And, usually there’s no snow to shovel, which is always a plus!

I have two ‘go to’ dishes that I serve or bring to parties. They are ALWAYS crowd-pleasers and are SO SIMPLE to make! I whipped up two dishes to share at my last get-together…

The pumpkin dip is a recipe that my friend Teal shared with me…it was a hit at her party and so I made it for mine. It did not disappoint! Everyone loved it and, again, it’s SO simple to make. It’s also pretty healthy considering it’s a sweet dip!

 Pumpkin Dip Recipe:
-1 15oz can of pureed pumpkin
-1 box of vanilla flavored instant pudding
-1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
-1 8 oz. tub of whipped topping
-1 box of ginger snaps

Directions:
-Mix the pumpkin, packet of instant pudding, and pumpkin pie spice together with a whisk until combined. Stir in the thawed tub of whipped topping then refrigerate for one hour before serving. Use the ginger snaps to pair with the dip!

Optional:
I hollowed out a small pumpkin (again, thanks to my friend Teal for the idea) in which to serve the dip! Fun and festive…and the dip is sooooo good paired with the ginger snaps!

The second recipe has become my staple for any Fall/holiday party. I’ve served it at my family’s Christmas gathering the past few years (as well as for Fall game nights) and people CANNOT get enough of my mulled cider! It’s also very easy to make and tastes so sweet and spicy! The original recipe can be found here, although I’ve slightly adapted it as follows…


Spiced Mulled Cider Recipe
-1 gallon of real apple cider
-3 cinnamon sticks
-1 teaspoon whole cloves
-1/3 cup brown sugar
-Captain Morgan Spiced Rum (optional)

Directions:
-Wrap the cinnamon sticks and cloves in cheese cloth and place in the bottom of a slow cooker. Add the brown sugar.

-Pour the apple cider into the slow cooker (you probably won’t be able to fit the whole gallon so just fit as much in as you can) and stir to dissolve the brown sugar.

-Heat the mixture on high until it bubbles, then turn the heat down to warm. This process usually takes a couple hours, so make sure you are preparing in advance!

-Serve with or without some spiced rum! I leave the rum next to the slow cooker and let people add it to their individual mugs as they please!